Queens, New York, c. 1900
Queens (c. 1900), detail of a map of New York City from the 10th edition of the
Encyclopædia Britannica
.
Queens
, largest of the five boroughs of
New York City
, coextensive with Queens county, southeastern
New York
, U.S. The
borough
lies on western
Long Island
and extends across the width of the island from the junction of the
East River
and
Long Island Sound
to the
Atlantic Ocean
. The first settlement there was made by the Dutch in 1636 near
Flushing
Bay, followed by the establishment of Newtown (1642), Far Rockaway (1644), Flushing (1645), and Jamaica (1656). These settlements came under English control in 1664, when
Peter Stuyvesant
surrendered to an English force acting for the duke of York. In 1683 Queens county was established as one of the 12 counties of the province of New York and was named to honour the queen consort of Charles II,
Catherine of Braganza
.
Queens was primarily rural during the 19th century, but some of its shore
communities
began attracting summer vacationists. In 1898 Queens borough became part of Greater New York and at the same time assumed its present size when the towns of
Hempstead
,
North Hempstead
, and
Oyster Bay
opposed joining New York City and were chartered within
Nassau
county. Construction of the Queensboro Bridge (1909) and the Long Island Rail Road Tunnel (1910) spurred the borough’s development.
More From Britannica
New York City: Queens
Queens is mostly residential, though it has manufacturing around Long Island City and storage and shipping facilities lining the East River. New York City’s
John F. Kennedy
International and La Guardia airports are in the borough, as are several branches of the City University of New York and the main campus of
St. John’s
University, New York. Area 121 square miles (313 square km). Pop. (2000) 2,229,379; (2010) 2,230,722.