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Farming on Staten Island: Decline and Influence on Staten Island’s Identity

Contents

"Farming Production: Important to Early Staten Island"

Olmsted Farmhouse. From Wikipedia Commons.

Farms were once an essential building block of the economy. As of February 8th 1841, of the 2,145 business inhabitants (employed persons) on Staten Island, 841 were employed in agriculture. The growing immigration rate supported the large amount of farms and need for high production rate on the island. Crop value on Staten Island in 1839 was about $169,336, dairy produce was $25,506, and poultry produce was $8,001(1).


Demographics When Farming Was Prominent

In the mid 1800s an influx of Italian, Irish, and German immigrants flowed into Staten Island and were later followed by a small number of Polish and Scandinavians (7). This further increased the white population into the early 1900s. In 1900 the population of Staten Island was 67,021 with a proportion of 98.3% white, 1.6% Black, and .1% of another race (7). With this in mind it is safe to say that the majority of farmers on Staten Island around 1900 were still predominantly white individuals of European decent.


The Decline of Farming on Staten Island and What Replaced Them

Staten Island Expressway, Victory Boulevard. From Wikipedia Commons.

Farm decline was due to a number of different variables. According to an article from SI Live, the progressive demise of farms was due to several factors including; the growing rate of people, rise of industry and factories, pollution, and especially the building of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (3). In particular the Verrazano Narrows Bridge caused an estimated 58.6 percent increase in the population between 1960 and 1980 (7). In effect farms of all sizes began to fall to allow for housing developments, which facilitated the influx of people. Furthermore, an article from the Staten Island Advance in 1964 explains that families began to veer away from the life of farming because “they could not afford it (farming) for different reasons”(5).



Demographics Today and the Remaining Farm

Patricia Salmon, curator of history at the Staten Island Museum, explains two important changes in ethnicity that farming brought about in the mid 1900s. She explained that around 1940 Staten Island began to see an influx of Greek immigrants who were experienced with farming. She also noted that in the 1950s, before the building of the Verrazano Bridge, many Puerto Ricans immigrated to Staten Island as farm hands (4). Today 487,407 people occupy Staten Island. According to the United States Census Bureau, today about 11% of Islanders are of African American descent, 8% are of Asian descent, about 15% are Hispanic, and 6% are of another race (6). Although the population is still predominantly white, it has changed a great deal since 1900 when Caucasians made up almost 99% of the entire population on Staten Island. Although Staten Island has changed a great deal, one farm sill stands today. The Decker Farm is located on Clark Ave. in Staten Island. It was started in 1841 and was fully operational until about 1960 when it was sold to the Parks Department of NYC. Still today one can learn rug beating, participate in washing clothes on an 18th century washboard, rake hay, and carry water with yokes (2).



References

1) Akerly, Samuel. "'AGRICULTURE OF RICHMOND COUNTY': DR. SAMUEL AKERLY'S REPORT OF 1842." Staten Island Historian [Staten Island] Vol. XXXI. No. 5. 16 Mar. 2010.

2) Clarke, Susan. "NYC's Last Working Farm Protected." Conserving Land For People. 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. <http://www.tpl.org>.

3) Danna, Ed A. "The Little Farm That Could." SI Live [Staten Island] 27 Sept. 2007, Home and Garden sec.: 1. Print.

4) Salmon, Patricia. Personal interview. 13 April 2010

5) Stores, Philip J. "His 40 Acres Shrink to 4 As the Pressure Mounts." Staten Island Advance [Staten Island] 6 Oct. 1964. Print.

6) "USCensus."Web.4Apr.2010.<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?>

7) Youssef, Nadia Haggag. Changing Population Dynamics on Staten Island: the Transition from Homogeneity to Racial and Ethnic Diversity. New York: Center for Migration Studies of New York, 1991. Print.