Historic Site

Imagine you are a young boy of 12 or 14 who went to sea in the late 18th century. In those days, you might never return home. After decades on a ship, enduring unimaginable hardships, without any chance to start a family, what would life be like once you could no longer work? Like most sailors then, you would be penniless and alone.

Snug Harbor was founded with the execution of the will of Robert Richard Randall, heir to a shipping fortune, who died in 1801. The will required the family fortune and estate be used to build and operate a haven for “aged, decrepit, and worn-out sailors”–maritime workers whose labor has been exhausted due to the rigors and hardship of spending a life at sea, and who had no social or financial support system to help them live out their remaining years.

At Sailors’ Snug Harbor, inmates had refuge, food, clothing, medical treatment, and relative freedom. There was camaraderie, entertainment in the Music Hall, and popular amenities like ham radios in the recreation hall and fishing on the pond.
Sailors’ Snug Harbor was one of the first democratic, nondiscriminatory charitable institutions in this country, where each resident was called “Captain.”

The sole requirement for residency was five years of maritime service under the United States flag or 10 years of service under a foreign flag. There were no admission requirements regarding religion, nationality, physical condition, sex, or age. Sailors’ Snug Harbor became a melting pot of mariners from across the globe who were cared for by hundreds of employees, largely from Staten Island.

Over the next century, Sailors’ Snug Harbor expanded from its original three buildings to 50 structures and 900 residents from every corner of the world. By the turn of the 20th century, Sailors’ Snug Harbor was reputedly the richest charitable institution in the United States and a self-sustaining community with farms, a dairy, a bakery, workshops, a power plant, a chapel, a sanatorium, a hospital, a concert hall, dormitories, recreation areas, gardens, and a cemetery.

Snug Harbor’s major buildings are representative of the changing architectural styles of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The first buildings were built in the Greek Revival style. As the complex expanded, new buildings were erected in the Beaux Arts, Renaissance Revival, Second Empire and Italianate styles. High Victorian decorative components were also added throughout the site.

In the mid-20th century, the number of residents dwindled as programs like Social Security and Medicare provided a financial safety net for retired sailors while the Randall endowment started to run out. The historic buildings of Sailors’ Snug Harbor began to deteriorate, and several were demolished in the early 1950s, including the Randall Memorial Church, the hospital, sanatorium, and several ancillary service buildings.