Victory Boulevard
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| NY Route 439A |
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| Victory Blvd. | |||||||||||||
| Decomd.: | 1972 | ||||||||||||
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| West end: |  NY 440 in Bulls Head |
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| East end: |  NY 439 in Tompkinsville |
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| Counties: | Richmond | ||||||||||||
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Victory Boulevard is a major thoroughfare on Staten Island, measuring approximately 8.0 miles (12.87 km) and stretching from the west shore community of Travis to the upper east shore communities of St. George and Tompkinsville. Until 1972, Victory Boulevard was designated New York State Route 439A for much of its run until it intersected Forest Avenue, wherein it carried the 439 designation for .75 mile.[1]
[edit] Route description
The street follows a path similar to the Staten Island Expressway, an integral Staten Island traffic route. Both roadways intersect Bay Street, Clove Road, Slosson Avenue, Todt Hill Road, Bradley Avenue, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway, Richmond Avenue and the West Shore Expressway, as well as each other. Forest Avenue, too, is intersected by both roads, however, they're on the opposite extremities of the island.
Incidentally, the boulevard is the only street on Staten Island that interchanges with three different expressways. It is Exit 7 for the West Shore Expressway, Exit 10 for the Staten Island Expressway westbound (Exit 8 eastbound) and Exit 11 for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway.
A number of prominent Staten Island sites and events are located along Victory Boulevard. Among these are the Travis Independence Day Parade, the Sylvan Grove Cemetery, the Mid-Island Little League field and CSI (College of Staten Island), formerly the Willowbrook State School. The Bulls' Head Tavern, a pub known for its Tory meetings during the American Revolution, also stood on Victory Boulevard, on the corner with Richmond Avenue.
[edit] History
Victory Boulevard was established in 1816 by the Richmond Turnpike Company as the Richmond Turnpike. The toll road was owned by Daniel D. Tompkins, a prominent Staten Islander who, a year later, became Vice President of the United States. The route was "promoted as the fastest...from New York to Philadelphia."[2] Ferries from Manhattan and Brooklyn would dock at the eastern end of the turnpike, at Bay Street. Horse-drawn carriages would carry passengers to Travis, known at the time as Long Neck or the New Blazing Star Ferry, wherein a ferry would carry people over the Arthur Kill to Carteret, New Jersey.
After World War I, the Richmond Turnpike was renamed Victory Boulevard in honor of the allied victory in the war.
[edit] References
- ^ New York State Routes, accessed August 19, 2006
- ^ New York Public Library Staten Island Timeline, accessed August 19, 2006
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