Resort years Midland Beach became a resort by the 1890s when the
Staten Island Railway's
South Beach Branch came to nearby
Wentworth Avenue, where there were transfers to trolleys serving the area. It contained a pier jutting into the Atlantic Ocean, where visitors could catch the steamboat
William Story to
the Battery at the tip of
Lower Manhattan. Around 1900, there was a disagreement between operators of Midland Beach and the town to the south, Woodland Beach, due to the pier's location close to the border between the towns. A fence along the beach was repeatedly erected and torn down, and the dispute was only resolved several years later. The beach also contained a boardwalk. Three separate wooden coasters were constructed along Midland Beach. Normally, no admission was charged, but the first admission fee was instituted at a carnival in June 1918, whereupon revenue from the 10-cent charge was donated to the
American Red Cross. A saltwater swimming pool was added in 1924. Midland Beach, like its northern neighbor
South Beach, also saw several large fires Rider incidents included a 1917 accident where a patron was left dangling from a roller coaster by his leg, and a miniature train derailment in 1918 that injured 12 people. An extreme thunderstorm in 1923 resulted in several buildings being set on fire by lightning, as well as trolley tracks being washed away by storm surges. Midland Beach's downfall was caused by two clusters of fires in 1924, though it continued to operate for five more years. The fire severely reduced the ability of boats to travel to Midland Beach. The year after, James S. Graham purchased much of the remaining resort and rebuilt many of the attractions, including a scenic railroad, Barrel of Fun, Old Mill, skee-ball, and other smaller amusements. However, a fire in 1929 destroyed one-fourth of the rebuilt park, and Midland Beach was subsequently used primarily for swimming, with the beach being restricted and visitors charged a 25-cent fee. The fee was repealed by order of the city in 1930.
Residential neighborhood Rainstorms on the island caused wind or water damage (such as flooded
bungalows) in Midland Beach in the 1970s, due to its proximity to the coast and lack of storm sewers. The City of New York installed a large new storm sewer system down Greeley Avenue in 1979, which resolved the flooding issues for most of the newer housing stock in the neighborhood. Today, the bungalows built as summer homes are owned or rented by locals for permanent residence. According to data compiled by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, the parish of St. Margaret Mary, which serves Midland Beach, is a middle-class parish on Staten Island based on per-capita income. The neighborhood once had its own post office branch, bearing the postal code "Staten Island 11, New York." The building that housed the post office, located at 553 Lincoln Avenue, was one of the smallest. The post office closed in 1949. The Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier, a steel and concrete recreational pier, opened in September 2003. At , it is the largest oceanfront recreational pier built in the New York metropolitan area in over a century. Midland Beach was devastated by the storm surge caused by
Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. ==Demographics==