What Staten Island looked like in the 1890s Through these Fascinating Photos

Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, was a primarily rural and agricultural area in the 1890s. The island was home to a small population of around 200,000 people, many of whom were of Dutch, English, and German descent. The island’s economy was primarily based on farming, particularly truck farming, which produced vegetables and fruits for the city’s markets. Fishing and oystering were also important industries.

During this time, Staten Island was not well-connected to the rest of the city. The only way to travel to and from the island was by ferry, which ran from the southern tip of Manhattan to Staten Island’s St. George ferry terminal. This made it difficult for many people to travel to and from the island for work or leisure, and limited the island’s economic growth.

In the 1890s, Staten Island was also home to several small towns and villages, such as Tottenville, West New Brighton, and New Springville. These communities had their own schools, churches, and small businesses, and served as centers for the island’s rural population.

However, the 1890s also saw the beginning of a period of rapid change and development on Staten Island. The construction of the Staten Island Rapid Transit railway in the late 1890s would greatly improve connectivity to the island and would also connect it with Brooklyn. This would set the stage for significant population growth and urbanization on Staten Island in the 20th century.

#1 Anson Phelps Stokes House, between Hamilton Avenue and St Mark’s Place near Phelps Place, Staten Island, New York, 1895.

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#2 The tracks of the New York Elevated Railroad twist around the front of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, 1890s

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#3 unknown family on beach at Staten Island, 1890

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#4 Military Technique Waiting For Delivery To The Allied Army At Staten Island In New York

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#5 Lightships docked at Tomkinsville, Staten Island New York; they severe as lighthouses at sea, 1899

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#6 A bathing suit-clad woman and a swimming instructor lying close to the surf on Midland Beach, Staten Island, 1899

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#7 A group of men, women and children relaxing at Midland Beach, Staten Island, New York City, 1898

They wear swimsuits. Several of the women hold umbrellas for shade. Children swim in the ocean, close to rowboats and sailboats.

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#8 The Plum Warner cricket team prior to their match against New York on Staten Island, September 1897.

Warner's team won by 244 runs. Left to right: FW Stocks, HH Marriott, JR Head, Pelham Warner, Harry Chinnery Gilbert Jessop, JN Tongue, RA Bennett and FG Bull

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#9 A photographer waits as a bridal party arranges themselves for a wedding portrait on the steps of a Staten Island home, June 1, 1895. At the wedding, Anne Flemming Cameron married Belmont Tiffany.

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#10 Brownings Prohibition Park, Staten Island, 1895

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#11 Staten Island Ferry Terminal, St George, Staten Island, New York, 1895.

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#12 Wendel stable, Staten Island, New York, 1895.

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#13 Gatehouse to Wendel House, Staten Island, New York, 1895.

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#14 Crowd at what may be the Coney Island entrance or the Staten Island entrance of the ferry to the Battery, New York, 1895.

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#15 View of the intersection of two, unidentified dirt roads on which a man stands and behind him, a house mostly hidden by trees, 1892.

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#16 An unpaved street lined by buidlings in Staten Island, 1890

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#17 B&O railroad over Arthur Kill between Elizabethport, NJ and Staten Island,

The Arthur Kill Bridge was a railroad bridge connecting Staten Island to New Jersey's Chemical Coast, opening with ceremony.

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#18 The General Lighthouse Depot in St. George, Staten Island, 1890

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#19 Train and crew on the Staten Island Rapid Transit” with engine number 14

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#20 Scene on farm of Mr. Vanderbilt on Staten Island, 1891

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#21 The church and music hall at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1891

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#22 People playing in the water and sitting on the sand at Midland Beach, viewed from the water.

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#23 Bathing, Midland Beach, 1899

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#24 Charities, Sailors’ Snug Harbor, Staten Island, 1899

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#25 Bathing, Sea Side Hospital for Children, 1899

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#26 Sailors’ Snug Harbor, Staten Island, 1899

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#27 Neo-classical edifices at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#28 The church and music hall at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island

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#29 Men, one in a wheel-chair, outside at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#30 Men and horses near a carriage house at Meadow Brook’s Richmond Club in Staten Island.

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#31 Spectators on the sidelines of a cricket game at the Livingston Cricket Club, Staten Island, 1890s

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#32 Men and horses at Meadow Brook’s Richmond Club in Staten Island, 1890s

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#33 The new sanatorium building at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#34 Men posed on horses at Meadow Brook’s Richmond Club in Staten Island.

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#35 A man and a woman lying on Midland Beach. Another woman stands at the edge of the water.

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#36 A cricket team portrait at the Livingston Cricket Club, Staten Island, 1890s

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#37 Bathing, Sea Side Hospital for Children, 1890s

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#38 Sports, Bathing, Midland Beach, 1898

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#39 A large neo-classical building at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1899

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#40 The bride or a bridesmaid getting out of a horse-drawn carriage in front of the church at the Cameron-Fleming Wedding in Staten Island, 1890s

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#41 The church, building “E” and music hall at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#42 The Augustus Saint-Gaudens sculpture (1884) of Robert Richard Randall on the grounds of Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#43 Bathing, Sea Side Hospital for Children, 1890s

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#44 Bathing, Midland Beach, 1898

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#45 Bathing, Sea Side Hospital for Children, 1890

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#46 Children from the Seaside Hospital for Children playing on the beach at New Dorp, Staten Island, 1890s

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#47 Men seated on benches, smoking after dinner, at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#48 Bathing, Midland Beach, 1890s

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#49 Midland Beach, 1898

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#50 A retired African American sailor in uniform at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#51 A large neo-classical building at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#52 The road by the gatehouse of Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#53 Bathing, Sea Side Hospital for Children, 1896

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#54 A monument and gate-house at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1899

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#55 A man inside the conservatory at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1899

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#56 A man standing by a pond at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1899

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#57 A cricket team walking on to the pitch of the Livingston Cricket Club, Staten Island, 1899

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#58 A horse-drawn carriage waiting in front of the church at the Cameron-Fleming Wedding in Staten Island, 1899

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#59 Sports, Cricket, Livingston Cricket Club, Staten Island, 1893

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#60 Sports, Lawn Tennis, Livingston Cricket Club, Staten Island, 1894

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#61 Sailors’ Snug Harbor, Staten Island, 1899

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#62 Sports, Fox Hunting at Meadow Brook, 1895

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#63 Bathing, Midland Beach, 1898

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#64 Men working on caning and basketry in the workshop at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890

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#65 Theatrical, Actors’ Home, Westerleigh, Staten Island, 1890

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#66 Men in a room at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890

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#67 Bathing, Midland Beach, 1899

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#68 Social Functions Wedding – Tiffany-Cameron June 1, 1895 Staten Island, 1895

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#69 A cricket team portrait at the Livingston Cricket Club, Staten Island, 1895

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#70 Men in the reading room at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1899

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#71 A man in a rocking chair in a bedroom at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1899

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#72 Midland Beach, 1898

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#73 The bride of the Cameron-Fleming wedding getting into or out of a covered carriage in front of the church, 1895

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#74 Men seated and standing on the porch of a building at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1899

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#75 The church at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, a facility and home for retired sailors on Staten Island, 1890s

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#76 A cricket team the porch steps of the Livingston Cricket Club, Staten Island, 1890s

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#77 Bathing, Midland Beach, 1896

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#78 Sports, Fox Hunting at Meadow Brook, 1895

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#79 Men with horse and wagon outside Ogden & Wallace Iron and Steel, 1895

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#80 Billou-Stillwell-Perine House, 1890s

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#81 Camp Kill Kane, Staten Island, New York, 1895.

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