page_title: Port Richmond, Staten Island
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Port Richmond, Staten Island / History / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Looking east from Richmond Terrace and Ferry Street, at the corner of Richmond Terrace and Port Richmond Avenue, known in the past as Port Richmond Square. The red brick building in the photo replaced the hotel where Aaron Burr, 3rd Vice President of the United States, died. This was once a bustling center for business. Old photos and postscards reveal the presence a trolley line on Richmond Terrace (street going forward) as well as other buildings which have since been demolished, such as on the corner to the far left. The Bergen Point Ferry to Bayonne, NJ, discontinued after the Bayonne Bridge opened, used to be in the distance (on the left of Richmond Terrace). I took this photo in August 2005 with my own camera.
context_page_description: 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, Jewett Avenue 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.
  Formerly an independent village, it is one of the oldest neighborhoods on the island. In the 19th century it was an important transportation and industrial center of the island, but this role has vanished nearly completely, leaving a largely blue collar residential area bypassed by the shift of development of the island to its interior after the 1960s. The formerly bustling commercial center along Richmond Avenue had been largely abandoned at the time, but many small businesses have opened in the area since the late 20th century.
  Port Richmond is part of Staten Island Community District 1 and its ZIP Code is 10302. Port Richmond is patrolled by the 121st Precinct of the New York City Police Department.
context_section_description: Port Richmond's location on the Kull Van Kill made it a prime ferry launch from Staten Island to New Jersey. It was a transfer port for freight and passengers traveling by boat between New York City and New Brunswick, New Jersey. This point is the part of Staten Island closest to Port Elizabeth, New Jersey and was once called Mersereau's Point, after Mersereau's Ferry. This point was also known as Lambert's, Collyer's, and Bowman's Point. It was called Lambert's Point during the Revolutionary War and later Collyer's Point. Other ferries that operated from that point were: Dacosta's, Indian, Decker's, Ryers', and Hilleker's. Ryers' and Hilleker's ferries were in competition with one another until David Mersereau bought out both companies in the late 19th century. Ferries ran continually until shortly after the Bayonne Bridge was built in 1931. The area also became the site of an important stop on a coach route between the city and Philadelphia. Port Richmond Avenue has been known over the years as Church Road, Port Richmond Plank Road, Stone Road, and Richmond Avenue. The road is a continuation of an old highway called the Morningstar Road.
  Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, railway tycoon and patriarch of the Vanderbilt family, was born in the area in 1794. In 1836, former Vice President Aaron Burr died in Port Richmond at the St. James Hotel, a prominent hotel which once stood on Richmond Terrace until it was demolished.
  In the early 19th century, the area was an overnight coach stop between New York City and Philadelphia. In 1836, a public park was built. In the middle 19th century, the area began to attract immigrants from Ireland and Germany. Among the industries established in the area was the only whale oil processing plant on Staten Island. It was later replaced by a linseed oil processing plant that operated until the 20th century. Other industries included lumber and coal yards, as a dye processing plant. Because oyster harvesting was a booming business along the mudflats in New York Harbor, many successful oyster boat captains built mansions on Richmond Terrace facing the Kill van Kull in the 1840s and 1850s. Industries along the waterfront included lumber and coal yards.
  In 1883, Port Richmond was described as a model village:
  The general appearance of Port Richmond is inviting and pleasing. The streets are wide, well-macadamized and smooth; the side walks well paved and generally shaded by trees of large growth. The business blocks are substantial and the dwellings range from pretentious mansions to quiet cottage
  In 1866, the neighborhood was incorporated as Port Richmond. In the 1880s, the Staten Island Railway constructed a North Shore branch with a stop in the village on Richmond Avenue, which had become a main shopping area of the island. In the 1870, St. Philip's Baptist Church, the oldest of the three black Baptist congregations on the Island, was formed. The church still stands at 77 Bennett Street, next to the Port Richmond Library that was built with funds from Andrew Carnegie in 1902. At the beginning of the 20th century, the neighborhood attracted large numbers of Italian, Polish, Norwegian, and Swedish immigrants. Temple Emanu-El erected its domed, Classical building in 1907.
caption: Port Richmond Square, the corner of Richmond Terrace and Richmond Avenue
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