Historic Richmond Town is an authentic town and farm museum complex in the neighborhood of Richmondtown, Staten Island, in New York City. It is located near the geographical center of the island, at the junction of Richmond Road and Arthur Kill Road. [2] Staten Island Historical Society and Historic Richmond Town are two different names for the same organization, reflecting its long history and evolution.
The town was named Richmond Town in the early 18th century when it was formerly a county seat and commercial center, having contained the former courthouse of Richmond County, and is coterminous with the borough of Staten Island. [3] People who lived in Richmond Town were mostly of Dutch, English, or French descent, and the most common jobs were those of blacksmiths, shoemakers, and other craftsman types. British troops were stationed in Richmond Town during the American Revolution.
Historic Richmond Town consists of more than 30 historic buildings and sites dating from the late 17th to the early 20th centuries. Decker Farm, located about one mile from the center of Historic Richmond Town, features a farm stand and seasonal activities such as pumpkin picking. The site also contains other former commercial and government buildings, as well as farm buildings and homes, some of which were relocated from other parts of Staten Island.
The creation of the museum site at Historic Richmond Town was the result of efforts by many Staten Islanders, led by local historians and preservationists: Loring McMillen, William T. Davis and local banker David L. Decker. Fueled by the same depression-era passion for historic preservation which resulted in the creation of Colonial Williamsburg, these men wanted to create a testament to Staten Island's rich history in an era of rapid development and urban sprawl.
Established in 1958, Historic Richmond Town is a joint project of the Staten Island Historical Society, an independent nonprofit cultural organization, and the City of New York, which owns the land and the buildings and supports part of its operations with public funds from the Department of Cultural Affairs.
On June 30, 2020 the Board of the Staten Island Historical Society elected Laura Gentile as board director and president, selecting a woman to lead the organization for the second time in its 164 year history. The previous woman was Edna Hayes, who served as president from 1978 to 1989. [4]
The main campus of Historic Richmond Town occupies 25 acres (100,000 m2) of a 100-acre (0.40 km2) site with 15 restored buildings, offering the opportunity to experience the lifestyle of a 300-year-old community. The two churches located outside the museum site are St. Andrew's Episcopal and St. Patrick's Church. A third church, the Reformed Dutch Church of Richmond was demolished. Mount Richmond Cemetery, operated by the Hebrew Free Burial Association, is also adjacent to the site. [5]
The purpose of this museum village is to make visitors feel as if they are living in the 19th century. Visitors are able to have a first-hand experience of what Historic Richmond Town once was.
Visitors may take a guided tour of various homes and shops that are fully furnished and restored to specific periods of interpretation; other buildings are in the process of being restored and are not yet open to the public. While Historic Richmond Town is no longer a year-round living history museum (as it was briefly in the 1980s), demonstrations of historic trades, crafts, and basic household activities by costumed museum interpreters take place during certain special events throughout the year and on a regular basis by reservation for visiting school groups. Special events that are open to the public include Old Home Day (which is the oldest continuous event in the museum’s history, and features the most demonstrations of traditional crafts and trades than any of its other events), the Richmond County Fair, Oktoberfest, Egyptian Festival, Greek Festival, quilting classes, Tavern Concerts, Pumpkin Picking at Decker Farm (October), English Country Dancing, Candlelight Tours, Traditional Dinners, and the Summer Apprenticeship Program. Varying from summer to summer, the Apprenticeship Program allows children up to age 15 to learn historic trades such as tinsmithing, blacksmithing, and cooking using original period specific tools.
The Voorlezer's House, dating to c. 1695, is the oldest exhibit as well as the oldest standing elementary school in the United States. Another exhibit to see is the Guyon-Lake-Tysen House, a Dutch Colonial farmhouse dating to c. 1740. The Christopher House, a restoration-in-progress which dates to c. 1720, features the only functioning jambless fireplace in New York City. Among the many structures are outstanding examples of Dutch Colonial and Greek revival architecture, such as The Stephens-Black House, the John Bennett House, The Britton Cottage, the Crocheron House, the Boehm House, the Basket Maker's House and the Treasure House. [1]
In 1987, the Staten Island Historical Society purchased and relocated the Jacob Crocheron farmhouse (built ca. 1819-1820 [6] ) to Historic Richmond Town from its original location at 84 Woodrow Road in the Annadale section of Staten Island, [7] a distance of over 3.1 miles. In the process of moving the building, DOT issued the house seven traffic tickets that were later forgiven. [8]
Historic Richmond Town is featured prominently in the documentary A Walk Around Staten Island with David Hartman and Barry Lewis, which profiles the history and culture of Staten Island. It premiered on December 3, 2007, on PBS member station WNET. [9]
Historic Richmond Town is featured in the third season of the television series Boardwalk Empire. A 1920s diner and gas station were constructed and shot on location. These sets were shown in the shows third season, which aired in fall of 2012 on HBO. [2]
Historic Richmond Town was featured in the eighth episode of the first season of the PBS television series History Detectives. The episode follows an investigation into the history of a Union flag in the museum’s collection that purports to date from the 1860s, and features dramatizations set in the Stephens-Black House with costumed museum staff as actors. [10]
Historic Richmond Town was also featured as a haunted location on the paranormal TV series Most Terrifying Places which aired on the Travel Channel in 2019. [11]
Staten Island is the southernmost borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York. The borough is separated from the adjacent state of New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and from the rest of New York by New York Bay. With a population of 495,747 in the 2020 Census, Staten Island is the least populated New York City borough but the third largest in land area at 58.5 sq mi (152 km2); it is also the least densely populated and most suburban borough in the city.
St. George is a neighborhood on the northeastern tip of Staten Island in New York City, along the waterfront where the Kill Van Kull enters Upper New York Bay. It is the most densely developed neighborhood on Staten Island, and the location of the administrative center for the borough and for the coterminous Richmond County. The St. George Terminal, serving the Staten Island Ferry and the Staten Island Railway, is also located here. St. George is bordered on the south by the neighborhood of Tompkinsville and on the west by the neighborhood of New Brighton.
Port Richmond is a neighborhood situated on the North Shore of Staten Island, a borough of New York City. Port Richmond is bounded by Kill van Kull on the north, Clove Road on the east, Forest Avenue on the south, and the Bayonne Bridge on the west. It is adjacent to West New Brighton to the east, Westerleigh to the south, and Elm Park and Mariners Harbor to the west.
New Brighton is a neighborhood located on the North Shore of Staten Island in New York City. The neighborhood comprises an older industrial and residential harbor front area along the Kill Van Kull west of St. George. New Brighton is bounded by Kill Van Kull on the north, Jersey Street on the east, Brighton and Castleton Avenues to the south, and Lafayette Avenue and Snug Harbor Cultural Center to the west. It is adjacent to St. George to the east, Tompkinsville to the south, and West New Brighton to the west.
Prince's Bay is the name of a neighborhood located on the South Shore of New York City's borough of Staten Island. Prince's Bay is bordered to the north by Huguenot, to the south by the Raritan Bay, and to the west by Pleasant Plains. The neighborhood is represented in the New York State Senate by Andrew Lanza, in the New York State Assembly by Michael Reilly, and in the New York City Council by Joe Borelli.
Rosebank is a neighborhood in northeastern Staten Island, one of New York City's five boroughs. It borders Clifton to the north, Arrochar to the south, and the Upper New York Bay to the east.
Concord is a neighborhood located in the borough of Staten Island in New York City, New York, United States.
The New York City Farm Colony was a poorhouse on the New York City borough of Staten Island, one of the city's five boroughs. It was located across Brielle Avenue from Seaview Hospital, on the edge of the Staten Island Greenbelt.
Sailors' Snug Harbor, also known as Sailors Snug Harbor and informally as Snug Harbor, is a collection of architecturally significant 19th-century buildings on Staten Island, New York City. The buildings are set in an 83-acre (34 ha) park along the Kill Van Kull in New Brighton, on the North Shore of Staten Island. Some of the buildings and the grounds are used by arts organizations under the umbrella of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden.
The Voorlezer's House is a historic clapboard frame house in Historic Richmond Town in Staten Island, New York. It is widely believed to be the oldest known schoolhouse in what is now the United States, although the sole inhabitant to hold the title of voorlezer, Hendrick Kroesen, only lived on the property from 1696 until 1701. The present structure became a private residence for more than a century and is now owned and operated by the Staten Island Historical Society. Despite being traditionally dated to before 1696 and sitting on land patented in 1680, it is more likely to have been constructed in the mid-eighteenth century, probably in the 1760s by Jacob Rezeau, whose family came into possession of the property in 1705.
The New Dorp station is a Staten Island Railway station in the neighborhood of New Dorp, Staten Island, New York. The station became fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in 2023.
Staten Island Historical Society is an organization devoted to the history of Staten Island and its neighboring communities, from the colonial period to the present day. The Society operates and interpreting Historic Richmond Town, the largest and most comprehensive historic village in New York City. It also collects and preserves the materials of everyday life, including the artifacts, archives, and buildings that tell the story; conducts and promotes research based on the museum’s collections; and shares the collection and knowledge with the public through creative and engaging interpretive activities.
The Christopher House is a stone masonry farmhouse at Historic Richmond Town in Staten Island, New York City. It is associated with two of the oldest Staten Island families. It was also used as a meeting place during the American Revolution, while being the residence of Joseph Christopher, a member of the Richmond County Committee of Safety from 1775 to 1776. It was moved to Historic Richmond Town in late 1969 and restored for museum presentation from 1975 to 1977.
The Lake–Tysen House is a spacious farmhouse with Dutch and Flemish architectural details. It was built by Joseph Guyon on his farmstead in Oakwood, Staten Island in the United States. Most of its original interior woodwork, including both Georgian and Federal styles of paneling remains intact. Based on the style and proportions of the house, it would be considered a middle-to-upper-class dwelling. The Lake family owned several slaves, who may have been housed in the rooms above the kitchen. The building was acquired by Historic Richmond Town, a living history museum, in 1962, and transported from Oakwood during July 9–12, 1962. The building was restored before it was opened to the public on October, 1963. Full restoration was completed in the 1970s.
The Livingston station is a former station on the abandoned North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway. Located north of Richmond Terrace at Bard Avenue in the Livingston section of Staten Island, it had two tracks and two side platforms. The site is 1.8 miles (2.9 km) from the Saint George terminal. Closed in 1953, the station was demolished, with few remnants of the site today.
The Church of St. Andrew is a historic Episcopal church located at Arthur Kill and Old Mill Roads on the north side of Richmondtown in Staten Island, New York.
St. George Coast Guard Station, or the Staten Island Coast Guard Station, located adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry St. George Terminal, is a complex of 22 historic buildings and was best known for the invention and manufacturing of lighthouse equipment. The Office Building and U.S. Light-House Depot Complex, designed by Alfred B. Mullet and completed in 1865, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and comprise an official New York City Landmark.
Loring McMillen was an American historian who served as Staten Island's official historian. He preserved the works of Alice Austen and worked to restore Historic Richmond Town.
Kamillah M. Hanks is an American politician and New York City Council Member for the 49th District on the North Shore of Staten Island.