[a] A ferry and rail terminal at the St. George site (then called St. George's Landing)[1] and an extension of the Staten Island Railway (then called Staten Island Rapid Transit) north from Vanderbilt's Landing (today's Clifton Station) had been proposed in the 1870s by the owners of the Staten Island Railroad, George Law, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Erastus Wiman, to replace the various ferry sites on the north and east shores of Staten Island.

[2][3] St. George was selected due to it being the closest point from Staten Island to Manhattan, about a 5-mile (8.0 km) distance.

[4] The St. George rail terminal as originally built was constructed of wood, with no overhead obstructions.

[8] It was built with two portals at its north end; one on the geographic east side currently in use by the Staten Island Railway, and an additional western portal intended for the Staten Island Tunnel, which would have traveled across the Narrows and connected to the New York City Subway's BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn.

[15] On June 25, 1946, a large fire destroyed both the wooden ferry and rail terminals, killing three people.

[2][4][11] A new facility was built by the city, opening on June 8, 1951, which led the tunneling shaft to be filled in.

[2][5][17][18][19] The station served as the northern (eastern) terminus for the Staten Island Railway North Shore Branch to Arlington and Port Ivory until its closure in 1953.

[30][31][32][33] However, due to concerns that the massive Staten Island Ferry boats and the small NYC Ferry craft might not be able to share a dock, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced in January 2020 that a NYC Ferry dock would instead be built close to the existing terminal, on the opposite side of Empire Outlets closer to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

[38][39] This station is situated in an open cut below street level, with a four-lane bus terminal and parking lot above it.

There is also a sixth island platform with two additional tracks (11 and 12) to the west (geographic north) no longer in revenue service, which historically served the Staten Island Rapid Transit's North Shore Branch.

[8][41] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates a number of bus routes in Staten Island, New York, United States.