USA > New York > Staten Island > History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York : from its discovery to the present time > Part 3
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These superficial deposits have probably had their origin in the deposition of the material composing them from the waters of thermal springs, which have come to the surface through crevices in the serpentine. The iron in the solutions was prob- ably in the form of the carbonate, which on reaching the sur- face became oxidized by contact with the atmosphere, and was thrown out of solution and deposited as the hydrated sesqui- oxide, as we now find it. Magnetic iron sand occurs with the limonite in one of the deposits on Todt hill. This was prob-
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
ably washed in mechanically while the hydrated oxide was be- ing deposited from solution.
Extensive deposits of light-colored sand, similar in character to those found so abundantly on Bergen neck, occur along the edges of the salt meadows on the western side of the island, from Mariner's Harbor to near Chelsea landing, sometimes ex- tending to a distance of one-half to three-quarters of a mile on the upland, and thus occupying a position between the trap- dyke and the salt meadows. The material is a fine, yellowish, loamy sand, containing no gravel or pebbles, but rests on the glacial drift, and is hence of post glacial age. This sand was once the western beach of the extensive body of salt water which formerly occupied the basin now filled with the salt-marsh de- posits, and which extended over all the Newark and Hacken- sack meadows, but has now been reduced to the area of New- ark bay. The sands of this old beach were blown inland, and formed into dunes by the generally prevailing westerly winds. On a windy day the manner of the formation of these dunes may still be plainly seen. A number of pine barren plants have been found lodging in this sandy soil. both on the island and on Bergen neck, and it is probable that others may be found when more exhaustive explorations are made.
Modern Epoch .- Under this head are included deposits whose formation began at a comparatively recent period, and whose growth still continues.
Deposits of marine alluvium or salt meadows extend over an area of about nine and one-half square miles of the island. The material composing them consists for the most part of partially decomposed vegetable matter mixed with a little clay and sand. These salt meadow areas have once been shallow bays, which have gradually been filled up, first by the deposit of silt from their waters and the growth of marine plants, and ultimately by the growth and decay of grasses and rushes. This latter process is yet in operation, and thus the salt meadows keep at about the level of the highest tides. Their most abundant grass is the Spartina juncea (Willd. ), while the rush is Juncus Gerardi (Lam.), commonly known as " black grass." A number of other plants contribute small amounts to the vegetable growth, making the salt-meadow flora quite a varied one. The most extensive areas covered by these deposits are along New creek and the Great kills, on the eastern shore, and from Rossville
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
northward along Arthur kill, The thickness of the marshes is exceedingly variable, probably as much as thirty feet in some places and but a few inches in others. The dried material con- sists of decaying fibres mixed with a little clay, sand and oxide of iron. The latter substance produces the iridescent film com- monly seen in the marshes, and popularly supposed to be oil.
Sand beaches occur along all the shores that are directly ex- posed to the waves. The greatest accumulations of sand are on the shore of the Lower bay, from Clifton southward to the so-called Point of the Beach, near Gifford's, at Segnine's point. near Prince's bay, and at Ward's point, The point near Gif- ford's is slowly lengthening and curving in toward the shore, and a similar point is in process of formation at the mouth of New creek. The accumulation of sand at Ward's point, below Tottenville. is also quite great. These points are produced by the combined action of the currents of the Lower bay and the streams flowing into it, which carry the sand along the coast until finally it is driven up on the beaches by the waves.
Sands composed of magnetic iron ore occur with the quartz sand, and are generally found in layers of a fraction of an inch in thickness, but an accumulation of this material to a depth of four inches has recently been fonnd at low water on the beach near the Elm Tree light-house, but it contains titanium and is not likely to be of much economic importance. All the sands originally resulted from the disintegration of rocks, and have been carried by water down the rivers emptying into the bays, and have also resulted in part from the direct disintegra- tion of the coasts.
Trne peat occurs in but few places on Staten Island. Some is found in the Clove Lake swamps, in several swamps near Richmond and Gifford's, and toward Tottenville. In one lo- cality near Richmond the peat deposit is at least ten feet thick.
The entire southeastern shore of Staten Island is gradually being washed away. In some places the loss is very apparent. At the foot of New Dorp lane, near where the Elm Tree light- house now stands, a large American elm was standing not longer ago than 1840. The place where it grew is now beyond the end of a dock which extends some four hundred feet into the water. This indicates an average wasting of at least ten feet per year from the shore. At Cedar Grove, half a mile south of this point, there has been a loss of about three hundred and fifty
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY. 19
feet since 1850, which shows about the same average. At Prince's bay the government has been obliged to build a heavy sea wall in front of the bluff on which the light house is placed, and a like precaution has been taken at the forts on the Narrows.
The two causes operating to effect the wasting of the coast are the constant abrading action of the waves and currents. and the gradual depression of the coasts. By the course of the prevailing currents in the Lower bay the eroded material, to- gether with part of that brought down by the rivers. is carried southwardly along the coast, the sands being deposited as beaches, bars and points, while the finer, muddy part is carried farther, and finally deposited in the deeper waters of the bay, or out into the ocean. The land on the shore is sometimes pro. tected by building bulkheads of stone or other substantial ma terial, running out some hundreds of feet against the southern part of the shore to be protected. Such bulkheads break the force of the sand-bearing currents and cause them to drop their burdens of sand on the north side of the obstruction, and the waves drive it up on the shore, thus actually making land. The other cause of the decadence of the coast is found in its gradual depression. Prof. George H. Cook has estimated that the shores of New Jersey and Long Island are suffering a depression of about two feet every hundred years. Others vary this estimate slightly, but it is agreed by all that there is a sinking of the shores slowly but continually going on. It will be seen that if this coast settles down to ten feet below its present level. the greater part of the plains extending south of the moraine from Giffords to Clifton, now the most valuable land in the county, will be covered with salt meadows within a few hundred years, provided they are not sooner washed away by the action of the currents.
We must close this interesting subject with a few words on the economic uses to which the geological products of the island have been applied. The limonite ore of Todt hill, Four Cor- ners, and other places, has been used in blast furnaces in con- nection with other more refractory ores, or has been screened. ground and washed, to produce red ochre paint. The total amount hitherto mined may be as great as 300,000 tons. Fire clay is employed in the production of refractory ware, at Kreischerville, of which mention has already been made. Clays
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
of glacial drift origin are used in the manufacture of common brick near Richmond and Linoleumville, Quarries of trap rock have been worked at Graniteville and near Port Richmond for many years, The rock is either cut into blocks and shipped to New York to be used for street pavements, or crushed into small pieces and employed in MacAdam or Telford pavements on Staten Island. Some edifices have been constructed of this rock, but it is not well suited for building purposes. The fibrous serpentine rock, erroneously called asbestos, has been mined near Tompkinsville landing, to the extent of perhaps twenty-five or thirty tons, and used for the purposes for which asbestos is em- ployed. Thousands of tons of beach sand are annually taken from the southeastern coast, and used in New York and Brook- lyn for building purposes. In some places so much sand has been removed that property along the shore has been seriously damaged, by exposing roads and meadows to the action of the waves.
The variety in the geological formation, already described, exerts a powerful influence over the occurrence and distri- bution of the vegetation, which is surprisingly rich in its number of species, In 1879 Messrs. N. L. Britton and Arthur Hollick. to whom we are indebted for the facts which we give under this head, after three years of careful search aud study, compiled and published a catalogue of the flowering plants with the ferns and their allies, known to grow on Staten Island independent of cultivation, This catalogne enumerated 1,050 species and varieties. The following year an appendix was issued enumerating forty six more. In 1882 the second appendix was published containing sixty-seven additions. A third appendix, showing forty-six more, was issued in 1885, and now the fourth appendix is found necessary, con- taining a farther list of thirty-six species. In other words there are at the present time 1,245 species and varieties of wild plants known on Staten Island, which has an area of only about fifty-nine square miles, while the entire flora
of New York state, covering an area of about 45,000 square miles, numbers only about 1,800. So that little Richmond county is the possessor of two-thirds of the state Hora as known at the present time. About fifty of the species were not known in the state until discovered and reported from this county. The surprising richness, as previously stated, is
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
due in part to the fact that the cretaceous sands and clays in the region around Tottenville and Kreischerville carry with them a large number of the plants characteristic of that for- mation in New Jersey known as the "Pine Barren " flora; while the drift, which covers the rest of the island with a mantle of sand, loam, gravel and " hard pan," affords a home for many of the plants which occur to the north and up the Hudson river valley. There are also several species which are confined entirely to the ridge of serpentine or soapstone rock, which forms the backbone of the island, extending from St. George to Richmond.
The physiographic conditions are also of importance, as the island occupies a position surrounded by salt water, besides having several large ponds of fresh water, running streams and perpetual springs. There are also high and dry hills, low and wet swamps, and some artificially-made ground. The latter has mostly been filled in with refuse, and ballast from vessels. and through this agency about thirty of the species have been intro- duced. The inevitable march of progress, while it has intro- duced a few plants, mostly troublesome weeds, such as the "pig-weed," "worm-seed," stramonium, amaranthus, and other pests of our fields and gardens, has destroyed and crowded out many of our native species, or completely destroyed them in certain localities where they were formerly abundant. The forest trees were the first to suffer, as they are in all com- munities in which immediate gain is counted higher than ulti- mate utility. The entire island, except on the salt marshies, was, it is said, originally covered with a thick growth, in which oak and chestnut predominated. In the time of the revolution, most of this forest was cut down, and there are now but com. paratively few trees that have seen one linndred years of growth. The mass of the forest growth at the present time is probably about half that age, or a little more, although there are a few isolated examples which are noteworthy. One of the most con- spicuous objects near Garretson's station is a huge white oak, standing alone in the middle of a field, on the south side of the track. In a little secluded valley to the north of the station is a chestnut whose trunk measures eighteen feet in circumference. It is. so far as known. the largest tree on the island, in regard to girth. The next largest is probably a white oak which stands in a field at Green Ridge. Its circumference is fifteen
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
feet two inches, and it is a remarkable object, but its existence is known by but few people, on account of its distance from any road.
The willow trees at the Billop honse, Tottenville, follow next, the largest one showing a circumference of thirteen feet seven inclies. Near Court House station are two of the finest examples of perfect symmetry in tree development to be found anywhere. They are both white oaks. One of them, with a circumference of eleven feet, is in a field close by the station, and the other is in a patch of woods about a quarter of a mile away. The latter one has a girth of eleven feet six inches, with branches that spread for a distance of thirty or forty feet, often almost touching the ground. A magnificent grove of white pine formerly flourished on the hill back of Clove lake, but within a few years it has been cut down. There are a few scattered groves of these trees in other parts of the island, notably in Westfield, and many fine specimens may still be seen there. In a swamp at the rear of the school house at Green Ridge are a number of elms, each averaging over eleven feet in circumference, and there are many beautiful specimens of this tree which have been planted, notably at New Springville. The sycamore is undoubtedly dying ont for some reason, and probably the present generation will see its almost entire ex- termination. Almost the only really fine example of this tree now to be seen liere is in front of a cottage on the north side of the road between Rossville and Kreischerville. Among the tallest trees the tulip tree will probably bear the palm. It is seldom very large in circumference, the greatest thus far meas- ured being under ten feet, but no tree can present a finer spec- tacle when it is in full bloom.
The list of notable forest trees found here would not be com- plete without the sweet gum, which was the source of a gigantic hoax some ten years since. Its peculiar corky bark is familiar to most people, yet certain individuals found a ready sale for the branches in the streets of New York under the name of "alligator wood." A market was even found for it among the citizens of the island, many of whom brought it back with them as a great curiosity. The beech is abundant, and often conspicuous for its size. Several fine examples are to be seen standing isolated in the partially cleared land back of Clove lake. In one limited locality the sugar maple grows, in com-
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
pany with the slippery elm, but fortunately they have thus far escaped notice. Magnolias flourish in three widely separated localities-Tottenville, Giffords and Watchogue. The trees have been sadly mutilated by parties who gather the flowers for sale in New York, but as they grow in thick swamps they are not likely to be entirely exterminated until the swamps are drained and cleared. The red maple is one of the commonest trees in the lowlands, and is very conspicuous in the autumn, owing to the endless change in color which its foliage assumes. They often reach a considerable size, one in a swamp at Totten- ville being twelve feet three inches in circumference, and hol- low, so that a person can readily get entirely within the trunk. There are five species of dog-woods known here, but only one is familiar to any extent as a tree. This is the Cornus florida (L.), with large conspicuous white blossoms. The others hardly ever rise above the dignity of large shrubs or bushes. The well known evergreen holly ( Ilex opaca, Ait. ) was formerly far more abundant than it now is, although it still grows in considerable quantity in the vicinity of Richmond and Eltingville, and small scattered individual specimens are to be met with in nearly every part of the island. Not far from Giffords is a most beau- tiful example of this tree. The main trunk is four feet sixinches in circumference, and each main branch measures two feet ten inches. Its height is about twenty-five feet, and the symmetry would be perfect except that some vandals have hacked off branches on one side, presumably for Christmas greens.
The catalpa, paulownia, and locust ( Robinia, Pseudacaceu, L.) have all more or less escaped from cultivation and are thoroughly established in a wild state in many places; in fact the latter, there is good reason to believe, is native here. The ailanthus is likewise seeding itself quite extensively and seems likely to become a permanent feature. The two species of ash (Fraxinus pubescens, and Fraxinus Americana) are found sparingly throughout the island, but are mostly represented by isolated trees. The wild cherry is everywhere abundant and the cultivated one has been extensively planted in woods and copses through the agency of birds. Peach, pear and apple trees are also frequently met with in the woods and along old fence lines and hedge rows, where the seeds have been accidentally dropped. The sassafras is common and well known every- where. The hackberry, or sugarberry (Celtis occidentalis,
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
L.) is plentiful in restricted localities, notably on Richmond hill and at Tottenville. Its peculiar warty bark and insect bitten branches always attract attention wherever seen. The white and red mulberry may now be found in nearly all parts of the island, distributed by birds from trees, a large part of which were planted during the silk worm craze some years ago. The remains of some of these plantations may yet be seen. being all that is left of the visions of silk culture that prevailed at the time they were planted. Many black walnut trees may yet be seen, some of them very imposing specimens. Their near relatives, the hickories, number five different species, common everywhere. (Carya alba, Nutt., C. tomentosa, Nutt., C. por- cina, Nutt., C. amara, Nutt., and C. microcarpa, Nutt.) The first mentioned, which is commonly known as the "shag" or " shell bark," yields the hickory nuts of the markets. This species is plentiful enough in certain places on the south side to be of some economical importance. The oaks number ten dif- ferent species. The chestnut, swamps, white and red oaks are known everywhere, forming the bulk of the woods, but the post oak (Quercus obtusiloba, Michx. ) and black oak (Q. nigra, L.) occur only in a few places, notably Tottenville and Watchogue. The dwarf oak (Q. prinoides, Willd.) is also restricted to the same localities. It seldom grows more than six feet high and appears like a thick bush. The willow oak. (Q. Phellos, L.), so far as known, is represented by a single tree. growing in a swamp at Tottenville. The chestnut was formerly very abund- ant. and is yet along Ocean terrace, but it has been laid under such heavy contribution for fence posts and rails, telegraph and telephone poles, railroad ties, etc., that its complete extermina- tion in the near future seems inevitable. Hornbeam or "iron wood " is plentiful, especially in wet places. There are three species of birch, two of which are common and well known, namely the black and white. The third, which is known as the red or " river birch " (Betula nigra, L.), is very rare, only a few trees being known, and they are on the borders of a pond near Bull's Head. These are likely to be destroyed very shortly, on ac- count of certain changes now being made by the Crystal Water Company. There are Fine willows. all common, in addi- tion to the " weeping willow," which is so well known in culti- vation. With the exception of the white (Salix alba, L., rar. vitellina, Gr. ) and the black (S. n wa. L.), they are shrubs
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
mostly confined to low or swampy situations. Botanically they are known as Salix tristis, Ait., S. humilis, Marshall, S. dis- color, Muhl., S. sericea, Marshall., S. lucida, Muhl., S. fragilis. L., and S. cordata, Muhl. The poplars include, besides the well known cultivated species. the white, Lombardy, and "balm of Gilead." three wild ones, viz. : Populus Tremuloides, Michx., commonly called "aspen," P. grandidentale, Michx., and P. heterophylla, L.
There are four species of pines, all comparatively plentiful. The pitch pine is found everywhere. The white and yellow pines are not so common, and the "scrub," or New Jersey pine, is fonnd only in the neighborhood around Tottenville and Kreischerville, excepting for a few isolated trees near Four Corners. The cedar is very common, forming many beautiful groves at different parts of the island. Very large specimens are to be seen near the Billop house at Tottenville, and at Kreischerville. Two of these trees measure respectively 5 ft. 10 in. and 5 ft. 43 in. in circumference. Only one specimen of the juniper is known to be in existence in the county. This is in the cedar grove at New Dorp, near the beach. Persimmons are very common at Tottenville and Kreischerville, although rarely met with elsewhere.
Among the shrubs and bushes are many highly ornamental species, besides some of economic importance. The common barberry is spreading quite rapidly, especially in the vicinity of Tottenville, where it is a conspicuous object in the autumn, on account of the drooping racemes of bright scarlet berries. Near the same locality the "burning bush " (Euonymus atropur- pureus, Jacq.) has escaped from cultivation. The black-cap raspberry, high bush and trailing blackberries, are in some lo- calities abundant enough to pick for market. The English hawthorne has become established in several localities, notably along a brook at New Dorp, where there are a number of very large bushes. Three varieties of the " shad bush" have been found here ( Amelanchier Canadensis, T. & G., var. Botry- apium, car. oblongifolium, and car. rotundifolium.) It some- times grows large enough to be called a tree, as is the case at Tottenville, where there is one measuring 3 ft. 43 in. in cir- cumference. When in blossom this tree is a sight to behold, appearing in the distance like a bank of snow. Unfortunately some vandal has hacked off one of the main branches, thus
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
ruining its former symmetry. Small bushes are plentiful every- where, and have attracted such attention that the florists bave introduced them successfully for shrubbery. The witch hazel is plentifully distributed along nearly all the water courses and in wet locations generally. Probably the best known of all the bushes is the "nanny berry " ( Viburnum prunifolium, L.) which is so abundant in a certain place near West New Brighton that it is called " nanny berry hill." It is used successfully for hedges, not only in rough places, but in cultivated gardens, and should be a favorite, as it is never winter-killed like so many of the introduced hedge plants. The " huckleberries" number six species, besides several varieties. The one which produces the huckleberry of the market is known as the " high " or "swamp huckleberry," although the others are all used more or less, In the vicinity of Watchogue they are abundant enough to be of some economical importance. Kalmia latifolia, L., better known as the "lanrel," is still quite common, especially at Tottenville, but is too conspicuous and handsome a bush to stand long near a thickly settled community. The Rhododen- dron maximum. L., has already suffered for its beauty and has become completely exterminated on the island, within the memory of people now living here. The azalea seems destined to share the same fate, although not so rapidly. It has already disappeared from hundreds of acres where it was abundant a few years ago. Benzoin (Lindera Benzoin, Meisner) is com- mon along nearly all water courses. The filbert nut forms a considerable part of the underbrush in certain places, and is scattered along hedge rows and the borders of woods in others. Myrica cerifera, L., the "wax myrtle" or "sweet bay," is common throughout, and was formerly the source from which the early settlers derived considerable of their tallow for candles and other purposes by boiling the berries. The alder (Alnus serrulata. Ait. ) forms the bulk of the thick underbrush in swamps and along the borders of fresh water. Rosa Carolina, L., the swamp wild rose, is common in low places, and R. lucida, Erhardt, is abundant in drier locations. There are five species of sumach, including the too well known " poison ivy " (Rhus Toxicodendron, L.) They are plentifully distributed everywhere, with the exception of the "stag's horn sumach." which only occurs sparingly at Tottenville, Prince's bay and Ocean terrace.
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