Moving Right Along - Van Duzer Trolley Tracks Again

Looking north on Van Duzer Street from corner of Beach Street - 1926 vs. today

The building on the right side was still standing when I was a kid. On the Beach Street side (unseen) was a dry cleaners and a pet store. We'd always stop and look in the window on the way up from shopping in Stapleton.

northeast corner of Van Duzer and Beach Streets 1926 vs. today 

Roulston's was a Brooklyn based grocery store chain that collapsed when the owner died.

looking north along Van Duzer from the corner of Prospect Street

1923 vs. today

That large building on the right is indeed the long gone German Club (along with the Germans of Staten Island). I was told that the large hall was where the giant painting of Christ's ascension behind the altar at Trinity Lutheran was prepared there as it was the only available place big enough at the time.

Close up detail and 1917 map.

Midland Railroad Company Trolley Tracks - Van Duzer Street - part 1

I haven't posted much on this site over the past few years because it's become hard to find the sorts of things that interest me. I've used up most of the decent pictures on the NYPL site pertaining to the North Shore, and I'm too lazy busy to spend time going through the microfiche at the St. George Library of the WPA pictures.

That said, I've become invigorated lately to try and do more (thanks, Mr. Cancemi!). I don't want this site and it's attendant facebook group to die, so I was hit by a strong urge to do some research today.

I've discovered that entering a street name into the NYC Archives can lead to some exciting things. Today, I uncovered a huge cache of pictures showing the track of the Midland Railroad Company's Midland Beach Line along Van Duzer Street. They're from between 1921 and 1925 and show some remarkable stuff.

I'm going to put up the first batch today and the rest over the next few weeks. Zoomed in, there's some incredible detail and I want highlight that. I think one of them shows the German Club that I've read about but never actually seen before. Another has the original Staten Island Academy/Elk's Club. This is some great stuff.

Looking at Water Street from the foot of Wright Street

In the 1926 photo on the left you can see the bulk of the original PS 14 rising up above the library. It's interesting how much remains. In the contemporary picture you can't seen the abomination wrought on the Stapleton Library. Forget the hideous glass extension. The beautiful columned entrance with its heavy wooden door has been closed off. The disregard for the original structure is astonishing.

Looking up Wright Street 1. 1926   r. 2014

This is one of my favorite discoveries today. I had no idea what Wright Street looked like whatsoever. Even when I was a kid none of these buildings in the foreground existed. The left corner was occupied by an ugly box of a building that upstairs housed, first, the Golden Cue pool hall, and second, Wright Toy & Hobby. Later Ross Cosmetics used the space.

Van Duzer Street 

looking north from the top of Wright Street. l. 1926 r. 2014

The mansion on the left and many of the storefronts on the right still exist nearly unchanged. I wish the block didn't look quite as shabby as it does, but it's still one of my favorite. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention the trolley tracks visible in the roadbed in each of the old timey photos. 

So that's part one. The next posts will take us north along Van Duzer with stops at most of the cross streets along the way. I hope you enjoy the trip.

More Van Duzer Pictures

   A few more landmarks from Van Duzer and nearby blocks.  

Fire Engine Co. 154 - This magnificent building still stands now converted to residential use.

This beautiful bit of advertising stood on that corner (Hannah btw Van Duzer and Bay) for decades only coming down in the late nineties (I think).  It was torn down to make way for a car wash.  Foolish if you ask me.

   Our Lady of Consolation - Actually on St. Paul's Avenue but its large hall (behind it) was on Van Duzer.  Today it's a dentist's parking lot.  To its left is the derelict Fire Engine Co. 204 house.

Van Duzer Street - blocks of wonder, sort of - Part One

   Van Duzer Street lies a few mere blocks east of St. Paul's Avenue.  Unlike St. Paul's it's never seemed to have gotten the love from the preservationists that it deserves.  I wonder if that's because it's less upscale and more heavily trafficked.  Preservationists always seems to target the streets with large expensive homes that they own already, not equally important (from a historical perspective) areas that might be a little more worn or less desirable.   Which I guess is a good thing because historical districts tend to push out poorer owners and replace them with wealthier (and usually whiter) ones (facts and figures available upon request).  Any renaissance connected with such districts tends to be the kind that comes anytime big money pushes out little money.
   All that being said, I'm not sure I'd want to live on Van Duzer Street myself.  The traffic is heavy and constant and wouldn't want that outside my front door.  I doubt it's ever truly quiet along the street.  But it is a street with beautiful and interesting homes and buildings.

open the maps in a new tab so you can enlarge and zoom in on them

   I debated (with myself, and it was contentious) about how to put up pictures to accompany these maps.  They're a labor of love and I hope some of that love is contagious.  I want people to look at them closely, think about what the street and surrounding blocks look like today, how they compare to each other, what they must have looked like in years past.  All sorts of stuff.

   One way to do that is simply present you (the readers) with photos with addresses but no key to their map location.  To figure that out you'll have to search the maps.  You can do it just by that.  I've found so many surprising things in preparing these two maps I'm sure you'll find things I haven't noticed.  

   I think this is the sort of thing I'm going to be doing for the next several posts in general.  If you don't think it's a good idea, please, let me know and I'll figure out something else to do.  Thanks, as always, for reading and commenting on something I thoroughly and utterly enjoy doing.

                35 to 51 Van Duzer, 4/1929                                                   41 Van Duzer Street, 2/2012

             63 Van Duzer (center), 3/1927                                     59, 63, and 67 Van Duzer, 2/2012

219, 221, 223 Van Duzer, 2/2012 - beautiful early to mid 19th century side gable houses

226 Van Duzer, 5/1935

292 Van Duzer Street - left - 5/1935 (a this time it was the Democratic Club) - right - 2/2012

310 Van Duzer Street - left - 5/1935 - right - 2/2012

According to the NYC records on-line this home date to at least 1835 - a neighbor of it told me it was the oldest house on the block

324 Van Duzer Street - left - 5/1935 - right - 2/2012

   The mighty fortress that is Trinity Lutheran Church can be easily seen on the hill overlooking Van Duzer Street.  The "for sale" sign mention Cornelius G. Kolff.  As an Islander of a certain vintage I only know the name as from the old ferry that got turned into a prison boat and then scrapped.

   Turns out he was a major land developer, Staten Island promoter and folklorist and part-time philosopher. Most of this I actually came across in an article from the Northeast Tolkien Society. 

   So that's all for today.  I've just got a ton of stuff to post and this is long enough.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the rest up for your perusal.

Van Duzer Street - from North to South

Running from Tompkinsville to Stapleton and then to Concord and parallel to St. Paul's Avenue, Van Duzer Street is lined with some of the most interesting older houses and buildings surviving on the Island. The street's name is obviously Dutch in origin (street name seem to be the only lasting impression of my forbears founding of this city) but beyond that I don't know specifically for whom it's named. I've only posted pictures from the beginning of Van Duzer at Victory Blvd in Tompkinsville to Targee Street in Stapleton. It's the stretch I'm most familiar with and definitely the most interesting.




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Facing North(ish) on Van Duzer and looking at Victory Blvd.





The original El-Bethel AME Church and as it looks today


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247 Van Duzer Street at between Clinton and Baltic. According to the late Dick Dickenson's edition of "Holden's Staten Island" this little house dates from before 1786. Wow.





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House on the corner of William and Van Duzer with restaurant addition - appears on 1874 map - Many of us know it with varying degrees of distaste as Giggles, the 19th Hole or perhaps Beer Goggles.




292 Van Duzer Street - the Democratic Club c. 1935 - in 1874 it was owned by W.C. Anderson. Today it remains but in a considerably worn down state






Looking west along Van Duzer at Sands Street - in the background is the steeple of Trinity Lutheran Church





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This beautiful house on the corner of Van Duzer and Smith Terrace. In 1874 it was owned by K. Jessup. Today it is much more secluded and sits hidden behind trees.





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523 to 525 Van Duzer Street - in 1932 the wood frame building was occupied by the Eagle Social Club.





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561 Van Duzer Street - This old brick home was owned by J. Oneill in 1874 and Chas. Rosenberg from 1907 to 1917. The old picture dates from 1932


So ends our incredibly edited and short trip along Van Duzer Street. There are some great pictures I left out. Maybe later.

Some Architectural Finds

Clinton Avenue near Prospect Avenue







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Van Duzer Street - just north of Beach Street


This house, once owned by someone known as R.M. Hazard, date to at least 1874 and probably before that. The surviving house is the one on the right. The left has been replace with stores. There's a plaque on the exterior of the remaining home but I don't have the information at hand. Maybe later (don't I always write that?).


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Some Comparison Shots

Here are a series of pictures and their matching googlemaps shots that just happened to catch my eye. I'm sorry I haven't been posting too much lately. Facebook has been a drain on my posting time and I need to get to the St. George Library to get some decent new postable stuff.




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