[11] Two storekeepers, Nathanial Hazard and Francis T. White, sold food and clothes at the Maspeth Town Docks, at what is now 56th Terrace and Rust Street, by the late 18th century.

After the American Revolutionary War, villagers repaved roads with crushed oyster shells or wooden planks.

[13] What was Laurel Hill in the post-colonial era has become West Maspeth, bounded by Calvary Cemetery, and later the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, in the west, the Queens-Midtown Expressway on the north, 58th Street on the east, and 56th Road and the Long Island Rail Road's Montauk Branch on the south.

Following waves of immigration during the 19th century, Maspeth was home to a shanty town of Boyash (Ludar) Gypsies between 1925 and 1939, though this was eventually bulldozed.

[20] In 2018, an estimated 19% of Maspeth and Ridgewood 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], Maspeth, Ridgewood, Middle Village, and Glendale are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

[21] Many people of Eastern European, German, Chinese, or Hispanic origin (mostly Puerto Ricans from nearby Ridgewood) have also moved to the area.

[23][25] The Phelps Dodge Corporation was present from 1920 to 1983, during which matter from their premises contaminated Newtown Creek, which separates northern Brooklyn from western Queens and serves barge traffic.

[21] There are many community organizations, which have, among other things, preserved the neighborhood's small-town-like character; for example, they blocked the construction of a Home Depot at the site of what is now the Elmhurst Park.

Notable interments in the cemetery include cosmetics magnate Helena Rubinstein Courielli and sixteen victims of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

[28] Maspeth, Ridgewood, Middle Village, and Glendale are patrolled by the 104th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 64–02 Catalpa Avenue.

However, the precinct covers a large diamond-shaped area, and Maspeth and Middle Village are generally seen as safer than Ridgewood.

[17]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Maspeth and Ridgewood is 0.008 milligrams per cubic metre (8.0×10−9 oz/cu ft), more than the city average.

[17]: 12 Ninety-two percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%.

[41] Other neighborhood institutions include the local Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, and the Maspeth Federal Savings Bank.

[45] Traditionally known as Maurice Park, it was renamed in 2005 in tribute to the community leader Frank Principe, who played a key role in its creation and continued welfare throughout his life.

[47] The park, which honors a local resident who died in World War I, occupies 0.001 acres (0.00040 ha) of land.

"[49] Another very small park, Garlinge Triangle at Grand and 57th Avenues, honors other residents who died in World War I.

[50] Maspeth is also home to the Metropolitan Oval, a playing field for soccer players, which contains a view of the Manhattan skyline.

[22] A sign at the intersection of Flushing, Grand, and Maspeth Avenues marks the place where streetcar lines (now the B57, Q58, Q59 bus routes) used to split.

[22][41] On the front yard of the Church of the Transfiguration on Perry Avenue, a replica of a Lithuanian roadside shrine has stood since 1981.

[22][41] St. Saviour's Church, built in 1847 at Rust Street and 57th Drive, was located on land formerly owned by lawyer and politician James Maurice.

[41] The house where Anton Fausner's wheelwright and wagonmaker's shop was located is on Grand Avenue just south of the LIE.

[22][56] The wheelwright was patronized by farmers from Long Island who stayed at the Queens County Hotel, built in 1851 along Grand Avenue, on their way to the markets.

Sackett had built a wood-framed mansion behind the hall; later, New York Governor DeWitt Clinton planned the Erie Canal.

[41] The Clinton Diner, at Maspeth and Maurice Avenues, was built in 1935 and appeared in the movie Goodfellas among others films.

[41] Maspeth and Ridgewood generally have a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018[update].

[59] Maspeth and Ridgewood's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City.

[18]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [17]: 6  Additionally, 82% of high school students in Maspeth and Ridgewood graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.

Private schools in the area include: The Queens Public Library's Maspeth branch is located at 69–70 Grand Avenue.