As a borough that's completely surrounded by water, it's no surprise that Staten Island's ferries have been around much longer than its bridges. Borough reporter Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.

Ferry boats have long been synonymous with Staten Island. The first boats were privately run and date back to the 1700s, but it was during the 1800s that Daniel Tompkins purchased the Richmond Turnpike Company. With the help of shipping tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, ferry travel became wildly popular.

"Before the British invaded Staten Island, there were eight different ferries -- two of them going into Brooklyn, several of them going into Manhattan and several going to New Jersey," says borough historian Barnett Shephard. "So the ferry service is an essential part of living on Staten Island. It always has been an important part."

The city took over ferry service in 1905 and commissioned five new boats, named for each of the five boroughs.

One of the city's biggest bargains, the ferry's 25-minute ride into Lower Manhattan, is now free. Today, the Staten Island Ferry carries more than 19 million passengers on more than 33,000 trips annually.

"One of the iconic views of New York, of Lower Manhattan, is from the Staten Island Ferry, because you can see that cluster of buildings at the tip of Manhattan," says Sarah Henry of the Museum of the City of New York. "In a way, that's very moving."

Ferries became less popular when cars came along. The Outerbridge and the Goethals Bridge opened on the same day in 1928, providing Staten Islanders with a connection to New Jersey. The Bayonne Bridge came later, in 1932.

"The building of those first three bridges in the late '20s and early '30s really sort of signified the beginning of the automobile age on Staten Island," says Wagner College Professor Lori Weintrob. "So although it was connected sooner to New Jersey, it was really a sign that people were moving around."

It wasn't until 1964 that the island's most celebrated bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows, seen right, was completed. The longest suspension bridge in the country, the Verrazano Bridge was constructed in five years and finally gave residents a way into Manhattan without taking the ferry.

"We had a direct connection with New Jersey over the Goethals Bridge, cross the Staten Island Expressway. Over the Verrazano Bridge, to Long Island and New England. That really made us a link in north-south transportation," says Shephard.

Today, the $11 toll to cross the Verrazano is no bargain, but the span is a familiar and essential part of the skyline and used by close to 200,000 people daily.