USA > New York > Queens County > Long Island City > History of Long Island City, New York. A record of its early settlement and corporate progress. Sketches of the villages that were absorbed in the growth of the present municipality. Its business, finance, manufactures, and form of government, with some notice of the men who built the city > Part 18
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Very few successful newspapers were ever started under more modest auspices. It was the creation of Thomas H. Todd, who graduated from the office of the Flushing Journal, where he had served during the extended period between the years 1851 and 1865. He commenced as an apprentice and ended his connection with the office as general superintendent and manager of the business when he determined to "strike out for himself." The late Charles R. Lincoln, editor of the Journal, was his warm friend and trusted adviser, and the venture was made with his fullest approval, Mr. Lincoln at the time making this prediction : "That section is destined to be a great business center; for a young and enterpris- ing man no better opening, to my mind, presents itself. You may have a hard struggle for the first year or two, but the field is sure to develop, and you cannot but grow with it. See that you stick to it and work; and, most important of all, don't run in debt."
VLONG ISLAND CITY STAR.
DAILY
With small capital, a Washington hand press and the necessary types and other appliances, the THE PRESENT STAR BUILDING, 4I BORDEN AVENUE, young prospector set up business on Vernon avenue, near the corner of Fourth street, in the building now occupied by John W. Petry as a hardware store.
JOB PRINTING.
A fairly good job printing plant was connected with the office and a thorough canvass of the
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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND CITY.
neighborhood was made for the seenring of patronage. The first job of printing turned out on the presses was a carpenter's business card, of which the following is a copy:
H. M. THOMAS, CARPENTER AND BUILDER. Residence : CENTRAL AVENUE AND FOURTH STREET, LONGAISLAND CITY.
Every encouragement was held ont by the business men of the period, and the office force, which consisted of the " boss" and a man and a boy, were kept fairly busy in the struggle for "making both ends meet " in the unpretentious printing establishment.
Fortunately, within a month after opening day, the friendship and patronage of the late Oliver Charlick, president of the Long Island Railroad, were seenred, and a liberal share of the railroad
STAR EDITORIAL OFFICE.
printing materially aided in finally placing the venture upon a secure and paying basis. Mr. Charliek proved a good and true friend, and his esteemed favor and patronage were retained until the day of his death.
FIRST ISSUE OF THE STAR.
The first issue of the Star, as above noted, was given hearty welcome in Hunter's Point, Ravens- wood, Astoria, Dutch Kills, and other quarters of the town of Newtown, it being the only newspaper published in the township.
Hunter's Point at this period was small but steadily growing and the outlook was promising. Being the railroad center of the Island, with a magnificent water front, excellent ferries, and broad avenues opening out into the country, everything pointed to the speedy materializing of a populous
3
STAR.
. LONG ISLAND
DAILY
WEEKLY STAR.
--
....
2
The Long Island Fity Sfar.
The Evening Star ..
I.
3.
1
Weekly Stir. 6
Greenpoint BES
HBallerman
Our Kitchen
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1. First issue of Daily Star, March 27, 1876.
2. First issue of Weekly Star, October 20, 1865.
3. The Daily Star of 1896.
4. The Weekly Star of 1896.
5. The Greenpoint Daily Star of 1996.
6. The Greenpoint Weekly Star of 1896.
5 Greenpoint
------
....
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Daily Star.
5
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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND CITY.
city. Mr. H. S. Anable, at that time manager of the Union College property, was an enthusiast in the belief that an important future was in store for the neighborhood, and the publisher was induced to unfurl and put upon record the first name-banner of the coming city in titling the newspaper The Long Island City Star.
PROGRESS
The newspaper business grew and prospered from year to year. Job printing increased in volume. Factories, dwellings and stores multiplied. Many needed and de- sirable publie improvements were carried forward to successful com- pletion, and all this forward march along the lines of progress led, in 1868-69, to the agitation for incor- poration which finally culminated in 1870, in the setting up of the city. The Star took prominent part in the preliminary work of the first charter and subsequently, with- out avail, arrayed itself against the dangerous principle of giving arbi- trary and unlimited power to the STAR COUNTING ROOM. Mayor as was done in the ill-starred " Revision," which was carried through the Legislatre in 1871.
The Star during its career has had several "fittings." In 1868 removal was made from its birth-spot to the old Foster building, a little farther south on the avenue, near the corner of Third street; and from there, in 1870, it marched still nearer the business center by taking up more roomy quarters in the Schwalenberg building on Borden avenue. Here many improvements were made to meet the growing wants of the times. The old hand press was discarded, a new and improved and fast running cylinder purchased, and many important additions were made to every department of the plant which had already developed into one of the most complete to be found in the county.
FIRST SUBSCRIBERS.
A liberal subscription list grew apace and the Star soon made its way into every quarter of the township. John Bragaw and Peter Hulst, old and well-known residents of the Blissville section (both now * deceased), were the first citizens to have their names enrolled upon the subscription book, each one paying his two dollars in advance, greatly to the surprise and delight of the publisher, who handed to them two of the first newspapers that came from the hand-press.
THE DAILY STAR,
In the spring of 1876 the long JOB COMPOSING KOOM. contemplated plan of a daily issue was finally decided upon, and on Monday, March 28, the first number of the Long Island City Daily Star made its appearance. Now really came the tug of war in right good earnest. Small and insignificant as it was, the paper
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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND CITY.
proved an expensive and wearing daily tread mill. The political ring that controlled the city was against a " daily enemy," and vowed that they would starve it out; but they " reckoned without their host " The publisher knew well the field and the obstacles he was to encounter, and had earefully eounted and provided for the cost of the battle. For four long years it was a losing game and thousands of dollars were sunk in the struggle for saving it from shipwreck. But the clouds of adversity were gradually broken and seattered and success finally won, and in the spring of 18So, the balance sheet made known the gratifying fact that the "Daily was paying its way." Better and more commodious quarters were now again essential and two large floors were leased for a term of five years at 72
Borden avenue. Upon their being specially fitted and provided with steam power, elevators and all the modern appliances, the new offices were occupied on the first of May, 1880, and the business of both Daily and Weekly, from that time forward, commenced to boom in a manner that was exceedingly gratifying. The dark days that had been experienced and the mountains of discouragement that had been overeome were at last happily relegated far to the rear.
GREENPOINT EDITIONS.
Daily and Weekly editions of the Star for Greenpoint had been added to the list of publications, and they, also, were steadily forging for- ward in publie favor in that populous and prosperous section of the city of Brooklyn known as the Seventeenth Ward
The business of the Star had grown to be large and remunerative. The foundation was well and securely laid with an eye single to the rearing of a superstructure that would insure the most complete and thorough-going journalistic independence, for the good and behoof of all the people whose interests it was established to espouse.
SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISHED.
After five years of laborious effort the daily was adjudged a fix- NEWSPAPER COMPOSITION ROOM. ture and a success, having been triumphantly established as one of the permanent enterprises of the city. It was the acknowledged, energetic and reliable recorder of passing events, while the Weekly had years before come to be the great home newspaper of the city and the adjoining townships, and was favored with a yearly subserip- tion patronage unsurpassed by any of its island contemporaries. During all these years the Star, from time to time, has been out and in-(oftener out than in)-with the local politicians and the managers of the city government, but it never deviated from the even tenor of its way in championing the cause of the taxpayers. It has never, strictly speaking, been the organ of any man, public or private interest, political clique or faction, and herein, unquestionably, has consisted its phenomenal success as a busi- ness venture.
PRESENT THREE-STORY BUILDING ERECTED.
In the spring of 1885 the lease of the offices at 72 Borden avenue was about to expire in the month of May. All efforts failed in seeuring a renewal of the lease, the owner of the building alleg- ing that the jar of the steam presses endangered the structure and annoyed his other tenants. This ultimatum was not definitely known until about the fifth of April, and the premises were to be vacated on the first day of May. Quick movement and speedy determination were demanded, and it was decided that the time had arrived when the Star should have its own office building. The site now occupied was chosen and purchased on April 10. On the fifteenth, plans had been prepared by Architect James
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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND CITY.
Dennen (lately deceased). On the twentieth, upon the securing of estimates for the erection of the three-story building, twenty-two by eighty feet, the contract was awarded to John T. Woodruff, under an express agreement that "the job must be rushed." On the follow- ing day Mr. Woodruff set a large gang of men at work, and the solid twelve-inch brick walls fairly "walked up." Fortunately good weather fol- i? lowed, and at twelve o'clock noon of May 1, the roofers were topping off the completed structure. In the after- noon, machinery, presses, etc., after an early issue in the old quarters of the Star of that day, were removed and set in position, and an all-night's struggle of a force of machinists, boiler-makers, etc., enabled the print- ers to get the daily issue of May i out upon the street promptly on time from the commodious press-rooms of its own handsome three-story head- quarters. Contractor Woodruff ex- ceeded all his previous records as a NEWSPAPER PRESS ROOM. hustler in the wonderful manner in which he handled this job, and for months afterwards the Star building was pointed out by the passersby as Contractor Woodruff's " quicker than a wink job."
ACCOMMODATIONS DESCRIBED,
The new building, with the capacious rooms of its three stories, has proved a model of convenience in every respect. The first floor is utilized for the business quarters, press rooms and compositors' job printing department, and the arrangements as to light, steam heat, etc., are perfect and unsur- passed in every regard. The second floor front is occupied as the editorial rooms, and the rear as the stoek rooms for the storage of news, book and writing papers, cards, cardboard, etc. The third floor is set apart as the newspaper compos- ing room. It is spacious, heated by steam, well lighted, thoroughly ven- tilated, and, all in all, is one of the coziest and best adapted for its pur- pose to be found on the Island. On this floor, also is the newspaper file room, where, conveniently arranged for reference, may be found copies of every issue of the Star from 1865 to date-the Weeklies substantially bound in volumes of two years each, and the Dailies in volumes of six months.
FACILITIES AND BUSINESS ENLARGED.
Since the occupancy of this new building many improvements, from time to time, have been made, and each succeeding year has seen num- JOB PRESS ROOM. erous additions to the machinery and other appurtenances of the establishment. The eirculation of the several editions of the Daily and Weekly issues has steadily advanced; the advertising patronage has grown in a corresponding
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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND CITY.
degree; and the business of the job printing department has so developed in volume of work and character of output as to rank the office second to none in the vicinity of New York. One of Hoe's celebrated three-revolution newspaper presses and a folding machine for trimming and putting in convenient form for mailing purposes and delivery to carriers copiesof the Star as they come from the press, insure prompt and speedy handling of every issue, and the many marked advances in newspaper making that have been gradually evolved since the days of the old slow-going hand-press of '65 are truly wonderful, and especially so to the one who, indulging the retrospective review, has been permitted to travel along with the plodding and tireless procession during the period of improvement.
THEN AND NOW.
The territory now embraced in Long Island City had a population in 1865 of some 7000 to Sooo souls. The population is to day upwards of 50, 000. The Star has kept pace with this development, and from a small and insignificant sheet in '65 it has grown to be a handsome eight-page newspaper, well filled with the cleanest and choicest reading matter, and is classed by popular verdict as ranking among the leading and influential papers of the Island. Its circulation has increased from a few hundred to some twelve thousand per week, and its roll of workers has grown from three at the beginning to the snug little army of thirty-six, as exhibited by the pay roll of Septembr 28, 1896.
SUCCESS WON.
The founder is still at the helm. At the beginning he was young, untiring, vigorous and hopeful. He has grown gray in the service, but the most complete success has crowned his efforts in estab- lishing a prosperous business, and in the upbuilding of a newspaper whose primary aim has been the advancement of the best interests of the community.
THE LONG ISLAND STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY.
The business of the Star is now under the management and control of a duly incorporated company, said organization having assumed charge on June 1, 1893, and is capitalized in the sum of $50,000. The stockholders are:
Thomas H. Todd, Theodore S. Weeks,
Edward Todd, Alvan T. Payne,
Joseph W. Mckinney.
The officers in charge as directors of the affairs of the company are as follows: President -- Thomas H. Todd. Treasurer-Edward Todd. Secretary-Theodore S. Weeks.
A NEW DRESS.
With the issue of September 26th of the current ycar a complete new dress was donned, requiring for the change upwards of a ton of new types and other material, the improvement giving a clean and sharp appearance to the print of the newspaper and attracting wide attention and favorable comment.
ANNIVERSARY AND OUTLOOK.
On the 20th of October, 1896, the thirty-first anniversary of the Star was duly celebrated. Before the completion of the new volume the greater New York will probably have fully and finally materialized. The Star was a stalwart youngster at the time of the setting up of Long Island City; it applauded the advent and bade God-speed to the new and promising municipality. It has continued uninterruptedly in the journey, always striving to the best of its ability to protect the interests and to aid in the development of the place. The city has filled its mission. It has so prepared the broad and magnificent territory comprised in its boundaries as to fit the lands for an important place in the coming greater city, and the Star heartily commends the new order of things as a transition to an enlarged and boundless field of opportunities, where greater and more marked progress and material advancement will be assured our citizens. The Star hopes to continue to fill the field in the future,
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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND CITY.
as it has in the past, and as the representative of the people in this district of the Greater New York, its publishers promise that it will always be found an alert and trustworthy champion of the rights of the masses.
THE STAR STAFF, SEPTEMBER 28, 1896.
THOS. H. TODD, Managing Editor. EDWARD TODD, General Business Manager.
THEODORE S. WEEKS, City Editor, L. I. City edition. OLIVER H. LOWREY, City Editor, Brooklyn edition. LUCILLE TODD, of St. Joseph, Mo., Editor of " The Household " Department.
J. S. KELSEY, Manager Advertising Department. J. ROBERT LAWS, Cashier and Bookkeeper. F. M. Devoe, Advertising Canvasser.
George B. Case, F. M. Devoe, Jr.
REPORTERS. Edmund V. MacLean, Charles R. Hughes, George Sproston,
Clark E. Smith, Geo. MeKiernan,
NEWSPAPER COMPOSING ROOMS.
Edmund I. Guthrie, Richard W. Blauvelt,
GEO. E. DECKER, Foreman, Warren A. Fenety, Charles S. Runyon, Otto Kraemer.
John Worden,
Thos. H. Todd, Jr.,
Donald A. Manson, Robert W. Hume, John Delaney, Patrick Reilly,
JOB DEPARTMENT. JOSEPH W. MCKINNEY, Foreman. Wm. Kollmeir, Grafton T. Norris, WVm. Gardner, Geo. W. Young,
Geo. J. Dahl, Lewis Wemlein, George Moore, Joseph Colgan.
CHAPTER VI.
BIOGRAPHIICAL.
LIFE SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE PROMINENT CITIZENS OF LONG ISLAND CITY AND VICINITY.
STEPHEN A. HALSEY .- A history of Astoria without mention of this public-spirited citizen would be like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. Stephen A. Halsey was born in New York City, April 7, 1791. In 1834 he purchased a residence in the village of Flushing; and in going to New York to his business by steamboat he was obliged to pass Astoria, then called Hallett's Cove, and being impressed by the beauty of the situation, decided to dispose of his Flushing property and remove thither. Consequently, in 1835 he bought the Perrot farm, and the Blackwell farm, comprising nearly all the land lying between Pot Cove and Hallett's Cove, west of what is now Stevens street. He at once devoted himself vigorously to the work of public improvement, laying out and opening streets, building wharves, ete. He built many dwellings, buildings for factories, stores, carpenter and blacksmith shops, and induced the mechanic and the tradesman, the butcher and the baker to occupy them and to settle in the place. He procured the passage, by the Legislature, in April, 1839, of a bill incorporating the place as a village; the name "Astoria" being adopted in honor of John Jacob Astor, of New York, an old friend of Mr. Halsey who had been more or less interested in the fur business with him. An older brother of Mr. Halsey was sent out to Oregon by Mr. Astor in the early part of the century. About 1840 he purchased the ferry running to Eighty-sixth street, New York, known in old times as " Horne's Hook Ferry," and improved it for the better accommodation of the public, which ferry he ran for nearly thirty years. In 1840 he finished and occupied the large stone mansion on Fulton avenue, between Mouson and Halsey streets, now used by the L'. I. City High School. It was built with stone quarried on the premises. About the same time he was instrumental in opening Fulton street from Perrot avenue, now Boulevard, to Main street, making a direct outlet from the ferry; also, the Flush- ing turnpike to the village of Flushing, and the Astoria, Ravenswood and Williamsburgh turnpike road and bridges to Williamsburgh, both of which roads he managed for many years. He was a trustee of the village of Astoria during nearly the whole time from its incorporation to the chartering of Long Island City. The first fire company, called "Astoria Fire Engine Company, No. 1," was formed about 1842 by his agency, he building the house which now forms a part of the saloon now standing on Fulton avenue, southeast corner of Halsey street. In that year Owen street, now Franklin, was opened from Perrot avenue to Emerald street, now Van Alst avenue, by his influence. He was largely concerned in the building of the Reformed Dutch Church in 1836, and of the Presbyterian
Church in 1846, and made large donations of time and money to both. About 1849 he, with two or three others, bought several farms, and laid out and opened through them, Broadway, the Crescent, Emerald, Academy and Grand streets, First, Second and Jamaica avenues, etc. At that time he donated a plot of ground, roox200 feet, on Academy street, and procured the building of a school- house thereon, which is now used by the Fourth Ward School. . In 1853 he organized the " Astoria Gas Co.," and on premises now occupied by Steinway R. R., on Mills street, Fifth Ward, built the gas works which for nearly a quarter of a century supplied Astoria with gas. He was a gentleman of large and liberal spirit. When the Astoria Catholic Church was about to be built he donated the stone for the foundation. In his numerous undertakings he employed many laborers, but in all his dealings with them he never paid less than a dollar a day, even when others in the neighborhood were paying but seventy-five cents. He has been called " the father of Astoria." Was he not justly so named ?
JOHN E. LOCKWOOD .- The old-time families that in former years gave a distinctive character to the old village of Astoria are rapidly disappearing. The few that remain might almost be counted on a person's fingers. As far as Long Island City is concerned the names of a majority of them are perpetuated in the names of streets and avenues in the upper section of the city. Among the few who remain is John E. Lockwood, who for more than thirty years has lived a quiet, retired life in the Fourth Ward. Entitled by wealth, social position and influence to aspire to high honors, he has preferred, in such public services as he has rendered the city, inconspicuous positions that brought little notoriety.
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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND CITY.
Mr. Lockwood is of Puritan ancestry. His family was one of the earliest to settle in Connecticut, over two centuries ago. His father, who was engaged in the real estate business, went to New York from Connecticut, and it was in that city Mr. Lockwood was born in 1828. His early education was received at a private school in the city of New York. After leaving the private school he went to New Brunswick, N. J., where he spent several years in study, but did not pursue a regular course leading to a degree.
Soon after leaving college he became a clerk in a commission house. In 1855 he went into the commission business himself. He dealt largely in naval supplies. While he was engaged in business as a commission merchant he resided in New York and Brooklyn. In 1864 he retired from business and came to Astoria. The fine old mansion, fronting on Broadway, located far back from the noise and turmoil, with its spacious lawn occupying the whole block between Lockwood street and Debevoise avenue, was for sale. It was owned at that time by a man named Sanford. Mr. Lockwood purchased the place, intending to remain one year in Astoria. He has lived on the same spot for thirty-two years.
Astoria was in those days a popular suburban village. Many wealthy New York business men preferred the quiet village to the noisy eity on the other side of the East River. The larger number of these old families have been driven out by the crowding in of other elements and the development of manufac- turing interests in close proximity. Old Astorians took considerable pride in their village, and the Board of Village Trustees was always composed of representative men. Mr. Lockwood was elected a member of the Board and served a portion of the period that intervened between the time of his removal to this city and the incorporation of Astoria into Long Island City. His . associates on the Board were Joshua Lathrop, Charles Strang, James Bennett and R. M. C. Graham-five members. Of these five, Mr. Lockwood is the sole survivor.
From the time of the incorporation of Long Island City Mr. Lockwood has taken an active interest in the administration of its public affairs. He has several times filled appointive positions, but always refused to become a candidate for an elective office. Several times at different periods during the last twenty-five years his friends have urged him to become a candidate for Mayor, but he has refused to allow his name to be used. LUCIEN KNAPT. Whether as a public official or as a private citizen he has used his influence to promote the welfare of the city and the residents. Mr. Lockwood was one of the first to see the necessity of furnishing an adequate water supply. When Mr. Ditmars was the Mayor he urged the purchase, by the city, of Trains' Meadow, which he believed would furnish an adequate supply of water for the city. Ile even offered to take one-third of the bonds that would be required in order to purchase the Meadows. The property was not as valuable then as it has since become, and might have been bought for a comparatively small sum/ But Mayor Ditmars objected on the ground of expense, and because special legislation would be necessary to authorize the purchase.
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