View from the foot of 72nd Street, Bay Ridge, overlooking the Shore Parkway at the Staten Island Ferry landing at the 69th Street Pier; May 30, 1958.

While the words "Staten Island Ferry" are today synonymous with iconic orange ferryboats trundling across Upper New York Bay, the present-day service's 19th century antecedents include a variety of independent operators and defunct routes.

Pre-Civil War, independent ferry operators offered service from launches across Staten Island's eastern shore. In 1853, three such operators were consolidated, as Cornelius Vanderbilt allowed his Richmond Turnpike Company to be bought out. After the Civil War — during which time some ferryboats were requisitioned and retrofitted as gunships — Staten Island ferry service was largely controlled by regional railroad companies, including the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

When the newly-consolidated City of New York began the process of taking over Staten Island ferry service in the opening years of the 1900s, the Sinking Fund Commission authorized the introduction of new ferry routes, including service to certain Hudson River piers and Sunset Park, Brooklyn at 39th Street. On July 4, 1912, a new route was introduced by the private Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company, providing service between St. George and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, at the foot of Bay Ridge Avenue (69th Street).

After 52 years of variable ridership and service quality, the 69th Street ferry route was discontinued on 1964, following the opening of the Verrazano—Narrows Bridge. Since May 2017, the 69th pier has served as the southern terminus of the NYC Ferry's South Brooklyn Line.