Prodigy Real Estate - SI NY Real Estate Blog - 10303

Graniteville Quarry Park: Graniteville, Staten Island: Named after old neighborhood quarry.

On the North Shore of Staten Island, there is the neighborhood of Graniteville. This neighborhood received its name from the quarry of granite that ran through the area. Between the mid-to-late 1800s, the granite was quarried for the building of roads and walls on Staten Island. It was not until years later that it was found that the quarry was actually made up of diabase, and not granite.

After the quarry was closed, excess dirt from where new houses were being built was filled into the quarry and it turned into a vacant lot. In the mid-1970s, Dr. Alan Benimoff, a current professor at the College of Staten Island, was surveying the land and found a rare stone within the diabase. This stone is called trondhjemite and is only known to be found in Wales…

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Grandview Playground, Staten Island

On January 30, 1952, the City of New York acquired a parcel of land which was made up of only three acres. The site was owned by the New York City Housing Authority, who had a housing complex built on an adjacent lot, at 200 Lockman Avenue. The housing complex became known as the Mariners' Harbor Houses, due to the fact that it is located in the neighborhood which bears the same name. On June 27, 1957, the New York City Housing Authority leased the three-acre parcel of land to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. There, they constructed what would be known as the Mariners' Harbor Houses Playground.

With the Mariners' Harbor Houses housing complex bordering the park to the north and east, that leaves just two other boundaries. To the…

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Saw Mill Creek Marsh Park, Staten Island NY

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 as 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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Mariners Marsh Park: Mariners Harbor, Staten Island NY

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.

Prior 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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The Goethals Bridge, Staten Island

The Goethals Bridge, Staten Island

For years, ferries serviced the island, taking residents from Staten Island to New Jersey and vice versa.  During the late 1860's, the idea of a bridge connecting the two was introduced.  In 1890, a railroad bridge was constructed, connecting Elizabethport, New Jersey and Staten Island's Howland Hook Marine Terminal.  After the First World War, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, the demand rose for a bridge that could accommodate automobile traffic.  By 1923, the New York and New Jersey Bridge and Tunnel Commission announced that they would be constructing two bridges that would serve such a purpose; one connecting northwestern Staten Island to New Jersey and the other connecting southwestern Staten Island.

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The Bayonne Bridge

During the early part of the twentieth century, residents requested that a bridge be built which would simplify the commute into Bayonne, New Jersey from Staten Island. The governors of both New York and New Jersey accepted their request and sanctioned the Port of New York Authority to have the bridge built. On September 18, 1928, construction commenced, using the designs of Othmar H. Ammann and Cass Gilbert. By November of 1931, construction was complete and the bridge opened on the 15th of that month in the neighborhood of Port Richmond, making it the longest steel-arch bridge in the world. Over the years, of course, longer bridges have been built, but it is still currently in the top five, being the fourth-longest in the world and the second…

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