Imagine stepping off the iconic Staten Island Ferry, the salty breeze of New York Harbor whipping around you as the Manhattan skyline fades into the distance. This free 25-minute ride, which has been shuttling passengers since the early 19th century, isn’t just transportation – it’s your gateway to New York City’s “forgotten borough,” a place where history whispers from colonial cobblestones and nature sprawls in unexpected green expanses.
Staten Island, the southernmost and third-largest borough at 58 square miles, is home to about 500,000 residents and boasts more parkland per capita than any other part of the city. Often overlooked amid the hustle of its siblings – Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx – it’s a suburban oasis laced with revolutionary tales, Dutch roots, and modern reinventions. Join this walkthrough, from the bustling North Shore to the serene southern beaches, as we uncover facts that make this island a hidden treasure.
Our journey begins at the St. George Ferry Terminal, a hub since the ferry’s inception in 1817 as a vital link for commuters and goods. Disembark and head west to Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, an 83-acre haven originally founded in 1801 as a retirement home for aged sailors – hence its nautical name. Today, it’s a cultural powerhouse with museums, theaters and gardens, including the stunning New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden, modeled after Ming Dynasty designs and featuring koi ponds, pavilions, and rockeries imported from China. Fun fact: This site once housed over 1,000 retired mariners in its Greek Revival buildings, some of the oldest in the city, now repurposed for arts and education.
As you stroll southward along the waterfront, pause at Fort Wadsworth, one of the nation’s oldest military installations, dating back to 1663 when the Dutch fortified it against the English. Overlooking the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge – completed in 1964 as the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time (with a main span of 4,260 feet) – this fort guarded New York Harbor through the Civil War and both World Wars. Decommissioned in 1994, it’s now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, offering hiking trails with panoramic views.
Nearby, the Alice Austen House in Rosebank preserves the legacy of pioneering photographer Alice Austen, who captured over 8,000 images of immigrant life and women’s suffrage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from her Victorian Gothic cottage, built in 1690.
Staten Island’s story starts long before European boots touched its soil. Archaeological digs reveal human presence from 14,000 years ago, with the Lenape (Delaware) people calling it Aquehonga Manacknong, or “place of the bad woods,” due to its dense forests and mosquito-ridden swamps. They practiced seasonal agriculture and shellfish harvesting, leaving behind massive shell middens in Tottenville – some up to 30 feet high. The largest pre-European burial ground in NYC, Burial Ridge, holds remains from as early as 1000 BCE.
Venture inland to the heart of the island, where Historic Richmond Town awaits. This 100-acre open-air museum, Staten Island’s oldest settlement dating to the 1690s, features over 30 restored buildings from the 17th to 19th centuries. Costumed interpreters demonstrate blacksmithing, candle-making, and colonial cooking in structures like the 1720 Voorlezer’s House – the oldest elementary school building in the U.S. Originally the county seat until 1898, when Staten Island joined Greater New York City, this site encapsulates the borough’s evolution from rural farms to urban fringe. In 1683, it was named Richmond County after the Duke of Richmond, illegitimate son of King Charles II, and divided into four towns: Castleton, Northfield, Southfield and Westfield.
The mid-island also pulses with revolutionary fervor. During the American Revolution (1775-1783), Staten Island was a Loyalist stronghold – most residents sided with the British, refusing to send delegates to the Continental Congress. In July 1776, over 30,000 British troops under General William Howe used the island as a base, anchoring 140 ships off its shores.
The pivotal Conference House in Tottenville hosted a failed peace talks on September 11, 1776, where Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge met Lord Howe but rejected terms requiring colonists to revoke independence. Built in 1680 by Captain Christopher Billopp, this stone manor house stands as a testament to that tense moment, now a museum with period furnishings and gardens.
Don’t miss the Staten Island Museum, founded in 1881 as the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences. It’s the borough’s only general interest museum, housing collections on natural history (like Ice Age fossils), art, and local lore – including artifacts from the Lenape era and the infamous 1858 Quarantine War, when locals burned down a hospital to protest yellow fever outbreaks.
Head south to the island’s sprawling natural spaces, where urban myths give way to verdant realities. The Staten Island Greenbelt, a 2,800-acre network of parks and trails, is one of NYC’s largest contiguous forest preserves, featuring wetlands, ponds, and over 35 miles of hiking paths. It’s home to diverse wildlife, including deer, turkeys, and rare birds, and includes the High Rock Park, a 90-acre hilltop oasis with glacial erratics left from the last Ice Age.
No walkthrough is complete without Freshkills Park, a phoenix rising from the ashes of the world’s largest landfill. Opened in 1948 and closed in 2001 after handling up to 29,000 tons of trash daily, this 2,200-acre site – three times larger than Central Park – is transforming into a massive public park with meadows, waterways and renewable energy installations. By 2036, it will feature kayaking, mountain biking and art installations, symbolizing environmental redemption. The landfill’s methane gas now powers thousands of homes via capture technology.
End your trek at the South Shore beaches, like Wolfe’s Pond Park or Conference House Park, fringed by the Atlantic. These sandy stretches offer fishing, birdwatching, and views of New Jersey across the Arthur Kill. Staten Island’s coastline, once dotted with oyster beds so vast they sustained Native Americans for millennia, now hosts migratory birds and seals in winter.
Throughout your walk, dip into cultural gems. The Staten Island Zoo, opened in 1936, is famed for its reptile house – the first in the U.S. dedicated solely to snakes – and its conservation efforts, including breeding programs for endangered species like the Amur leopard. Or catch a show at the opulent St. George Theatre, a 1929 vaudeville palace restored to host Broadway tours and concerts.
Staten Island’s modern history includes a 1993 secession vote (65% in favor, but blocked by state legislature) and resilience after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which devastated coastal areas but spurred buyout programs for safer development. Today, it’s nicknamed the “Borough of Parks” with 12,300 acres of green space, and “Shaolin” by Wu-Tang Clan fans, honoring the group’s roots here.
As our stroll concludes, Staten Island reveals itself not as an afterthought, but a layered landscape where Dutch settlers’ footprints meet revolutionary battlegrounds and reclaimed wilds. While you’re ferrying in for a day or lingering longer, this borough invites you to walk its paths and uncover stories that bridge New York’s past and future. Pack comfortable shoes – the history here is as expansive as the views.