Farms of the Past on Staten Island

In conjunction with the Museum of the City of New York's Exhibit "From Farm to City: Staten Island, 1661-2012" we will display some photos (courtesy of The New York Public Library) of old  farms on Staten Island  on our Blog.

Agriculture played a distinctive and important part of Staten Island's economic growth, from Native Americans who farmed the land to the colonization of the Island by the Huguenots and the English.

Farm life was a constant battle with nature, taming the landscape to create farm fields, the cutting of forests and the clearing and draining of the swamps and marshes for pasture for domesticated animals.  Horses were a dominant feature, used for the plowing and transport of produce. Many farms also had fruit orchards growing various types of apples, pears, peaches, and figs. Manhattan was the primary market for the 18th and 19th century Yeoman Farmer of Richmond County.

The only remaining working farm on Staten Island is the Decker Farm, administered by Historic Richmond Town. Please visit and support the Green Market there and at other locations on Staten Island.

Hopefully, the current 'trend" and interest in locally grown organic produce will continue to grow, and more people will  participate in the Local, Personal Farming Movement.

Dripps, Matthew,  Composite: Staten Island 1872 (Map Not in MCNY Exhibit!)

Richmond Avenue and Richmond Hill Road, O. N. Melvin Farm

Manor Road and Brielle Avenue, before it was the Farm Collony

Near the end of North Washington Avenue, Old Place (near the Clove))

At Arthur Kill Road, near Richmond Avenue

  Wainwright Avenue, Willow Brook

Willow Brook Road and Arthur Kill Road

Corn Field near Bloomingdale Road

Farm in Dongan Hills

Farm near Merrill Avenue

Collecting Pansy Plants, Willowbrook Farm

Poppy Joe Island

Dudley Homestead, New Dorp

Flemish/Dutch Residence

Todt Hill Road

On a Staten Island Farm, New Dorp, Staten Island, N.Y. (cows standing on dirt path)

Old Place

Salt Hay Farm near Woodrow Road

Britton Cottage (1678), once stood on New Dorp Lane, New Dorp (now at Historic Richmond Town)

Panorama of Richmond, Staten Island, N.Y. [view from high ground with St. Andrew's Church]

Nick M.

A Magnified View of  Richmond Town and Southfield, from the Dripps map (1872)