The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company suffered considerable financial heartship during the Great Depression and in 1935 sold there building to the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation. The building was used as a aircraft plant from the mid 1930s until the end of the Second World War.

John E. Lockwood House, June 3, 1927. Lockwood, a commission merchant who had previously lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn, purchased this Astoria mansion upon his retirement in 1864. The estate was previously owned by a Sanford, but does not appear on the 1840 J. Price Map of the Villages of Astoria & Ravenswood. In his retirement, Lockwood became a member of the Astoria Board of Village Trustees, and was appointed, at times concurrently, as Police, Health, and Fire Commissioner, while refusing to run for public office. In his lifetime, Lockwood’s estate included grounds between Broadway, 30th (which was renamed Lockwood Avenue, having previously been called First Avenue), and 31st Streets. Today, the building is hemmed in by 20th century apartment buildings.

Presbyterian Church of Astoria, 1927. The Presbyterian Church of Astoria began services in 1846 in a local schoolhouse. Within a year the congregation had planned and funded a Gothic style church with a tall steeple. That building served as the church until after the First World War, when it became apparent that the community needed a larger building. The cornerstone for the church seen in this photograph was laid in 1922. The church was a Georgian style (which made it look older than its actual construction) and was deigned by a Flushing architect named A. Edward Richardson. By 2000 the congregation had severely depleted. The building itself was in need of extensive and expensive repair. The church decided (with much opposition from the community and local preservationists) to demolish the church in favor of a new complex with senior citizen housing, a pastor’s residence, a day care facility and a smaller church space which would allow for community activities and events.

Famous Players- Lasky Corporation Studios, ca. 1920. Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created in 1916 through a merger. The new firm built this film studio in Astoria because of its proximity to the Broadway theatre district. The first two Marx Brothers films were shot here in 1929 and 1930. In 1932 all Paramount studio operations (which Famous Lasky was now part of) were moved to California. Between 1942 and 1971 the studios were used by the Army Pictorial Service for training films. Since 1993 Sesame Street has filmed here and in 2013 it became New York City's only backlot.

James Butler grocery store, ca. 1927. The green fronted James Butler grocery stores dotted the streets of New York City. Butler, an Irish immigrant, began his chain of store in the 1880s and by his death in 1934 owned over 1000 groceries and was worth $30 million. The single-story storefront has long been a staple of the commercial strip of Steinway Street. Instead of groceries and hat shops, today the storefronts are cheap jewelry and clothing shops, corporate pharmacies, and 99 cent stores.

Louvre and the Riviera, apartment houses, 1927.

Most Precious Blood Church, 1932. This 1932 church was designed by architects Henry J. McGill & Talbot F. Hamlin. Hamlin was not only a practicing architect but also a noted architectural historian and founder of the Avery Architectural Library at Columbia University. McGill was known for his intricate detail work, which can been seen in the limestone facade carvings, the stylized cross motif above the entrance, and the neo-Byzantine arched entrance surround of this church. Perhaps the most unique feature of the church and a specific indicator of the time of its construction, is the Art Deco metalwork that crowns the tower. The metalwork depicts a repeating pattern of abstract peacocks and flowers and was meticulously restored in 2011.

If you took a stroll around New York in the early 20th century, eventually you were bound to come upon a store with a green and gold exterior. If you were to go inside, each would be managed in the same way, selling the same groceries and goods. These were the James Butler Stores a name as ubiquitous as Trader Joes at the time.