The William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge is named after a co-founder of the Staten Island Museum, which helped create the current park system on Staten Island.

In 1952, the Staten Island Museum's Sectin of Natural History came up with a plan to enlarge the refuge, lay out new trails and establish a program of n ature education. Park Department officials agreed to the plan, and the refuge was eventually enlarged to 260 acres. A program of environmental education was started in 1955, under the leadership of Mathilde Weingartner. The name of the Bird Sancuary was also changed to the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge. The Staten Island Museum continued to administer the refuge in cooperation with the Park Department until 1989, when full control of the property and programming was turned over to Parks.

Come explore! Click HERE to download the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge Trail Guide and Map.