Back to Homepage New York - Albany Albany - Points of Interest New York - Auburn Auburn - Points of Interest New York - Binghamton Binghamton - Points of Interest New York - Buffalo Buffalo - Points of Interest (Downtown) New York - Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) North Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) East Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) South New York - Elmira Elmira - Points of Interest New York - Ithaca Cornell University - Ithaca, New York Ithaca - Points of Interest New York - New Rochelle New Rochelle - Points of Interest New York - New York City New York City - Points of Interest The New York Public Library Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan West Street and North (Hudson) River Water Front Lower West Side South Street Wall Street District City Hall District Bellevue Hospital Metropolitan Opera House The Empire State Building Downtown to Uptown Brooklyn The Bronx Queens Staten Island New York - Niagara Falls New York - Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie - Points of Interest New York - Rochester Rochester - Points of Interest New York - Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs - Points of Interest New York - Schenectady Schenectady - Points of Interest New York - Syracuse Syracuse - Points of Interest New York - Troy Troy - Points of Interest New York - Utica Utica - Points of Interest New York - Yonkers Yonkers - Points of Interest New York - Geology New York - Topography New York - Plant and Animal Life New York - Conservation and Recreation New York - Archeology and Indians New York - History New York - History - After the Revolution New York - Transportation New York - Agriculture New York - Industry New York - Ethnic Groups New York - Folklore New York - Religion

New York - New York City - Staten Island (Richmond) The borough of Richmond, a roughly triangular island, popularly known as Staten Island, has a population of 470,000. Staten Island is separated from Manhattan by the five-mile corridor of Upper New York Bay, a half-hour ride by ferry. A pear-shaped island 13.9 miles long and 7.3 miles broad at its widest point, it follows closely the contours of the New Jersey coast, to which it is connected by three immense bridges spanning Arthur Kill and Kill van Kull. Owing perhaps to its isolation from Manhattan -- the ferry providing the only public transportation -- the community has maintained an air of rural self-sufficiency, in spite of the fact that many of its inhabitants work in Manhattan and New Jersey. It is the borough least known to New Yorkers, who vaguely think of it as the terminus of an inexpensive and popular ferry ride. The quickest and best way of seeing the Upper Bay is also the cheapest -- a ferry trip from South Ferry, Manhattan, to St. George, Staten Island, and return, over the route that Commodore Vanderbilt's Nautilus began traveling in 1817. The Staten Island ferries, operated by the Department of Docks on a five-cent fare, are a New York institution. The old boats are double-ended, rather drab old craft with barn-red superstructures, yet surprisingly swift -- they make the five-mile run in twenty minutes. These are being gradually replaced with sleek, new, partially streamlined boats, painted a silvery gray. Even Staten Islanders, many of whom make this trip twice a day, find it hard to keep their attention on their newspapers as the ferry moves away from the backdrop of lower Manhattan's fabulous towers. In good weather they crowd like tourists on the outside decks, while the inside benches are nearly empty. Although it is the third largest of the boroughs in area, Richmond is the least developed. A neat row of villages, some dating back to Colonial times, lines the north and west shores. Scattered along the north and northeast shores are shipbuilding yards, lumber mills, printing and publishing plants, and a large soap and oil plant. Storage tanks and the refinery units of New Jersey oil companies rise on the lowlands of the western district. The western section is given over to truck farms and unused meadowlands. Despite the fact that the island has the only free port in the country, its ocean-borne commerce is relatively negligible. Giovanni da Verrazano, Italian-born explorer sailing under the French flag, discovered the island in 1524. Eighty-five years later Henry Hudson rediscovered it and, according to legend, named it Staaten Eylandt, in honor of the States-General of the Netherlands, sponsor of the expedition. The Dutch colonists who subsequently attempted settlement here found as their neighbors the Unami Indians, a branch of the Delaware tribe, who called the land Eghquaons (later anglicized to Aquehonga), meaning "high, sandy banks." The Indians on the east end of the island were known locally as the Raritans, and on the west end, as the Hackensacks. The older Dutch, English, and Huguenot families have preserved their ethnic purity to a large extent. Italians, Scandinavians, and Poles, comparatively recent arrivals, are grouped in the industrial areas. Along the east and south shores of Staten Island, a long coastal plain backed by a hilly inland region, are some of the island's oldest communities, and many interesting old homes, including the historic Conference or Billopp House. The main roads pass through pleasant rural areas and frequently afford arresting views of Lower New York Bay and Atlantic Ocean. St. George, clambering up Fort Hill, is metropolitan in its aspect and movement, and serves as the civic, business, cultural, and transit center of Staten Island. The nucleus of the town is the municipal ferry shed; through it passes most of the island's working population, going to and from Manhattan, and clustered around it are the terminals of the Staten Island Rapid Transit and bus lines, and the seats of the borough and county governments. POINTS OF INTEREST STATEN ISLAND INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES PUBLIC MUSEUM (founded 1881), Wall St. and Stuyvesant Pl., St.George, contains natural history, household, and insect collections, largely of Staten Island. The institute's museum, occupying the first floor and part of the second, includes exhibits of Staten Island marine life, fauna, and natural history, as well as a small collection of live snakes, fish, and invertebrates. SAILORS' SNUG HARBOR (founded 1801; asylum opened in 1833), Richmond Terrace and Tysen St., New Brighton, is a home for retired seamen. STATEN ISLAND ZOO, Broadway, Clove Rd., and Glenwood Place, W.New Brighton, is noted mainly for its collection of reptiles. The CONFERENCE, or BILLOPP, HOUSE (built before 1688), foot of Hyland Blvd., Tottenville, was the scene of a conference between British and American authorities after the Battle of Long Island. CHURCH OF ST. ANDREW (Episcopal), near the junction of Richmond, Richmond Hill, and Old Mill Roads, was founded in 1708 and granted a charter by Queen Anne in 1713. The first church, a simple Colonial edifice, was built that same year, and although damaged during the Revolution, and twice razed by fire, the original walls remain. The church was served by a number of distinguished clergymen including the Right Reverend Samuel Seabury, first American bishop, who was consecrated at Aberdeen in 1784. The present ivy-covered structure built in 1872 in Victorian Gothic style, has the air of a quiet English rural church. It is surrounded by an old cemetery in which some of the first Staten Island families are buried. A number of gifts presented by Queen Anne to the church, including a chalice and paten, are now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The church bell, also donated by the Queen, is still in use. The STATEN ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, opposite the old county courthouse at Court Place and Center Street, is housed in the old county clerk's and surrogate's office, a two-story brick structure of Colonial design, built in 1848 and restored in 1933-5 by the WPA. Its collections emphasize the agricultural history of Staten Island and trace various phases of local arts and crafts. Reproductions of small shops -- wheelwright, cooper, carpenter, and cobbler -- complete with their rude tools, dramatize the early industries of the island. The museum also contains exhibits of Colonial furniture and household effects, and an extensive library of photographs, manuscripts, and printed material relating to Staten Island. World Trade Center from Staten Island Ferry Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com New York Around Staten Island and Long Island 1700 Giclee Print Buy at AllPosters.com Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Morning Fog, Staten Island, New York, USA Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com Statue of Liberty at Sunset from Staten Island Ferry, New York City, New York, USA Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com