The Iconography of Staten Island, Essay No. 2

The idea for writing these essays about the iconography of Staten Island came to me while viewing I.N. Phelps Stokes' illustrious and voluminous Iconography of Manhattan Island.  Phelps-Stokes was living at a time of rapid, progressive change in America, not seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The natural and built environment was irrevocably changed at unprecedented speeds within New York City during his lifetime.  

Mr & Mrs I.N. Phelps Stokes painted by J.S. Sargent, 1897

This may have prompted him to document the iconic and historic structures that had been lost to the wrecking ball, and were in danger of succumbing to demolition.  His brother, Anson Phelps Stokes had a beautiful Mansion surrounded by specimen trees on Staten Island in New Brighton overlooking the harbor. This Gilded Age Mansion, sadly has been dismantled.

Anson Phelps-Stokes Mansion, New Brighton, 1928

A sense of place and the people that live in that place are anchored by the surviving historic landmarks, statues, and public and private structures that dot the landscape.  Once these landmarks are destroyed they can never be replaced.  Our memories and the connections to our collective past, who we are, what we have become and what we will leave behind are irrevocably lost forever.  Historic places do hold our collective memory. A hospital building as iconic as the Samuel R. Smith Infirmary is one important structure that has the ability to stabilize a community, a neighborhood, a Borough, and a City, permanently linking us to our past.  We must strive to keep this landmark that rises astride the hillside and reaches up to the sky, and the few remaining iconic structures that are still remaining on Staten Island today.
S. R. Smith Infirmary
Bibliography:
Stokes, I N. P. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Arno Press, 1967. Print.


Mason, Randall. The Once and Future New York: Historic Preservation and the Modern City. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Print.

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