| By :
Mark Etinger
Queens County was one of the original 12 counties of New York, supposedly named for Catherine of Braganza, Charles II of England's Portuguese wife. It is the largest county in New York City and the second most populated, after Brooklyn.
In the 17th century, New York was mostly inhabited by English settlers. When the area was captured in 1664 from the Dutch, all of Long Island was renamed Yorkshire. During the Revolutionary War Queens was largely royalist, and housed many British soldiers, a practice which ended after the Third Amendment banned it. The governmental seat of the county was in Jamaica until the 1870s. When Long Island City became independent from Newtown in 1874, the seat of government moved to Long Island City. The New York State Legislature voted to consolidate Queens County with New York City in 1897. This effectively led to the creation of Nassau County less than two years later. Jamaica reclaimed the county seat. After the completion of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909, most of Queens was connected to the rest of the city via subway. During the 20's, the population of Queens doubled so that by 1939, Queens was the site of the World's Fair. That was also the year LaGuardia Airport opened, with Idlewild (now JFK) following nine years later. During the '40s, Queens was home to many jazz greats, including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gilespie. The population continued to grow so that by 1964, Queens was again a site for the World's Fair. Flushing Meadows Corona Park was constructed specifically for the event. 1964 was another good year for Queens - it was the birth of the New York Metropolitans, also known as the Mets. And, the US Open is still played in Queens, too. During the '80s and '90s, Queens became a center of hip-hop culture. P.S. 1 also came to represent Queens' burgeoning culture. This former school is one of the oldest and largest contemporary art museums in the country. Today, Queens is very diverse. With its good schools and transportation, as well as views of the Manhattan skyline, it is a very desirable place to live. If you're thinking about moving to Queens, an Astoria real estate broker or even a Long Island City broker is the right person to turn to. These neighborhoods in particular are very desirable right now. From the suburbs of Long Island to some of the world's busiest streets across the river, and all of the different neighborhoods and communities in between, Queens has a lot to offer.
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