Southfield, Staten Island

Southfield was a town in Richmond County, New York. It was found in the southeastern part of Staten Island, close to Lower New York Bay before Staten Island became part of New York City in 1898. The town’s borders were roughly along Richmond Road, Giffords Lane, Amboy Road, and Arden Avenue.

The history of Southfield began when English colonists divided the island in the late 1600s, after they took control of New Netherland from the Dutch in 1664. Southfield became one of the four original parts of Richmond County in 1788. Later, in 1860, a new area called Middletown was made from parts of Southfield and Castleton. A well-known place, Fort Wadsworth, is located in what was Southfield.

In 1898, Southfield was dissolved when it joined the City of New York during a big change called consolidation. Today, some neighborhoods that were once part of Southfield include Arrochar, Great Kills, New Dorp, and South Beach.