All good things come to an end and ForgottenTour #66 in Tottenville marked the end of a good-luck weather streak that had lasted the latter part of 2011 and all of 2012, as downpours of varying intensity marked the day’s events. The crowd was kept down by the rain as well. We’ll have to invest in plastic slipcases for our notes! We will return some year.
Tottenville is the southernmost tip of Staten Island, and within it is the southernmost point in New York State. British naval officer captain Christopher Billopp was its first European settler in 1678, and within a couple of years, had built a stone mansion at the foot of today’s Hylan Boulevard that would figure prominently in American history as the Conference House. The Billopps remained Tories, loyal to the British, throughout the Revolution and so had their lands confiscated at the end of the Revolution. The story goes that Staten Island is a part of New York State, not New Jersey, because Capt. Billopp won a bet that he could circumnavigate Staten Island in one day.
When I first visited Tottenville in the 1970s, it was rather more rural and insular than it is today, when new housing developments are springing up, almost one per year. Tottenville’s southern area remains undeveloped, with large swaths of forest and tall bluffs overlooking the junction of Raritan Bay and the Arthur Kill (the waterway’s name is derived from the Dutch Achter Kill, or “back river.”)
On this visit we had a guided tour of the historic Conference House (seen in the title card) and had an unusual treat when were invited in by the pastors of the Virgin Mary and St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Craig Avenue and Main Street. A couple hours later, we enjoyed Staten Island’s greatest ice cream (though Ralph’s in Port Richmond may dispute that) at Eggers on Amboy Road.
Tour photos and identifications on Flickr. All pix by Joe De Marco. Click on each photo for a brief description.
FNY’s previous Tottenville swing
5/23/13