When most of us open our textbooks, we learn a version of American history filtered through white narratives. This is particularly true for New York City's early history. White narratives and colonization are inseparable from our early written accounts, shaping the stories we've shared and the ones we've left out centuries later–like how expansive and abundant oyster reefs once characterized New York City's shorelines and dining room tables, or how that extant industry helped build a haven for free Black landowners and a crucial stop on the Underground Railroad.
Where you'll find the legacy of New York City's booming oyster industry and the Black oystermen who built it, is in the stories of residents and landmark structures of Sandy Ground on Staten Island–the nation's oldest continuously settled free black community–five generations later.
Located in Rossville, Staten Island, Sandy Ground is one of the oldest surviving communities in the United States founded by free African Americans before the Civil War. Its legacy traces back to New York's first black landowners, Captain Jackson and Mr. Holmes, and their early purchases of farmland on Staten Island. Soon, more free black landowners—among them Moses and Silas Harris—began to settle on other parts of the island, leading to the birth of Harrisville (a.k.a Africa, Little Africa, or as we know it today, Sandy Ground), near Prince's Bay.
The growing community of Harrisville and its proximity to the abundant oyster reefs off Prince's Bay, became attractive to Black oystermen working in the Chesapeake and trading in New York Harbor. Forming relationships with the current residents of Sandy Ground, these skilled oystermen from Maryland quickly became the oystermen of New York Harbor, settling in the community around 1850 and bolstering its future of prosperity and strength of protection for African Americans escaping enslavement on the Underground Railroad. Sandy Ground today is recognized as an Official Louis Napoleon Site on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Trail.
"I have stories from my great grandfather and older people we interviewed back in the 80s, talking about the oystermen; who they were, where they worked, what time they would get up in the morning, how they'd walk down to the boats. Even when the waters were polluted, we learned how the community was notified and what they felt about it. They thought it was political! To hear that from someone who lived that as a little boy is amazing." says Julie Moody Lewis. "[This work] is rewarding when you hear people are interested. They need to know about the environmental history of the city and the independent businessmen who knew the land and soil; skilled, smart individuals creating generational wealth for their community.
At its peak, Sandy Ground was home to 150 Black families and is still home to their descendants, like Julie (five generations later). Against the pressures of New York City's rapid and constant change, Sandy Ground's longevity is a testament to the communities foundational strength. Sandy Ground is currently an authentic historic site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places.
Head there today, and you can catch a glimpse of this history yourself at these significant locations and landmarks below.
New York City's identity cannot be separated from its natural resources and those who cared for, utilized, and lived off of them before us. To revive local waterways without upholding the history and knowledge of those who experienced their former state is an incomplete endeavor. By celebrating Sandy Ground's maritime legacy and supporting institutions like the Sandy Ground Historical Museum this #BlackHistoryMonth and year-round, we can ensure that both NYC's ecological recovery and cultural history move forward together.
Help repair and maintain the Sandy Ground Historical Museum—an irreplaceable link to New York's Black and environmental history with a donation this year. Click below to give and learn more.
Many thanks to Julie Moody Lewis for her contributions to this piece, the historical society's longterm partnership, and support for Billion Oyster Project's restoration work in New York Harbor.
A thriving reef cluster, building habitat for generations
