{"nrhp_refnum":"78001897","name":"Paramount Studios Complex","other_names":["Astoria Studio","Army Pictorial Center","Famous Players Lasky Co"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"35th Ave., 35th, 36th, and 37th Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Queens","state":"NY","lat":40.757076727000054,"lon":-73.92437240093801,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-11-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Communications","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district of nine film-related structures on about five acres in Astoria, Queens, New York, built between 1918 and 1966 around 35th Avenue and 35th to 37th Streets. It began as the eastern studio of the Famous Players Lasky (Paramount) Corporation and later became the Army Pictorial Center.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the studio is nationally significant for its contribution to the film industry, as the major studio in New York when the city was the nation's motion picture capital. It produced silent and early sound features for Paramount. From 1942 to 1970 it served as the Army Pictorial Center, one of the world's largest film producers.","narrative":"Astoria's Paramount Studios Complex in Queens is a group of nine film-related buildings put up between 1918 and 1966. The largest, Building Number 1, was designed by the Fleischman Construction Company and built of reinforced concrete with terra cotta facing. It wraps around a Main Stage about 120 feet wide and 127 feet long, reputed to be among the largest sound stages in the world. The Famous Players Lasky Corporation built the studio as its eastern production base, and more than 110 silent features were made there between 1921 and 1927. Sound pictures followed from 1929, until Paramount moved its operations to California in 1932. In 1942 the Army took over the site as the Army Pictorial Center, which turned out about 300 films a year until 1970, including the \"Why We Fight\" series. Independent productions returned in the mid-1970s. The complex was listed for its role in the history of American filmmaking.","period_of_significance":"1918-1966","architect_builder":"various; Building Number 1 designed by the Fleischman Construction Company of New York","architectural_style":"Building Number 1 is described as vaguely Classical with Art Deco details","criteria":[],"status_note":"Marked occupied and in altered condition on the form. The studio is described as once again used for independent film and television production and managed by a not-for-profit foundation since 1977. Some buildings are called intrusions.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:40.107046-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/78001897.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001897/ed8358352b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001897/ed8358352b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kaufman_Univ_Studio_LIC_jeh.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kaufman_Univ_Studio_LIC_jeh.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321125","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaufman_Astoria_Studios","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3194285"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/queens/paramount-studios-complex-78001897/"}