Dutch Reformed Churches of the North Shore

From the Reformed Church on Staten Island site: 

Old North Church, built 1717

Reformed Church on Staten Island: The oldest church of any denomination on Staten Island is the Reformed Church on Staten Island in Port Richmond on Port Richmond Avenue. The Dutch and French-speaking Huguenot settlers of Staten Island prior to 1680 were few in number and unable to support a permanent minister. Instead, preachers traveled to the Island every couple of months. In, Petrus Tesschenmacker, the first Staten Island minister ordained in the New World, was received by the tiny village of Port Richmond (New Amsterdam had become an English possession in 1674). He left Port Richmond for Schenectady in 1686 where he and his congregants were killed by French and Indian raiders in 1690. 

From the Reformed Church on Staten Island site: 

Third church, built 1787

The first church building went up in 1680, and a second, hexagonal one, in 1717. That building was burnt by the British occupation forces in 1780, and a new one was built in 1787. Finally, in 1844, the present brick church was built, with expansions being added over the next few decades. Surrounding the church is a cemetery that dates back to the 1690s.

Present church, 1844

Like most mainline Protestant churches, the Reformed Church on Staten Island is past is prime. Its buildings are in need of repair and its congregation is small. What it does have is a terrific website that has a detailed history of the church and many of its historical documents and architecture on display.

Brighton Heights Reformed Church: While I only attended Brighton Heights Reformed Church for about two years in my forties, my paternal roots lie with that congregation's denomination. My father's family is Dutch and English. While I'm uncertain of exactly when, his Dutch antecedents arrived in New Amsterdam prior to the British takeover. Family tradition held they were employees of the Dutch West India Company. 

From the American Guild of Organists site: 

original 1820 building, ca. 1900

Whatever the real history is, Vredenburghs have lived in New York City - mostly Harlem, the Bronx, and, for the last fifty-five years, Staten Island - for over 350 years now. I have photos and membership papers from my dad's mom from her time as a member of Elmendorf Chapel on East 121st Street in Manhattan. During the time I attended Brighton Heights under the late Rev. Seawood, I felt very much at home and part of true Christian fellowship.

Looking north on St. Marks Place towards 1860s church, 1937

What's now Brighton Heights Reformed Church was founded in Tompkinsville in 1818 under the supervision of ex-NY governor (and later, vice-president), Daniel D. Tompkins and the spiritual supervision of the Rev. Peter I. Van Pelt of the church in Port Richmond. This seems to have grown out of Tompkins' earlier prompting of Van Pelt to hold services within the walls of the Quarantine Station located in Tompkinsville. This sort of direct community service was continued in the early eighties by Brighton Heights when it opened the first overnight homeless shelter on Staten Island. That undertaking would evolve into Project Hospitality, which still serves the Island's homeless individuals.

1860's church 

The original church was built in 1820, roughly at the corner of Van Duzer and St. Paul's. As the neighborhood became more commercial, land was bought on Brighton Heights, and a new church was built at the present location on the corner of Fort Place and St. Mark's Place in the 1860s. That building perished in an accidental fire during renovations in 1996. Finally, in March of 2000, Pastor Seawood led the congregation into the new building. 

Brighton Heights Reformed Church, present

Mariner's Harbor Reformed Church: This church, while it closed in 1974, has not stood vacant. I'm not sure when, but for many years it has been Fellowship Baptist Church. The building is on the corner of Richmond Terrace and Lockman Avenue. Leng and Davis have little to say about it. While claims were made it first organized in 1885, they state it was "not mentioned in the Chamber of Commerce report of 1896." It was incorporated in 1907. I imagine it closed due to Mariner's Harbor old Dutch residents moving to New Jersey and the general mainline Protestant decline. I've written to the denomination's archivist, and should I ever hear back, I'll post more details about the congregation and its history.

Mariner's Harbor Dutch Reformed Chapel, postcard

Mariner's Harbor Reformed Church, 4/23/32

Fellowship Baptist Church, present

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