Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Long Island City

LONG ISLAND CITY, a city of the United States, the capital of Queen’s County, New York, situated on the west coast of Long Island, and separated from New York by the East River and from Brooklyn by the Newtown Creek. The area, which includes what were the post villages of Astoria, Newtown, and Ravenswood, measures 3 miles from east to west and 5 miles from north to south, and the general plan of the place is constructed on a spacious scale. The river frontage extends to about 10 miles. Hunter’s Point, as the south-west portion is called, contains the terminal depots of several railway lines, extensive warehouses for the storage of petroleum, and a variety of industrial establishments such as granite-works, chemical works, engine-works. In the Astoria district there are factories for pianos, carriages, and carpets. Long Island City dates from 1870; in 1874 its population was about 16,000, and in 1880 17,117.