Lost Small Churches of the North Shore: Italian Pentecostal Church, Pike Street

Italian Pentecostal Church, Pike Street - ca.1940

 Here's another church that was not lost, but transformed. Founded as a prayer meeting in 1923, the Italian Pentecostal Church was eventually located on Pike Street. In 1964, it moved to Richmond Road where it's still to be found, now named the Christian Pentecostal Church. According to its website, it's the oldest Pentecostal church on Staten Island. 

They also had a show on WPOW, 1300, Staten Island's first radio station.

St Paul Apostolic Faith Church, Pike Street - 2012

The first time I even knew Italian Pentecostalism was a thing was when my wife's old pastor, a Baptist, mentioned it was how he'd grown up. Here's an interesting article about Massimilano Tosseto, one of, if not the founder, of Italian Pentecostalism.

Insurance Map, 1936

High Church - North Shore Episcopalian Churches Pt. 4

St. John's Episcopal Church on Bay Street in Rosebank, like Christ Church, is another monument to the importance of wealthy Episcopalians on Staten Island in days gone by. 

St. John's Episcopal Church, ca. 1940, 

built in 1871 to address congregational growth

St. John's Episcopal Church - 2013

St. John's Rectory - ca. 1940

St. John's Rectory - 2013

The parish began organizing in 1843 at the home of William B. Townsend. His estate was along Bay Street, then called New York Avenue, between Willow Avenue and Lynhurst Avenue (then called Maple Avenue). He and several other prominent Islanders, all of whom were “Protestant in the rejection of all unscriptural additions to the faith; Episcopal and Catholic in her creed, government and three-fold ministry,” were successful and charitable men. Several were members of the St. George's Society of New York and co-founders of the Society for the Relief of Destitute Children of Seamen, today called Seamen's Society for Children and Families. According to the church's website, the first baptism at St. John's was of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, one of Commodore Vanderbilt's grandsons. 

From St. John's website - the original church building

A decade ago, I wrote about the wedding of Miss Anne Flemming Cameron, third daughter of Sir Roderick Cameron, and Mr. Belmont Tiffany, grandson of Commodore Matthew Perry. You can see the picture and read about it HERE. It's hard to picture Staten Island as a preserve of the truly wealthy and notable, but once upon a time, it was the case. 

St. John's website is a treasure trove of pictures and details the parish's long and complex history: rectors came and went, the congregation grew and then shrank as mainline Protestantism waned in the latter third of the twentieth century, and plans were made to help the church survive by building housing for seniors. In all my life, I've only known one person who ever attended St. John's. The one time I was on the grounds was when I attended some meetings for the Order of the Arrow at the old parish hall. That the parish survives despite the fading away of Episcopalianism and the drastically changed demographics of Rosebank would seem to be an indicator of God's grace. 

From St. John's website - Nativity Windows

See the rest of the windows HERE

The one lasting legacy I could have identified up until last year was St. Simon's Episcopal Church over on Richmond Road. It was founded as a German mission in 1856 on Targee Street before moving Clove Road, and in 1960, to Richmond Road when the Staten Island Expressway was built. Last year, after 156 years, citing an aging and diminished congregation, it closed.

High Church - North Shore Episcopalian Churches Pt. 1

The Episcopalian Churches: Part 1

Once upon a time, the Episcopalian Church was the denomination of America's elite. Eleven of our forty five presidents were Episcopalians. Today, with under 2 million members, it's a dwindling church, like most mainline Protestant churches. The whys and wherefores of that are a conversation for a place other than this site.

What matters here are the gorgeous houses of worship raised by the Episcopalian Church. Once upon a time, when it was wealthy and filled with people willing to dedicate that wealth to such construction, it raised some of the most beautiful buildings to ever grace Staten Island, something for which we should all be grateful.

So, let's start with one of the lost churches of the Island. They're not really lost, but instead moved or destroyed.

Church of the Ascension

Built as an offshoot of Trinity Church in Manhattan, the Church of the Ascension was established 1802 on a small hill overlooking the Kill Van Kull. Situated on Richmond Terrace between Alaska Street and Tompkins Court, in the 1920s area industrialized, and the congregation decided to move the building to Kingsley Avenue near Clove Lakes. The 1929 Crash made this impossible, and the original church was left behind. You can see a FOR SALE sign in the picture below (1939 or 1940).

Church of the Ascension Parsonage - Richmond Terrace and Van Street

Church of the Ascension, sans steeple top - Richmond Terrace

from the church's own website - priest and congregation

Church of the Ascension in all its steepled-glory - 1930

The present Church of the Ascension is a small, brick building tucked away in a lovely section of Castleton Corners.

All Saints Episcopal Church

This church began as a Sunday school (for adults), in 1889. It gradually evolved into a full church and moved around to various locations in Mariners Harbor before buying a plot of land on the corner of Richmond Terrace and Van Name Avenue. In 1909, they acquired the Floating Church of Our Saviour, previously operated by the Seamen's Institute out in New York harbor. Go to this page to see a series of pictures of building at sea and on land.

It was docked at the foot of Van Name and in 1914 was moved to solid ground. In 1959, it burned down. The congregation, its cost not fully covered by insurance, bought new property on Wooley Avenue and Victory Boulevard and built the present church.

Floating Church of Our Saviour on its way to becoming All Saints' Church

1909

All Saints' Church - Richmond Terrace and Van Name Street - 1939/1940

All Saints' Church - present - Victory Boulevard

The Methodist Churches: Part 2

Here's the second installment of North Shore Staten Island Methodist churches. Since the previous posting, I've already learned significant new information regarding these and the previously posted churches. I've also successfully contacted the archivist for this region of United Methodist church and been directed to several major sources of information. As usual, the SI Advance has also been a good source of information. I so wish they would digitize their entire print run. There's so much valuable information in the pages of our local paper but it's difficult to extract. Maybe one day.

Dickinson Methodist Church

Dickinson Methodist started as a chapel on the property originally owned by the Decker family. When the land was sold for the construction of P.S. 3, the congregation set out to build a new house of worship. They held services in the school house for a few years, but eventually moved to a building constructed on Victory Boulevard in 1871. According to A.Y. Hubbell's History of Methodism and the Methodist Churches of Staten Island, the original chapel was sold to a Lutheran congregation.

According to this SI Advance article, Dickinson Methodist closed down and its congregation merged with Christ United Methodist in Graniteville in 1974. Today the building is owned by the non-denominational Staten Island Christian Church.

Graniteville Methodist Church

Graniteville Methodist was founded in 1910 and in 1914 they bought this building on Willowbrook Road. According to Leng and Davis it had originally been a Baptist church. I don't have much information about it at this point other than it closed in 1958 and merged with Holy Trinity Methodist Church on Forest Avenue. The combined congregations were first called Holy Trinity Graniteville Methodist Church, but in 1960 took the name Christ Methodist Church. Today it's called Christ United Methodist Church.

Christ United Methodist Church

The most important thing I've learned in the past week regarding the North Shore's Methodist churches is the origin of Christ United. I put up pictures of the Italian Mission church on Harbor Road and theorized it faded away and its member shifted to Summerfield, also on Harbor Road.

The truth is very different. According to this article in the Advance, the Italian Mission was founded in 1919 by the Rev. Sante Buzzalini. In 1932 the church shown above was built from diabase rock taken from the quarry right next door (now Graniteville Quarry Park) on Forest Avenue.

Faith United Methodist Church

west facing and north facing sides of the steeple

Again, drawing on Leng and Davis, I learned that the congregation that built this church was originally called the North Shore Free Methodist Episcopal Church. It was organized in 1867 and built their church on this location. In 1895 it caught fire and a new church had to be built - this one.

In 1966, Methodism, facing a bit of a crisis on the North Shore, handled it by merging Kingsley, Trinity, and Grace churches. The new unified church was called Faith United. A good description of how this was done can be read here on the church's website.

British Fort at Latourette

In response to a request from Peter M., I did a little research on the British Revolutionary War-era forts here on Staten Island. He's particularly interested in the one near Latourette Golf Course, having looked for it as a kid. So here goes.

First, there's actually a Wikipedia article on the Latourette fort. Called Lookout Place or Fort Izard, it wasn't really a fort, just an earthen rampart about 44 square feet. It was built to look over a freshwater stream, and I imagine would have had a nice clear view toward New Jersey and any colonial intruders.

During the Battle of Staten Island, based on the map on Wikipedia, it seems like Gen. Smallwood's retreat from his initial landing point at Decker's Ferry (Port Richmond), to Old Blazing Star (Rossville), took him along the same stream and under the observation of the British fort.

For those who don't know, the Battle of Staten Island, was a raid led by Gen. John Sullivan against a mixed force of British regulars, Hessians, and colonial militia. His goal was to bag a bunch of prisoners and destroy supplies. Poor coordination, faulty directions, and general confusion led to the Americans losing more prisoners to the enemy than they captured themselves. Sullivan was later court martialed for his handling of the battle, but was cleared.

Supposedly, the remnants of the embrasure could be seen at least until the end of the 19th century. I'm planning an expedition to the spot later this summer, so I'll let you know what I can actually see.

This map shows the location of the fort in relation to Richmondtown.

This is from the hand-written and unpublished book by Dr.William Gamble. I'm assuming he was attached to the British forces occupying Staten Island, but I'm not sure. The book, which I actually got to look through, is filled with odds and ends, including puzzles, and lists of Royal Navy ships by name and rating. Regarding the Latourette fort, Gamble's contribution is this map below showing the location of every redoubt (or "ridout" as he spells it) on the Island in 1781. The Latourette position is listed as point a, the Richmond ridout.

The Capitol Theater - Broadway, West New Brighton

Here's a set of Yesterday and Today pictures. It's the Capitol Theater on Broadway just above the corner of Castleton Avenue. One of aunt's told me about going to the movies there and then getting ice cream at a shop next door. I'll venture a guess that it was in the building in the left of the picture.

You can see it had large windows and a striped awning. One of the most common changes to many old commercial buildings is their conversion to residential use. The large display windows are simply removed and space bricked up. 

Take a look around some day for similar buildings. It's interesting to realize how many neighborhoods had little stores sprinkled through them. The same sort of centralized shopping districts that killed the shopping districts (ex., Stapleton, Port Richmond, etc.) probably put the end to them as well.

Bay Street - Looking west toward Hylan Boulevard

To look at the buildings on Bay Street in the past and then today, it's as if they've melted. The intricate details that were just bits and pieces of the original construction but gave the buildings character have been stuccoed or covered with sidings. Attractive canvas awnings have given way to vinyl or plastic ones. I appreciate these are old buildings that need alterations if they're to survive as actual working buildings but it's a little sad.

But then, hey, it's why when a building gets landmarked it can bankrupt the owner. Too keep a building even looking like it used to, forget about using "period" repair items, tends to drive out owners without lots of extra cash on hand. Too many folks don't really care much about what happens to the owners of such properties, just that their perfectly imagined bits of history are preserved in amber.

Here's a great little detail for the transportationally minded: horse, cars, and trolleys, all living together.

Richmond Terrace and Heberton Avenue - March, 1927

One of the things I can never quite wrap my head around as I do my excavation of the history of Staten Island's North Shore is the amount of destruction that's taken place over the years. Now, I that word as a negative term, simply a descriptive one. Whole blocks of buildings have come and gone over the past centuries. Some commercial buildings have been demolished and replaced with apartments. Others have been torn down and the lots remain vacant decades later.

It's a little discombobulating to realize streets I have grown up on and lived on for nearly fifty years were drastically different once. Nothing in a city stays the same for long. Populations change and grow. Technologies advance and require different infrastructures. I used to get upset about the physical changes on the Island, but now I've come to understand they've always happened and will continue to forever.

So...Richmond Terrace and Heberton Avenue, 1927. First, looking toward (Port) Richmond Avenue. The changes here are the most extreme. I'm not sure any of the buildings in the old photo are still standing. Nothing of the buildings on the right (the waterside) remains at all.

Richmond Terrace and Heberton Avenue - looking west

The next picture is the same intersection (natch), facing toward Jewett Avenue. Here, the changes are as severe and you can even spot some of the same buildings today as in the 1927 shot.  The building that housed the Willy's-Knight Overland dealership on the right is still there being used for an auto repair shop. Several other buildings on both sides of the Terrace can be seen as well.

Richmond Terrace and Heberton Avenue - looking east

Daniel Low Terrace Beauties

I've seen this post card for years now but I never took the ten minutes or so to figure out exactly where these two house were. I just did and happily learned they're still there and in pretty good shape. 

The house on the left appears to have been very well preserved and kept looking very close to how it appeared when it was first built.

The house on the right, while still very nice, has been changed a lot. The central tower has been chopped down and the front exterior staircase removed. The two porches have been enclosed and covered with inappropriate looking tile roofing. It's also been covered with terrible mark of modernity, siding. 

On the other hand, the simple wooden fence in the postcard has been replaced with a very attractive stone wall. So it's got that going for it.

Franklin Avenue - Past and Present

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left -   93 Franklin Avenue - 1930 - right - same site today

left - 105 Franklin Avenue - 1930  - right - today

left - 129 Franklin Avenue - 1930 - right - today

left - 161 Franklin Avenue - 1930 - left - today

Hamilton Park remains one of the most architecturally attractive neighborhoods of Staten Island. Sure, most of the grand houses are long gone, but the ones that remain are worth a look. 

The Gardiner-Tyler House

   Somehow I've never posted pictures of this Golden Age remnant before now.  The Gardiner-Tyler House was built in 1837 (according to an article in the NY Times {paywall}).  I figure it's a nice way to try to get back to posting.  I've been occupied with my swords & sorcery blog and getting things done around the house.  I'd like to see this blog moving along again so here's hoping.

   From 1868 to 1874, Juliana Tyler, the widow of President John Tyler, lived in that house.  According to the NY Times article, her daughter, also Juliana, lived there during the Civil War and advocated for the South.  The Times seemed surprised but I recall reading before that Staten Island was a hotbed of Southern sympathy during the war.

   Once the house stood at the center of a large estate.  Over time it was whittled away leaving it crowded in and cramped.
 

   In 1874 the house sat amidst 11.75 acres of green Staten Island hillside.

By 1935 there's residential development going on all over the place.  The Gardiner-Tyler House's lot has been subdivided.

Today the open spaces are gone.  Unless you count the expansion of St. Peters Cemetery.  I mean it's kind of open I guess.