Planters Peanut warehouse and garage, 1954. Though Long Island City is more well known for its iconic neon signage (the Pepsi-Cola, Silver Cup Studios, Swingline Staples signs to name only a few) the manufacturing nature of much of the building stock made them the perfect venue for large scale advertising signage. The Planters Peanuts sign seen here was smaller and not electrified, in comparison to the large Planters neon that added to the brightly lit environment of Times Square, beginning in the mid 1940s.

St. Raphael’s Roman Catholic Church, 1938. Established to meet the needs of Calvary Cemetery, the first St. Raphael’s was a wooden church built in 1867. The current brick and sandstone structure — which may have been designed by noted church architect Patrick Keely — was dedicated by Bishop Loughlin in 1885.