Lawrence married the oldest daughter of Richard "Bull Rider" Smith, who founded Smithtown on Long Island.

In 1854 the German-American industrialist Conrad Poppenhusen arrived; he was already a prosperous manufacturer in Brooklyn of hard rubber goods and expanded his operation to this small farming community.

[14] College Point became a center for breweries and day trip resorts, and in the 1930s shifted towards the manufacturing of airplane parts.

[15] Until the mid-20th century, the partially infilled Mill Creek separated College Point from the rest of Queens.

[22] In 1938, the 6 acres (2.4 ha) estate of Anna Schlesinger, near Ninth Avenue and 119th Street, was sold to the Daniel Corners Realty Corporation.

The site, initially 300 acres (120 ha), was bounded by Whitestone Expressway on the southeast, 15th Avenue on the north, and 127th Street on the west.

The site was chosen because it was the largest suitable tract that was not on Staten Island, which was considered to be too remote from the rest of New York City.

[30] Much of Linden Place in College Point was also closed due to frequent flooding near the airport, which had been built on a wetland atop Mill Creek.

Floor space in these buildings rented out at an average of $10 per square foot ($110/m2), a relatively expensive rate at the time.

This was due to its proximity to major transportation connections such as the LaGuardia Airport and the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, as well as the lack of parking in nearby downtown Flushing.

[37] The CPCP proposed to develop a strip mall with large "mega-stores" on 20th Avenue, though this idea was initially opposed by local residents.

[38] The strip mall was developed by The Related Companies[29] and opened in 1998;[39] it contains a Waldbaum's, Target, BJ's Wholesale Club, and other stores.

[39] In 1999, Triangle Equities developed a Multiplex cinema with two stores in College Point, on a site bounded by Ulmer Street, 28th Avenue, Linden Place, and Whitestone Expressway.

[29] The printing plant for The New York Times, which opened on the Whitestone Expressway in 1997, enabled the newspaper to expand its nationwide distribution.

[43] There were proposals to redevelop the Flushing Airport site as a wholesalers' complex in the early 2000s, but these were protested by College Point residents.

[44] The northern shoreline of College Point, a former oil lagoon, was designated a federal Superfund cleanup site in 2010.

[31] Though College Point is today mainly residential, it also contains significant commercial presence, as well as remnants of a once-active industrial community.

[51] In 2018, an estimated 25% of College Point and Flushing residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City.

Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], College Point and Flushing are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

[53] A large New York City Police Academy campus was built near 28th Avenue and College Point Boulevard,[54] opening in December 2015.

[48]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in College Point and Flushing is 0.0073 milligrams per cubic metre (7.3×10−9 oz/cu ft), less than the city average.

[48]: 13  In College Point and Flushing, 13% of residents are obese, 8% are diabetic, and 22% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 22%, 8%, and 23% respectively.

[62] College Point and Flushing's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City.

[49]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [48]: 6  Additionally, 86% of high school students in College Point and Flushing graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.

Due to significant demographic changes in College Point, the elementary school was finally closed in June 2013.

Monsignor Osborne died in 1998 at the age of 102, the oldest living Catholic priest in the United States at the time.

In June 2018, The Harbor of Grace Convent permanently closed, since the Diocese of Brooklyn wished to reclaim the building.

St Agnes Convent, the landmark of "High Street" for almost two centuries, then faced the wrecker ball and by November, 2022, this historical edifice was completely gone.

For the first time in nearly two centuries, no Catholic school was operating within College Point / the St Fidelis parish complex, and the Dominican Sisters, and their convents, are gone forever.

[77] The printing plant for The New York Times is located in College Point as well, along the Whitestone Expressway just east of the former airport.