The following outlines the History of the Staten Island Railway from 1836 to 1899. The Staten Island Railway (SIR), a rapid transit line in the New York City borough of Staten Island, was incorporated as the Staten Island Rail Road on August 2, 1851, following a failed proposal in 1836 to construct a line on the island. The railroad was financed with a loan from Cornelius Vanderbilt, and completed to Tottenville in 1860. After a period of success, the railroad went into foreclosure and was transferred to the Staten Island Railway Company in 1873. By 1880 the railway was barely operational, and Erastus Wiman, one of the island's most prominent residents, organized the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company (SIRT) that year. He partnered with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) to build a large rail terminal on the island and centralize the six-to-eight ferry landings. He secured an extension on a land-purchase option from George Law by offering to name it "St. George" after him.
Part of the North Shore Branch opened in 1884. The lighthouse just above Tompkinsville impeded the line's extension to St. George but, after the SIRT lobbied for an act of Congress, construction of a tunnel under the lighthouse began in 1885. The SIR was leased to the B&O for 99 years in 188; proceeds of the lease were used to complete the terminal at Saint George, pay for two miles of waterfront property, complete the Rapid Transit Railroad, build a bridge over the Kill Van Kull at Elizabethport, and build other terminal facilities. The remainder of the North Shore Branch, along with St. George Terminal, opened for service in 1886,. In 1888, the South Beach Branch opened for passenger service to Arrochar, and in 1893, the South Beach Branch was extended to a new terminal at South Beach. The new lines opened by the B&O were known as the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway, and the original line (from Clifton to Tottenville) was called the Staten Island Railway.
In 1886, Congress passed a law authorizing the construction of a 500-foot (150 m) swing bridge over Arthur Kill, completed two years later. In 1889, construction began on the Baltimore and New York Railway—a 5.25-mile (8.45 km) line from Arthur Kill to the Jersey Central at Cranford, and was finished later in the year; the first train operated from St. George Terminal to Cranford Junction in 1890. When the Arthur Kill Bridge was completed, the United States War Department was unsuccessfully pressured by the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania Railroads to have the newly built bridge replaced with a bridge with a different design; according to the railroads, it was an obstruction to navigation of the large numbers of coal barges past Holland Hook on Arthur Kill.
Prior efforts: 1836–1860
The railway's predecessor, the Staten Island Rail-Road Company, was incorporated on May 21, 1836. The charter called for the construction of a single or double-tracked line "commencing at some point in the town of Southfield, within one mile of the steamboat landing at the Quarantine, and terminating at some point in the town of Westfield; opposite Amboy." The proposed line would have run between the present-day locations of Clifton and Tottenville. The route had an estimated cost of $300,000. However, the company lost its charter in 1838 because the railroad was not built within two years after it was incorporated.
Attempts to start a rail line on the island were restarted in 1849 and 1850, when residents of Perth Amboy and Staten Island held meetings concerning a possible Tottenville-to-Stapleton line. Like the previous attempt in 1836, they faced financial difficulties, and sought out the help of William Vanderbilt—a son of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt and a resident of Staten Island. Vanderbilt had conceived of such a railroad as a way to reduce the monopoly of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which was the only mean of reaching Philadelphia. Passengers would take ferries from New York City to Amboy, the railroad to Camden, and finally a ferry to Philadelphia. Vanderbilt thought his railroad would cut travel times—passengers would take a ferry from New York to Staten Island, then take his railroad, before taking a ferry to Amboy—and eliminate the monopoly of the Camden and Amboy between New York City and its terminus in Amboy. Since the plan conceived by the local residents followed Vanderbilt's proposed route, he helped charter the Staten Island Railroad Company (SIRR) on August 2, 1851, in order to build the rail line. The articles of association for the company were filed on October 18, 1851.
In 1852, the line was expected to cost $322,195. Two possible route options were considered; the first would start at New Ferry Dock in Stapleton, before passing through Rocky Hollow, following the valley between Castleton and Southfield Heights before descending to New Dorp. After going through the valley, the line would curve toward Amboy Road before curving southward, passing Billop House, and ending near Biddle's Grove and the Amboy ferries. The second route would start at Vanderbilt's Landing and run through Clifton to New Dorp.
The railroad's charter gave it two years to be built. Like the original plan for the line, however, difficulties were encountered. One problem was the acquisition of property for the line's right-of-way; many property owners refused to sell their land, blocking the proposed line. To prevent the loss of the line's charter, in 1853, the company successfully petitioned for a two-year extension to build the line. In 1853, a bill giving the company the right to operate ferries between New York and Staten Island was passed. Still facing difficulties, in January 1855 the company applied to the New York State Legislature for a three-year extension to complete the project. After all of the property required for the right-of-way was acquired, construction commenced in November 1855. The company, however, had run out of money to complete the line and asked Cornelius Vanderbilt—the sole Staten Island-to-Manhattan ferry operator—for a loan. Vanderbilt agreed to finance the railroad, but changed the northern terminal of the line from Stapleton to Vanderbilt's Landing, his ferry landing further east. Vanderbilt tried to stop competitors who had obtained a lease for the ferry at Vanderbilt's Landing before he could get a lease. He appointed James R. Robinson to build a structure to block his competitors, but on July 28, 1851, people tried to deconstruct the almost-finished structure and threatened to hurt Robinson if he tried to block them. In 1858, Cornelius's son William Vanderbilt was inducted onto the railroad's board of directors.
Opening: 1860 Stockholders and officials took an inaugural ride on the double-track line between Vanderbilt's Landing and Eltingville on February 1, 1860, and passenger operations began on April 23 that year. At Vanderbilt's Landing, passengers continued their passage to Manhattan by ferry. The first locomotive was named "Albert Journeay", after the railroad's president. A second locomotive was added to the line on May 5, 1860; it was named "E. Bancker" after the company's vice-president. The remainder of the line was expected to be completed in a month.
Over the next month, the remainder of the line was built between Annadale and Pleasant Plains as a single-track line, with a passing siding at Huguenot, passing through mosquito-infested land laced with peat bogs and quicksand—an area known locally as Skunk's Misery. It took a lot of time and wood to build the sub-roadbed with logs. It was viewed as unlikely to be a worthwhile investment to double-track the line because of the low passenger volume south of New Dorp. South of Pleasant Plains, the line was double-tracked. The line was extended to Annadale on May 14, 1860, and was completed to Tottenville on June 2, 1860, with a formal opening of the railroad. The completion of the line to Tottenville allowed passengers to transfer to a ferry that crossed the Arthur Kill and allowed passage to Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Initially, services made eleven stops between Vanderbilt's Landing and Tottenville. Many stations were named after nearby large farms, such as Garretson's and Gifford's. The stations built at Eltingville and Annadale—whose namesakes, the Eltings family and Anna Seguine, were influential in paying for the construction of the rail line—were the most elaborate. The arrival of the railroad gave dignity to some locations on Staten Island; "Poverty Hollow" was renamed Rosebank, Oakwood became Oakwood Heights, and other places were renamed with the coming of the railroad.
In August 1860, the railroad was extended from the depot at Vanderbilt's Landing to the wharf, which allowed passengers to walk directly to the boat from the train instead of walking along the sand. At the time, it took one and a half hours to get to Tottenville from Manhattan. Patronage of the rail line exceeded the greatest expectations of its projectors. On February 27, 1861, the New Jersey Locomotive Works gave notice of foreclosure on the two locomotives; Cornelius Vanderbilt interceded again and on September 4, 1861, the SIRR was placed into receivership with William Vanderbilt to prevent the loss of the locomotives and rolling stock to creditors. The Vanderbilts had taken stock in the railroad but in 1863, William Vanderbilt managed the receivership well enough for it to be discharged, with the debt paid off. As a result, the railroad became property of the Vanderbilts; facilities were enlarged under their leadership—an expansion made possible by increasing the capital stock to $800,000 from $350,000.
On October 5, 1861, in what might have been the first major accident on the railroad, Mary Austin, age 16, was killed by a train at Princess Bay as she crossed the tracks.
Ferry conflicts: 1860–1884 Ferry service between Perth Amboy and Tottenville began in 1863, operated by the SIRR. It was necessary to have a direct connection between the trains and the infrequent ferries to and from Manhattan, but this was difficult during the beginning of operation. The ferries serving Vanderbilt's Landing were owned by the attorney George Law. Vanderbilt tried to operate a ferry service between Manhattan and Staten Island that would compete with Law's. He also started construction on a central dock on the island, but he abandoned the scheme after a storm destroyed the timber work. Only the large stone foundation remained; it was still visible at low tide in 1900.
Vanderbilt was eventually forced to sell his ferry service to Law after a franchise battle. After the battle, Vanderbilt lost interest in transit operations on Staten Island and he handed the ferry and railroad operations to his brother Jacob H. Vanderbilt, who was the president of the company until 1883. In March 1864, William Vanderbilt bought Law's ferries, bringing both the railroad and the ferries under the same company. In 1865, the railroad took over operation of the New York & Richmond Ferry Company, and would later assume direct responsibility for operating the ferry service to Manhattan. The Perth Amboy and Staten Island ferries were taken over by the railroad under the leadership of Jacob Vanderbilt, who increased service.