The History of the Staten Island Ferry
Most people do not realize that ferries have existed to and from Staten Island since the time of the Lenape. As the island evolved and its transportation system became more elaborate the ferries that operated also changed. This video features more than 400 years of Staten Island ferry service, and it includes the entrepreneurs involved, the ferryboats themselves, and the landings that existed all around this once isolated island.
Patricia M. Salmon retired as Curator of History at the Staten Island Museum in 2012. A Staten Island resident for almost fifty years, she was a Naturalist/Historian at Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve in that borough for eight years. Ms. Salmon has authored the books Realms of History: The Cemeteries of Staten Island, The Staten Island Ferry: A History, Murder & Mayhem on Staten Island and Staten Island Slayings: Murderers and Mysteries of the Forgotten Borough. A board member of the Tottenville Historical Society, she is a consultant to the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island and an adjunct professor at Wagner College in Staten Island.