The Sailors' Snug Harbor : a history, 1801-2001 / Gerald J. Barry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barry, Gerald J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sailors' Snug Harbor (Institution).

Merchant mariners--Institutional care--New York (State).

Merchant mariners.

Institutional care.

New York (State).

Merchant mariners--Institutional care--North Carolina.

North Carolina.

Physical Description:

xvii, 211 pages : illustrations, map ; 26 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Fordham University Press, 2000.

Summary:

Four days before his death on June 5, 1801, Robert Richard Randall signed a remarkable will, which provided that his mansion and 21-acre farm be used to maintain and support "aged, decrepit, and worn out sailors." However, as the 1820s approached, and land values began to soar, the legislature was asked to modify the Randall will so that Sailors' Snug Harbor could be built somewhere other than the Randall farm. In May 1831 a 130-acre farm overlooking Upper New York Bay and the Kill van Kull was purchased on Staten Island for $10,000. Year-by-year, buildings were added until there were 55 major structures. The Harbor produced its own electricity and steam, grew its own food, and had its own water supply, church, cemetery, hospital, theater, and library. At the start of the twentieth century, more than 1,000 retired sailors were in residence.

Beginning in 1950, as part of a "modernization and improvement plan," two dozen buildings on the Staten Island property were bulldozed. Next on the destruction list were the Sailors' Snug Harbor dormitories, which would replaced by a 120-bed modern infirmary insisted upon by the State Department of Health. At this point, the city's new Landmarks Preservation Commission stepped in. On October 14, 1965, at its first designation hearing, the Commission landmarked and saved the old dormitories.

Property for a new institution for the retired sailors was found in Sea Level, North Carolina, down the road from a hospital just taken over by the Duke University Medical Center. Citing the proximity of Duke's hospital to the new Harbor site, New York's surrogate court approved relocation.

In June of 1973, Mayor John Lindsay announced a plan to turn the Sailors' Snug Harbor buildings into a national showplace of culture and education. Over the years, the Sailors' Snug Harbor has housed various cultural institutions, including the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Arts, the Staten Island Botanical Garden, and the Staten Island Children's Museum. Today, Snug Harbor is the most important cultural asset on Staten Island, and one of the fastest-growing arts centers in the city.

Contents:

1 Thomas Randall: Privateer, Patriot, Entrepreneur 1

The Business of Privateering 2

Peace and Prosperity 4

Eve of Revolution 5

Exile and Restoration 8

A Randall or Two, Too Many 10

The Grand Convention 11

Randall's Great Barge 12

The Randall Farm 13

Robert Richard Randall: Gentleman Farmer 15

The Randall Will 17

2 Getting Underway 23

The Trustees Finally Meet 23

Litigation: Collateral Heirs 29

3 Randall's Plan Fulfiled: Staten Island 35

Greek Revival Comes to Staten Island 36

Old Seamen in Their Final Harbor 41

The Harbor Expands 43

4 Manhattan: Moving Uptown 45

Renewed Prosperity 45

The City Moves Uptown 48

Washington Square 50

Beyond the Square 57

A.T. Stewart and Ladies Mile 58

The Anthenaeum Quarter 61

A Parisian Touch: Red Lights and Riots 65

Astor Place: Opera Tragique 66

The Civil War 68

The Draft Riots 69

The Plot to Burn New York 70

5 Why Men Go Down to the Sea 75

Meeting the Residents 78

A Visit to the Harbor 81

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle 89

The Governors 95

6 Pulling Down and Building Up 109

Henry George and the Randall Farm 111

Washington Square in Transition 113

Bourgeois and Bohemian 113

Fires and a Subway 117

7 Depression and War 125

Surviving at Sailors' Snug Harbor 128

Getting Out the Vote, Finally 129

World War II 130

8 Landmarking 135

Victory for the Ladies in Tennis Shoes 136

Troubles in the Postwar Years 140

The New York Times Scoops the Harbor 141

Downsizing 142

Overhauling Management 143

Troubled Neighbors and Lawsuits 145

9 The Voyage to Sea Level 149

The Mayor Comes Aboard 153

The Choice: Scylla or Charybdis 154

The Search Begins 155

Challenging Randall's Will 156

Action at Sea Level 159

Shipping Out 161

The New Home 162

A Changing Cast 165

10 New Directions 169

The Options 170

Change of Course 173

New Life at the Old Home 174

Back Home 174

Visiting the Cultural Center 174

Appendix 1 Last Will and Testament of the Late Robert R. Randall, Esq. 185

Appendix 2 Good Times/Hard Times 189.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-199) and indexes.

ISBN:

0823220729

0823220737

OCLC:

44405586