Page 12 - 2021 Queens Economic Development Guide

The History of the World’s Borough
Timeline of Queens
17th Century 1636-39
Dutch authorities begin awarding grants of land in Queens to first settlers residing in the Dutch Kills area of Long Island City.
1683
The British colony of New York is
divided into ten counties, one of which is Queens, which included all of today’s Nassau County.
18th Century
1790
First U.S. Census taken: Queens County has a population of 5,393.
19th Century
1854
Conrad Poppenhusen opens a
hard-rubber factory in College Point, one of the first large-scale manufacturing plants in Queens, employing hundreds of workers.
1861
A group of Catholic nuns open Queens’ first hospital in Long Island City.
1865
Frederick Douglass delivers a speech at the Flushing Town Hall on the role of African Americans in antebellum America; Manhattanites begin the trend of day trips to Rockaway Beach.
1870-72
The Steinway Company builds a piano factory and factory village in northern Long Island City.
1874
The Queens County Courthouse holds its first session in Long Island City.
1875
Flushing High School opens as the first state-chartered public school in New York.
1888
Flushing Hospital opens and the Long Island Rail Road builds a station in a Jamaica Bay island fishing community.
1890
Jamaica Hospital opens and the Long Island Improvement Company begins developing Rockaway Park.
1893
PS 1 opens in Long Island City.
1894
Jamaica Racetrack opens.
20th Century
1900
The United States Census documents a population of 152,999 in the borough.
1909
The Queensboro Bridge opens to the public.
1911
The Queens Chamber of Commerce is established.
1930
The U.S. Census reports that the population in Queens surpasses 1 million people.
10
QUEENS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE