Staten Island Home > History > Manuscript Collections

The COAHSI Staten Island History Tour was made possible by a grant from the Arts and Business Council of the New York State Council on the Arts. The text was written by Barnett Shepherd. All historical (black and white) photographs courtesy of the Staten Island Historical Society.

Staten Island History Tour Route

(Numbers correspond to tour description points)

1. Start at the St. George Ferry Terminal. Head west along Richmond Terrace. 2. Pass the site of the Pavilion Hotel at "Pavilion on the Terrace". Continue along Richmond Terrace until reaching. 3. Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Make a left turn on Kissel Avenue. 4. A left turn on Henderson Avenue. A right turn on Brentwood and continue down Coyningham. Make a right on Castleton Avenue. A left turn on Bement Avenue. 5. A right on Forest Avenue. 6. A left on Clove Road past Clove Lakes Park and the Staten Island Zoo. 7. A right on Victory Blvd. 8. A left on Slosson. A right on Westwood Avenue.

9. A left on Manor Road. 10. A right on Rockland Avenue. 11. Continue on to Richmond Road and Historic Richmond Town. From Historic Richmond Town go East on Richmond Road. 12. Pass the Moravian Cemetery on the left. A right on Midland Avenue. 13. A left on Father Capadanno Blvd. Continue under the Verrazano Bridge entrance. 14. At Bay St. make a right (Ft. Wadsworth is to the left). 15. The Alice Austen House is to the right on Hylan Boulevard. 16. Follow Bay St back to the St. George Ferry.

Staten Island: Past and Present

Staten Island is the southernmost part of New York State, nestled along- side New Jersey at the entrance to New York Harbor. The northern boundary is the Kill van Kull. The western boundary is the Arthur Kill. The south side faces the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern boundary is the Narrows. The Island is about 14 miles long and 7 miles wide. Its terrain is varied -- steep hills begin on the North Shore where the ferry docks, and continue down the middle of the Island about half its length. Today these hills are the prime residential locations, offering superb views of New York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the West Shore, along the Arthur Kill, is marshy. The South Shore is a flat plain.

Staten Island was sighted by Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian navigator who was sailing for France, when he entered New York Harbor in 1524. Henry Hudson, the English-born navigator, may have stopped on Staten Island to get fresh water when he explored the Hudson River area in 1609. Dutch colonies were established in Albany and on Manhattan Island in the 1620s. A decade later a small number of European settlers arrived on Staten Island. The Island was sparsely occupied by the Lenape Indians of the Delaware Tribe. The Island's first colonists in the 17th century were Dutch, English and French. There were also African Americans, both free and slaves, among the settlers. The earliest permanent settlement was begun near today's South Beach in 1661. The name Staten Island was given in honor of the States General in the Netherlands which sponsored the settlement of New Amsterdam. When the British took over New Amsterdam in 1664, Staten Island's name was changed to Richmond and we became among the first 10 counties of New York State in 1683. Today both names, Staten Island and Richmond, are used interchangeably.

Staten Island is remote and sparsely populated because of its island terrain -- yet it is adjacent to the world's greatest city. This mixture of isolation and proximity to the city makes Staten Island the unique place it is.

At the end of the American Revolution, only 3500 people resided here; in 1850 there were 15,000 and in 1898 when we became officially part of New York City, the population was only 65,000 people. Overland roads led to ferries which joined the Island to its neighbors across the waters in Brooklyn and New Jersey, but it was only in the third decade of the 20th century that the Island's bridges were constructed. In 2000 there were about 440,000 people living here-- still the city's least populated borough. Over 50,000 residents commute to Manhattan on the Staten Island ferry daily.

1. St. George

The community here on the North Shore-- the point nearest to Manhattan Island-- is known as St. George. It is one of the few areas of the Island with an urban character. St. George is the governmental and transportation center of Staten Island.

Several ferry lines and rail lines were consolidated here in 1886. By 1900 they became a municipal facility. The people of Staten Island had voted overwhelmingly (5 to 1) in favor of consolidation with New York City, which came about on Jan. 1, 1898. Part of their reason for joining was to receive better services of transportation, schools, police and fire protection. Businessmen saw consolidation as a means of increasing real estate values, developing industry and increasing commercial ties with the region.

Borough Hall was the largest and most sophisticated building on the Island when it opened in 1907. It was designed in the French Beaux Arts style by the Manhattan architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings, who also designed the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue and many other prominent buildings. To its right, the Richmond County Courthouse, also designed by the same firm, was completed in 1922. The previous courthouse was at Richmond Town, the county seat.

The water along the North Shore of Staten Island is the Kill van Kull, a deep channel joining upper New York Bay with Newark Bay and the Arthur Kill. "Kill" is a Dutch word for "channel." It has been navigated by oceangoing ships from the earliest days of settlement up to the present. At the water's edge are the tracks of the old north shore rapid transit, now abandoned.

St. George is the home of the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home of the Class A Minor League Staten Island Yankees which opened in June 2001. Projected for the future here in the St. George waterfront are the National Lighthouse Museum, which will occupy the old U.S. Coast Guard site.

---

2. Pavilion on the Terrace

The Pavilion on the Terrace (a banquet hall) was built about 1835 as a private residence, part of the suburban and resort community known as New Brighton. With the development of steam ferry service in the early 19th century, wealthy Manhattanites moved to this part of the Island for their year-round residence or summer retreat. New Brighton, along with a section of Brooklyn Heights, is one of the oldest suburban communities in the United States. New Brighton, created in an age when travel was limited to the wealthy. It was the most sophisticated suburb on the Island. Located nearby were several mammoth hotels that offered summer accommodation to a wealthy clientele. This house and one other are the only two surviving on Richmond Terrace today. The earliest one of these hotels was the Pavilion Hotel pictured below. It was demolished circa 1920.

The streets on the hillside were laid out in 1835 and fine residences were built there later in the 19th century. Today these homes on St. Mark's Place constitute the St. George Historic District.

By the late 19th century with the pollution of the Hudson River and New York Harbor and the construction of oil refineries along the Kill in New Jersey, this neighborhood was no longer a suitable environment for the wealthy. An 1886 pamphlet now in the Staten Island Historical Society's library speaks of "stench nuisances from New Jersey." It is hard today to imagine the beautiful mansions with sweeping lawns, swimming facilities and boat houses on these shores in the mid-19th century.

Nearby there is a NYC housing project, the New Brighton Houses, built in the 1960s. The old U.S. Gypsum plant is a reminder of the major industries that coexisted with this fine 19^th century residential area.

---

3. Snug Harbor Cultural Center

Snug Harbor flourished during the heyday of New Brighton's suburban development. The old sailors liked being near New York Harbor while the trustees liked having them away from the temptations of the city. Snug Harbor's buildings are outstanding examples of classical revival architecture. The first three buildings were designed in the Greek Revival style by the young New York City architect Minard Lafever. When the first building opened in 1833, Sailors' Snug Harbor was home for 17 aged seamen. By the turn of the century nearly 1,000 men lived there and it had become one of the most famous benevolent institutions in the nation.

Sailors' Snug Harbor came into existence through the will of Robert Richard Randall, who asked that his farm on Manhattan Island (just north of today's Washington Square in Greenwich Village) be used to create a home for "aged, decrepit and worn-out sailors." As the city grew up to the Randall farm the trustees of the institution decided to find a more rural site and bought this 150-acre farm on Staten Island, leasing out the Manhattan land. The income from these leases endows the institution up to the present day. The sailors moved to new quarters at Sea Level, North Carolina, in 1976.

Snug Harbor is now owned by the City of New York and is a cultural and educational center. The 80-acre site, in addition to numerous 19th- century landmarked buildings, contains rolling lawns, ponds and gardens. 2001 marked the 25th anniversary of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. It features a children's museum, botanical gardens, a maritime museum, a contemporary art gallery, artists studios, an art school, and the New York Chinese Scholar's garden. In the summer months there are open air concerts on Sundays.

---

4. Randall Manor

Once part of the Sailors' Snug Harbor property, this residential neighborhood was created by a private developer in the 1930s. With its attractive Colonial-Revival, Tudor and Spanish Mission style single-family homes and well-maintained lawns, it is one of the most sought- after neighborhoods on the North Shore.

The Snug Harbor trustees gave Alison Pond to the city to preserve as a public park. The graveyard behind the high brick wall near the pond contains the remains of over 10,000 retired sailors. Although the majority of the gravestones have been stored away, the institution maintains a registry of all buried there. The cemetery is still owned by Snug Harbor and maintained under contract by a local institution.

---

5. West New Brighton

Staten Island's neighborhoods each have a unique name and character. Once they were separate villages, many with clusters of commercial properties (little "Main Streets"). Today the villages have almost entirely grown together into one continuous development. Yet the old names continue to be of much significance to residents, and especially to realtors.

In keeping with the character of New York's original settlements, Staten Island from the beginning was a mixture of national groups, soon marrying into each other. Many of the old family names are preserved in today's street names: Dutch names like Tysen and Van Duzer, French names like Guyon and Billiou, and English names like Barton and Lake. The 19th-century waves of immigration brought new ethnic groups to the Island. Starting in the 1840s with German immigrants who were employed in the Stapleton breweries and Irish immigrants who worked in Factoryville (now West New Brighton) and in the great estates of Clifton. Before 1900, Italians began to settle in Clifton/Rosebank. African Americans settled in parts of Tompkinsville and Stapleton. In the mid-19th century many African Americans employed in the oyster industry settled in Sandy Ground on the northwest shore of Staten Island.

The 2000 Census documents the ethnic mix of the Island today: White (65%), Hispanic (12%), African American (10%), Asian (6%) Multi-racial (2.5%), and Other (4.5%). The great majority of the white population is Italian-American. The majority of white population lived in Brooklyn, either themselves or their parents, before coming to Staten Island. Many of them maintain their roots in that borough with frequent visits. The Hispanic and Asian populations are currently the fastest-growing segment.

The Island's quiet streets and many cultural and recreational facilities offer fine settings for raising children. Staten Island is an ideal place to purchase a first home in an attractive, safe environment. Approximately one-third of the Island's elementary and secondary schools are Roman Catholic. The per capita income is the highest of all the boroughs of NYC because of the very small incidence of poverty.

---

6. Staten Island Zoo

---

7. Clove Lakes Park

Clove is from a Dutch word "kloven" meaning cleft. In this cleft or valley is located Clove Lakes Park, containing three ponds made by damming a stream. The ponds were created in colonial times and modified in the 19th century for the purpose of creating water power, a water supply and later ice for harvesting. In the park is the 146' tulip tree, at least 300 years old, thought to be the oldest living thing on Staten Island. It somehow escaped the denuding of our forests when British soldiers occupied Staten Island during the American Revolution. NYC purchased the Clove Lakes property from private owners in the 1920s and created the existing park in the 1930s. The park buildings and bridges, in the Colonial Revival style, are made of fieldstone taken from colonial buildings near Richmond. Near Clove Lake are a boathouse, restaurant and the World War II Memorial Ice Skating Rink.

On the East side of Clove Road near Victory Boulevard, are two 19th-century landmarked residences, the Dorothy Valentine Smith House and the John Vanderbilt House. The owner of these houses objected to Landmark designation and neglected the buildings for many years. They were lankmarked because of they represent typical wood frame residential construction of 19th century New York City region. One is a simple 3-bay, side hall residence, the larger is in the Queen Anne style. The owner eventually was allowed to relocate the larger of the two builidngs to the rear of the property so a restaurant could be built on the corner.

With extreme increases in land valuation older properties are prime candidates for development. It is a frequent occurrence to see one older home demolished and five or more houses take its place. Many community activists are working to down-zone their neighborhoods to prevent this.

Staten Island's beautiful parks, golf courses and green spaces are one of our greatest amenities, providing a unique sense of place.

---

8. Verrazano Bridge and The Staten Island Expressway

The Verrazano Bridge opened together with the Staten Island Expressway in 1964, connecting Long Island and New Jersey. The southern half of Staten Island consisted of small villages and farmland until about 40 years ago when today's great sweep of modern housing began to be developed. The northern half holds by far the greater part of our historical architecture.

Todt Hill is the most exclusive residential area on Staten Island. It is the highest point on the east coast between Maine and Florida, 409 feet above sea level. Below the hill on Manor Road stands the Todt Hill Houses, a municipal public housing project of 500 apartments, built about 1950. This is one of eight such projects on Staten Island. There are waiting lists to gain an apartment.

---

9. The Greenbelt

The Greenbelt is 2500 acres of undeveloped lands owned by various private and public agencies and administered by the NYC Office of Parks and Recreation. We often hear people say "I can't believe I am in New York City." The central spine of this area was threatened in the 1960s by a proposed section of the Richmond Parkway. Through the creative and persistent efforts of local environmentalists the highway was stopped here and the area protected from development.

---

10. "Moses Mountain"

On the right side of Manor Road approaching Rockland Avenue you can catch a glimpse of the so-called "Moses Mountain". Robert Moses (1888-1981) planned the Richmond Parkway. He was an extraordinary planner and public official. He accomplished major projects of public housing and highway systems throughout the New York City region. This large pile of earth, now overgrown with trees, is where the bulldozers stopped!

On the left side of Rockland Avenue approaching Richmond Road you can see through the trees the High Rock Conservation Center, a beautiful preserve of forests and a marsh. The Greenbelt is provided with about 28 miles of walking trails, which are extraordinarily beautiful.

---

11. Historic Richmond Town

Richmond was the government center of Staten Island from about 1710 until 1898 when we became a borough of New York City and government functions were gradually transferred to St. George. Historic Richmond Town got underway in the 1930s when local historians gained permission to use the abandoned County Clerk's Office as their museum and headquarters. With the help of a federal work program they restored the building, opening it in 1935. Later, with the help of borough leaders and Robert Moses, they gained control of the whole village and additional acres of wetland nearby. NYC purchased the property as a part of the Fresh Kills Landfill in 1958 and turned it over to the Staten Island Historical Society to develop as an historic site and outdoor museum.

The Third County Court House was built in 1837. The arch bridge was built in 1845 and is the oldest stone arch bridge surviving on Staten Island and perhaps in the entire city. Five of the buildings here near the pond are a rare encyclopedia of Staten Island's rural historic architecture of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Notice the typical features of this architecture: stone construction, beehive ovens, clapboard and shingle siding painted white, straight gable roofs and gambrel roofs, end chimneys and spring eaves.

These farmhouses were moved here from nearby locations in the 1960s to prevent their demolition. Two of them were in the path of the proposed parkway. Two more were slated for demolition by developers. One was in the way of the landfill.

Near the Third County Courthouse the architecture of the county seat in the varying styles of American 19th-century village architecture: Greek Revival, Italianate, Gothic and later Colonial Revival. Other examples of 19th-century village architecture may be found today in Tottenville, Port Richmond, Tompkinsville, and Stapleton.

---

12. Moravian Cemetery

This is the largest and most beautifully landscaped cemetery on the Island. It is the burial place of many famous Staten Islanders, especially the Vanderbilts. The Vanderbilt Mausoleum and private family graveyard are a private cemetery. The mausoleum, designed in 1886 by Richard Morris Hunt, architect of several Vanderbilt residences, is a copy of a Romanesque church in Arles, France. It is placed into the hillside and only its stone facade and dome are visible. The extensive grounds around the mausoleum were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The Vanderbilt family cemetery is not open to the public.

Robert Gould Shaw, leader of an all-black regiment made famous in the movie Glory, is also commemorated in the Shaw family plot.

 

The first Moravian church on this site was built in 1763 and still stands at the rear of the present church, which was built in 1837, from a design by local architect Jasper Cropsey. Cropsey later became well-known as a Hudson River School painter. In his maturity he resided near Tarrytown on the Hudson River. The Church was modified in the 1950s, including replacing the bell tower with the present steeple.

The Moravian Church in America originated as a Protestant church in the 15th century in what is today the Czech Republic. Followers came to America in the early 18th century, establishing churches in Pennsylvania and later North Carolina.

The cemetery covers 113 acres. The earliest graves date from 1740. It was originally a free cemetery, founded as a public service to discourage families from using farm burial plots. In the 19th century Commodore Vanderbilt gave the church 8½ acres and later William H. Vanderbilt, his son, presented 4 more acres and built the dwelling for the cemetery superintendent.

Unfortunately no original Vanderbilt family residences survive on Staten Island today.

---

13. Midland Avenue to Father Capodanno Blvd.

Construction of the Staten Island Railroad began in the 1850s and service to Tottenville began in 1860. It started at Clifton on the Narrows and ran down to Tottenville. In the 1880s it was expanded along the east coast to St. George. Along this route there developed small suburban communities, which still exist today.

From Father Capodanno Boulevard one can view Raritan Bay, and in the distance Monmouth County where the Sandy Hook Lighthouse is located. Miller Field, location of William H. Vanderbilt's farm and racetrack and later an airfield, is today part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.

---

14. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk

The boardwalk runs along the shore from Midland Beach to South Beach. It was begun in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration. It replaced earlier abandoned day resorts which had boardwalks and entertainment facilities for bathing that began in the 1880s. The Staten Island Railroad had a spur line to the beach and there were also trolley lines from St. George and piers for special ferries from Manhattan. Happy Land at South Beach was one of the most famous amusement parks on the east coast. It opened in 1906 with hotels, concessions, a theater and a swimming pool. Bathing became unsafe because of pollution. Although none of the historical recreational facilities survive today, in both Midland Beach and South Beach there still exist many small cottages which were part of these summer communities.

Father Capodanno Boulevard was named to honor a chaplain killed during the Viet Nam War.

---

15. Fort Wadsworth

The oldest continually staffed military reservation in the United States. Fort Wadsworth and Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn command the Atlantic approaches to New York Harbor. A fortification occupied the site as early as 1663. Throughout the American Revolution the British controlled the installation. On Evacuation Day in 1783, when British troops pulled out, the captain of a Royal Navy warship fired at on looking Americans in what was probably the last shot of the war. New York State built a fort on the site during the War of 1812. This was replaced by the present federal structure in 1847. The installation was renamed in honor of Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth in 1865, soon after he was killed in the Civil War during the Battle of the Wilderness. Decommissioned in the early 1990s, Fort Wadsworth is now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.

The Verrazano Bridge opened on November 21, 1964.

---

16. Along Bay Street

Throughout the 19th century Clifton was an elegant estate community. Much of Clifton is today called Rosebank. The Bird's-eye View, above, shows large residences and their landscaped grounds. Today's Von Briesen Park, just outside the Fort Wadsworth gate, was once the Von Briesen family estate. The stone wall at the entrance to Shore Acres and the small Gothic-Revival cottage at the right of the entrance are remnants of the Alexandre estate. Cornelius G. Kolff, a local entrepreneur, developed it as a exclusive seaside residential community in the 1930s.

St. John's Episcopal Church was built during the time when large estates flourished here. Members of the second generation of the Vanderbilt family attended the church. It was designed by Arthur Gilman, a New York City architect, and built in 1871. It was inspired by Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, Shakespeare's hometown.

Alice Austen, the well-known photographer, had her home "Clear Comfort" on the water and attended St. John's Church. The rector's daughter was her close friend and together they appear in many of the photographs which Alice took of the her family and friends. The Alice Austen House, today a museum open to the public. It was originally surrounded by larger estates. Alice's grandfather enlarged a colonial farmhouse to make the present Gothic-Revival cottage. The view of the Narrows and the V-N Bridge from Alice's front
yard is spectacular.

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church was built in 1857. Its congregation was largely Irish-American. Rosebank has an Italian-American feeling more than any present-day Staten Island community.

Today's Bayley Seton Hospital was built in 1837 as the Seamen's Retreat, a hospital for sailors entering New York Harbor. It was financed from by a one-penny tax levied on each sailor who came into the Harbor. You can see the stone, Greek-Revival building as we pass. Today it is part of the Sisters of Charity Health Care System.

Stapleton on the Narrows lies just beyond Clifton. It was laid out in 1837 by William J. Staples, a NYC merchant, in partnership with Griffin Tompkins, a local entrepreneur who was the son of New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins. It became a commercial and residential center for German-Americans. In the second half of the 19th century large breweries became successful here due to the availability of spring water and the proximity of New York City consumers.

Tappan Park, in the center of the commercial area, is the setting for the charming Village Hall, built in 1887. The sophisticated Beaux Arts style bank building of the Staten Island Savings Bank, built in 1923 from the design of Delano and Aldrich, is also on the park.

Bibliography