Port Richmond Project Part 7: (Port) Richmond Avenue between Richmond Terrace and the railroad overpass

Today we'll starting moving up (Port) Richmond Avenue's west side, starting at Richmond Terrace. This post will go up to the old railroad overpass. There are a few pictures that are very dark to the point of obscurity. I've included them anyway because, well, just because. The first is of the Port Richmond Dutch Reformed Church and the other of a house that no longer exists.

The Port Richmond National Bank building is still one of the most attractive commerical edifices on the island. I suppose these palaces of capitalism were intended to reassure and awe the customers. Just walk into the old Staten Island Savings building in Stapleton to see what I mean.
Unfortunately, this building (examined in this earlier post) looks to be vacant and possibly abandoned. If Port Richmond were to ever experience a revitalization, this would be a beautiful building restored.

What can I say about the Port Richmond Reformed Church? It's one of the oldest churches and oldest congregations on Staten Island. I've never been inside, which I should rectify some day. 

 This one's gone as is the house in the background - seen, barely, below

1917 Map - the three linked buildings, 90, 91, and 92, weren't built yet. Even the bank was as big as it is today.

Port Richmond Project Part 6: (Port) Richmond Avenue between Bennett and Vreeland Streets

Here's another block of stores on (Port) Richmond Avenue. Between roughly 1939 and today it's become more than a little tattered. In the past there were nice, big, uncluttered display windows and attractive, striped awnings. Attractive architectural details, liked the zig-zag line of bricks, weren't obscured by ugly signage. So, here you go.

As late as 2007, Oven Baked was still in business

postcard of same building from some years later

Port Richmond Project Part 5: (Port) Richmond Avenue between Richmond Terrace and Church Street

Okay, I'm hooked now on presenting way more of Port Richmond's commercial past than I had planned. It's just too cool to pass on. I've been very happy with the responses I've gotten. Folks who grew up in the neighborhood have stepped right up and provided information on several of these long gone stores. I'm looking forward to what people have to tell us about this batch of buildings.

By the way - all the old pictures are from the CSI SI Archive and specifically from the tax photos taken in the late 30s and early 40s.

2013

 2013

This picture's from 2007. Sometime in the last twenty years, the old Toscana sign was exposed.

As you can see, this building is now gone. I'm not sure when it was torn down. As late as 2007 (see below), it was still there.

1917 Tax Map 

Port Richmond Project Part 4: (Port) Richmond Avenue between Ann and Bennett Streets

I hadn't planned to get many pictures from (Port) Richmond Avenue. My reluctance was based primarily on the poor quality of many of those photos. I got such a surprising amount of interest in the first three Port Richmond posts, though, I figure I might as well give it a go. So here we go.

One of the things I've been struck by over the years I've done this site is how ubiquitous Roulston's grocery stores were. I have a picture of one on Van Duzer Street, and I know there was another on Henderson and Davis. I've seen others as well, I just can't remember where right now. For an interesting read about the heirs of the chain's founder, go HERE.

It's hard to read the signs, but the one on the right is for "Foot Savers," an old shoe brand, so I'm guessing Anson Dansky was a shoe store. It's also another example of the house/store combo shown the other day.

I have no idea what the building on the left was other than an apartment. Whatever store was on ground level is a mystery. If anyone knows, let us know.

Toy stores also seemed to have been common as dirt in the "old" days. One block of Broad Street had two, while there was another across the street and one more a block away. I'm curious how more will turn up on (Port) Richmond Avenue as we work our way along it.

Dairy, Ex-Lax (a whole store of it?), dresses, and more. The original storefronts got covered up only a few years ago.

The shape remains, but the skin is completely covered over. That's really not surprising for a building that's at least eighty years old.

I'd love to find a picture of the original Masonic Hall. Clearly it was pretty big, as the property was taken up by three buildings.

Port Richmond Project Part 3: Park Avenue between Ann and Church Streets and Church Street between Park and (Port) Richmond

Today we continue along the block bounded by (Port) Richmond Avenue, Church Street, Park Avenue, and Ann Street and then around the corner and down Church and back to (Port) Richmon. 

The stretch of Park Avenue shows us the first apartment building in this project. I wish I knew more of the history of the neighborhood's evolution. The F.W. Beers 1874 map shows Port Richmond as place of detached houses and large, open lots. By 1917, the town has started to become the place it remains today, a significant commercial avenue bounded by residential blocks, and some industrial sites scattered around the edges. 

This block of Church Street is another place where several of the old buildings have vanished. With the train overhead and non-residential neighbors, people weren't too keen on living there anymore. Or there was a fire. Lots of fires in the old days. 

You can see how the apartment has suffered from some modifications over the years. Two windows on the Park Avenue side have been sealed. Those little squares at the top right of the white rectangles are vents, so maybe dryers were installed. 

The pictures below show the usual removal of architectural detail. The arched window and door have had the muntins removed and the whole space cemented over. The multi-paned entrance door has been replaced with an ugly, metal slab door. Then there's the graffiti.

I don't know what this building was, though I guess it was connected to the old North Shore train line. It reminds me of the SIRT station at New Dorp. Today, it's privately owned and based on the sealed windows I think it might be used for storage.
UPDATE: Apparently, it was used as a public toilet in the forties and fifties.

The print shop is an interesting hybrid I've noticed in several other places in Port Richmond. A house has an extension built on to the front for commercial use. From what can be seen of the original house, it looks like the one next to it. 

On the right side of the picture you can see the back of Richmond Chandelier. The original lines of the building are there, just covered with cement or whatever.

G.W. Bromley 1917 Map

F.W. Beers 1874 Map