The Lenape were a nomadic tribe that lived everywhere around the New York City area. This did not exclude the North Shore of Staten Island in anyway. In fact it was a busy area, as it was known for fishing and boating. It also had amble land that allowed for some hunting. These people mostly sustained their way of life by following the pattern that their prey moved, and instead of domesticating them they just simply followed them. This is why they had no sense of land ownership. So when the Dutch came into the bay and wanted to own the land and gave them a small amount of cheap goods, they accepted it and then became surprised when they could no longer use the land. The picture above is of some Lenape people. The one next to it is the Dutch meeting with the Lenape.
The Dutch
The Dutch came into Staten Island eventfully and started to name all of the streams as Kill and let the names remain even today. They began to make docks that would allow for small ferries to move around in several different areas of the Staten Island. St. George area was popular because it is closest to Manhattan that was growing as a port city. The picture above shows the Dutch landing on Staten Island.
The British
It was also evident when the British became part of the area and came to Staten Island to work as shipbuilders, later they even worked in factories.
The Irish
Many came into to Staten 
Island in General due to over population of other boroughs. They were not very welcome, but some how they made themselves a staple in New York history. The sign above was pretty much everywhere in America.
Ellis Island
There were also several different European countries that moved into the area after the Revolutionary war though there was a huge increase in the nineteenth century. The St. George area also had a hospital in it. This hospital is where people went to if they were found to have a disease when they went through Ellis Island. It was important to how the rest of the area grew. Then the land was given to Wyning, who established a ferry terminal and it became one of the only things. The picture was taken in Ellis Island itself.
The Greek
A Greek community also grew in the area due to the fact that they were being affected by the taxes and land affairs. The picture above is of a early Greek Orthodox Church meeting.
The Caribbean
In the 1930s there was a big group of Caribbean immigrants to the area. They came due to hardships in their native area. It brought in a huge part of African American population also.
Present
No one quite understands but the St. George community has currently been lived in by even more diverse groups of people as the LGTB society grows. There is also very young families throughout the area. It is also very diverse in ethnicities, this also includes businesses: with Italian restaurants, next to Albanian pizzerias, and Egyptian stores all next to each other. A picture of a recent festival in St. George.
Important People of St. George
Erastus Wiman (as seen to the left)
He was important to how the St. George area became the transportation hub of Staten Island, as he monopolized the railroads on Staten Island, along with a ferry service.
George Law
This man was a Lawyer (ironic with the name) who got Erastus out of debt. So Erastus thought that the only honest thing to do, that didn’t involve a lot of money, was to name the area after George. In other words he immortalized George and even turned him into a saint.
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Citations:
Howey, Meghan. September 2011. Colonial Encounters, European Kettles, and the Magic of Mimesis in the Late Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Century Indigenous Northeast and Great Lakes. International Journal of Historical Archaeology.
Gimber, Steven G. Winter 2010. Going Dutch: The Dutch Presence in American, 1609 – 2009.Canadian Journal of History.
October 2011. Indigenous People of North America. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.
Krabbendam, Hans. 2009. Freedom on the Horizon: Dutch Immigration to America, 1840 – 1940.
Ferreri, James G., and David Goldfarb. 2009. St. George, Charleston SC, Chicago IL, Portsmouth NH, San Francisco CA: Arcadia Publishing
