Here you can find specific points of interest on Staten Island. Including commercial centers, cultural attractions, or other places that might just would not typically find. This could also incorporate unusual places, some that are a bit off the beaden path.

In 1675, a couple from Warwickshire, England immigrated to America. This couple, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Merrill, settled in Staten Island, where they owned much land. By 1683, the area in which they resided came to be known saw_mill_1_400as the town of Northfield. Beginning in 1866, the towns were dissolved and smaller villages were created. These villages became neighborhoods, in which you will find even smaller communities today. Now, the area in which Mr. and Mrs. Richard Merrill originally moved is known as Bloomfield.

From the beginning of the eighteenth century, well into the nineteenth century, Staten Island was largely dependent upon farming. The land owned by Richard Merrill was made up entirely of farmland, with a few exceptions, such as their house. Richard…

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In the community of Midland Beach, you will find two sites operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation: Midland Field and Midland Playground.  The two parks are parallel to each other, being separated by midland_playground_1_400Midland Avenue to the Field's south and the Playground's north.  Midland Field, which is on top, is bounded to the north by Bedford Avenue, the west by Boundary Avenue, and the east by Mason Avenue.  It takes up almost eight acres of land.  Midland Playground, on the other hand, is only a fraction of Midland Field's size.  It is almost two acres in total and, like Midland Field, is bounded to the east by Mason Avenue.  However, since it does not extend as far along Midland Avenue as Midland Field does, its imaginary western boundary…

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Located on the North Shore of Staten Island, in the neighborhood of Mariner's Harbor, is Mariners Marsh Park. It is on the western section of the North Shore and is bordered by only two streets. The park is bound by Richmond Terrace to the north and Holland Avenue to the east.

mariners_marsh_400Prior to becoming a park, this parcel of land was an ancient Indian village and was used as an industrial site. In 1903, the Milliken Brothers' Structural Iron Works and Rolling Mill opened a plant on this site. The Milliken Brothers were one of the largest manufactures of steel products during this time. While opening this plant in 1903, the American Museum of Natural History excavated the spot to find the burial and village site of the Lenape Indians, along with many artifacts…

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October of 1929 played a very significant role in shaping the future for America. Many Americans are quite familiar with what happened at this time-even if they have a hard time remembering dates. During the end of the month, lyons_pool_staten islandthe stock market crashed. This brought upon the well-known Great Depression, which lasted through the 1930s.

By 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration, which provided several million Americans with paying jobs. One of these jobs was the installation of eleven outdoor swimming pools in the City of New York. One of these pools was constructed on the waterfront between 1934 and 1936 in Staten Island's neighborhood of Tompkinsville. Once construction on the 2.56-acre site was completed,…

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Staten Island is home to fifty-one Forever Wild Nature Preserves. In Staten Island's Great Kill's Neighborhood, you wilking_fisher_sign_400l find one of these preserves taking up roughly twenty-two acres of land.  The park is officially known as King Fisher Park; however, the preserve is known as the Islington Pond Park Preserve. For the most part, the park is bounded by Corbin Avenue to the east, Barlow Avenue and Islington Street to the south, Miles Avenue to the west, and Fairfield Street to the north.  Another eastern and western boundary, which would vertically cut through the center of the park if it were connected on both sides, is Greaves Avenue.

Stretching across Miles Avenue, from Fairfield Street to Islington Street, you will find King Fisher Park's pride and…

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fdr_boardwalk_south_beach_2_640During the nineteenth century, much of Staten Island was used as a summer resort for its neighboring boroughs.  This was especially so closer to the shore, where people had access to the beach.  By the beginning of the twentieth century, in 1906, an amusement park opened on the eastern shore of Staten Island.  The Happyland Amusement Park, located in South Beach, was a widely anticipated attraction-so much so that at the time of its opening, thirty-thousand people traveled to Staten Island for its grand opening.

In 1912, a carousel was constructed at Happyland Amusement Park. The carousel became the most popular attraction of the park.  However, it was not the only feature enjoyed by the amusement park's visitors.  Happyland Amusement Park also had such…

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Kaltenmeier Playground is located in the neighborhood of Rosebank on the North Shore of Staten Island. It is bordered by the streets of Virginia Avenue, Anderson Street, and Clifton Avenue. These streets also divide Kaltenmeier PlaygroundKaltenmeier Playground into three separate sections. The main lot, which is below Virginia Avenue, is a small parcel of land that is only about half an acre in size. This section of the park has been transformed from an empty lot into a local play area for the children of the community. The other two sections, which are both located above Virginia Avenue and separated by Anderson Street, are natural forests that have been left alone. Altogether, the three sections add up to about one acre of land.

Kaltenmeier Playground was named after…

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During the early part of the twentieth century, Louis A. Dreyfus founded the L.A. Dreyfus Company in the neighbhero_1_400orhood of Clifton.  This company was based off of a discovery of his in 1909, in which he was able to manufacture a chewing gum base.  After four years of steady growth, the L.A. Dreyfus Company had gotten so popular that the demand outweighed the supply by a great deal.  With not enough room to swing a cat, Dreyfus had to relocate his company to New Jersey.The Location of Hero Park puts it between Grymes Hill, Silver Lake, and Ward Hill.

In 1914, around the time of the L.A. Dreyfus Company's heightened popularity on Staten Island, the First World War had begun.  The United States had tried their best to stay neutral during the war.  Once…

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On July 7, 1997, roughly nine acres of land in the neighborhood of Graniteville were assigned to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. This area of land is within the site known as Graniteville Swamp, which is five graniteville_park_swamptimes the size of the acreage assigned to the Parks Department.  On June 1, 2000, another addition was made to what is now known as Graniteville Swamp Park.  This little sliver of land, in addition to the original portion obtained by the Parks Department, account for close to nothing when they are compared to the size of the swamp.

Graniteville Swamp was originally surrounded by Forest Avenue to the north and west, South Avenue to the east, and Goethals Road North to the south. Morrow Street, which juts out of Forest Avenue…

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Eibs Pond Park is located on the North Shore of Staten Island. The park is bordered by the streets of Mosel Avenue, Palma Drive, and Hanover Avenue. Eibs Pond Park is approximately 17 acres of protected wetlands and is made up of three separate ponds.

eibs__pond_park_400Eibs Pond Park received its name from the Eibs family that lived on this land from the 1800s until 1971. The Eibs were a German-American family who used this land as a dairy farm in the 1800s. The Eibs used what is now known as Eibs Pond as a watering hole for their horses and cows.

Starting in the early 20th century Eibs pond was used for more than the Eibs' family watering hole. In 1914, the site of the pond was used in a couple of movies. Firstly, it was used in several episodes of The Perils of…

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