SURVIVORS ON RICHMOND TERRACE
by Marjorie Johnson
Miraculously surviving on busy Richmond Terrace in St.George for close
to 125 years are four of an original eight Victorian houses that were first
occupied by prominent and well-to-do families.
In 1869 Alois Peteler, owner ofthe St. Mark's Hotel, on St. Mark's
Place, partitioned the propertycreating a row of small lots on the lower level
of his hillside, fronting on what was then known as the Shore Road. In the
early 1870s, Henry Dupont of Delaware, President of the Dupont Powder Company
purchased five lots. Two of Dupont's daughters married two Staten Island
residents. Ellen E. Dupont married Alexander Duer Irving, a banker and Sara
Dupont married John Duer, Counselor at Law.
208 Richmond Terrace |
Alexander Duer Irving, who lived at 208 Richmond Terrace, was the
son of the Rev. Pierre Paris Irving, a nephew of thefamous author Washington
Irving and Ann Henrietta Duer, the daughter of a distinguished New York jurist
and trustee of the New Brighton Association.
Rev. Pierre Irving was the first Rector of Christ Church, New
Brighton in 1850. In 1857 he purchased his own home on Richmond Terrace for
$4,000. This home, which is not far from his son's house at 208, is now part of
the St. George/New Brighton Historic District. John Duer's family lived at 194
Richmond Terrace which was demolished about ten years ago following
adevastating fire.
Rev. Pierre Irving's daughter, Ellen married Richard B. Whittemore
and lived in the house at 202 Richmond Terrace which he purchased in 1871.
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202 Richmond Terrace |
204 Richmond Terrace |
In 1884, 204 Richmond Terrace was purchased by Stephen D. Stephens
for his new bride, Agnes Lazar, amember of a noted musical family of Brooklyn.
Stephens was raised in the recently landmarked Stephens D. Prier House at
Historic Richmond Town. Young Stephens studied law and was elected to the New
York State Assembly in 1874. He was also elected to a judgeship in Richmond
County, a position to which he was continuously re-elected up to his death in
1911.His widow remained in the St. George residence until 1915.
In 1883, 216 Richmond Terrace was purchased by the George C.
Tallman estate, then owner of the St. Mark's Hotel, later Hotel Castleton.
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216 Richmond Terrace |
Although 208 Richmond Terrace is in the best state of preservation, all
four survivors evoke a sense of privileged domestic life in St. George (then
New Brighton) of over a century ago. Currently enjoying no landmark protection,
can they continue to withstand the mounting pressures of development
accelerated by the nearby construction of the minor league baseball stadium and
its related zoning changes?
The Bay Street Corridor Study
The Borough President has funded a $250,000 + study and recommendations
for the Bay Street corridor and access to the Home Port site. In the hope of
focusing some attention to the historical resources along Bay Street, the
Preservation League undertook its own partial "windshield" survey this summer.
The photographs were taken by Chan Graham.
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- The Paramount Theatre designed by Rapp &Rapp, ca. 1935 features
an exuberant Art Deco false front of terra-cotta and stunning orange brick with
black accents.
- Several distinguished early 20th century blocks surround Tappen Park.
The former Woolworth building is now a sprightly Hip-Hop clothing store.
- A row of substantial houses (Central Avenue near Bay Street and
Victory Boulevard), several in the Queen Anne style is a reminder of the
area's19th century residential character.
- 136 Bay St., a former bank building with Art Deco ornamentation
attests to the days when St. George was the center of business for the
borough.
- The five story 26 Bay Street (right) originally housed the old Corn
Exchange Bank and Wolff & Kaufman, Inc. Long-time ferry riders will
remember the large, illuminated Chemical Bank sign that flashed the time and
temperature from the roof of the seven story 28-30 Bay Street (left). It now
houses the S.I. Employment Education Consortium and the offices of the National
Lighthouse Center and Museum.
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- The Masonic Lodge at 514 Bay Street is one of the few remaining
non-residential buildings designed by English-born and-trained architect Edward
Alfred Sargent (1842-1914). Other Staten Island works by the long-time Island
resident include four public schools, only one of which (old P.S. 15) survives;
the B.& 0. Railroad Flats (which stood on the northeast corner of Bay
Street and Victory Blvd.) and hundreds of residences including several on St.
Mark's Place in the St. George/New Brighton Historic District. The ground floor
of the Masonic Lodge formerly housed the Stapleton Post Office.
- The four story 50 Bay Street (right) boasts a striking terra cotta
facade in the Gothic style. The six story 56 Bay Street (on left) was
originally the Title Guarantee & Trust Co.
The study to rehabilitate Bay Street should consider these and other
buildings that front or stand adjacent to the corridor. Every effort should be
made to preserve and enhance these buildings that have contributed to the
history of our borough. The Bay Street study and resulting improvements could
be a way of achieving this goal.
