While official boundaries do not exist for any designated places on Staten Island, Livingston is most commonly regarded as being enclosed by Bement Avenue on the west, the Kill Van Kull shoreline on the north, Henderson Avenue on the south, and the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on the east. It is dominated by large, older homes built before 1900, and its streets are shaded by spreading oak and elm trees.
History
One of the first Europeans to settle the area was Francis Lovelace, the second governor of the New York colony, who in 1668 started farming in the area that would become Livingston.[1] An earlier name for the district was Elliotville, after a renowned ophthalmologist, Samuel Mackenzie Elliott, who by 1840 had acquired more than 30 homes in the community.[note 1] The present name of Livingston was coined by officials of the Staten Island Railway who bought the mansion of resident Anson Livingston and then gave that name to a station built near the current intersection of Richmond Terrace and Bard Avenue.[1][2] This station was situated on the now-defunct North Shore branch of the railway, on which passenger service ceased in 1953; the tracks on this branch are still there, but all traces of the Livingston station have been removed, as is the case with the two other former stations on either side (Sailors' Snug Harbor and West Brighton).[citation needed]
Robert Gould Shaw was a resident of Livingston as were many abolitionists in the 19th century.[1] Several of the 19th century homes, especially those along Davis and Pelton Avenues, were part of the Underground Railroad and have remnants such as hiding places.[1]George William Curtis, who married Shaw's sister Anna, was also a resident.[4]
