Hunters Point Historic District

Forty-fifth Avenue between 21st and 23rd Streets in Hunters Point, Queens, holds a compact group of 19th-century town houses. Many keep their original stoops, cornices, pedimented doorways and arched lintels carried on brackets, and the cornice line is nearly uniform along the block. The land was once part of the Van Alst farm and was later owned by Union College. Spencer B. Root and John P. Rust bought it in 1870 to develop what was then East Twelfth Street. The stone houses stood out in a neighborhood of mostly wooden buildings and became known as "White Collar Row." Residents were largely of Irish descent, and many worked in the government of Long Island City. Hunters Point had become the seat of government for both Long Island City and Queens County. The district is valued for its range of 1890s styles and for having been spared the changes that altered similar areas. The Manhattan skyline forms a backdrop to the avenue's trees, stoops and facades.