For those of you that are unaware, your webmaster’s (my) name is Kevin J. Walsh, J for Jude. ForgottenFan Ed Dineen sent me a photo of a regulation Department of Transportation street sign with my name on it, at the corner of Midland and North Railroad Avenues in Grant City, Staten Island.
This part of the island was settled before the Civil War, and after the war ended in 1865 the small town was renamed for General Ulysses S. Grant. Several other neighborhood streets also bear names connected to the war — Abraham Lincoln; his first Vice-President, Schuyler Colfax; John C. Frémont, the first Republican Party Presidential candidate; and journalism giant Horace Greeley.
Now, seemingly, I add my own name to the list.
The corner where the sign was installed, North Railroad and Midland Avenues, is along the Staten Island Railway, originally Staten Island Rapid Transit, established in the mid-1800s. The arrangement with the open cut here is fairly new. Grade crossing elimination here came only in the mid-1960s.
North Railroad Avenue and its partner, South RR Avenue, accompany the railroad from Dongan Hills southwest to the Bay Terrace area.
Midland Avenue is a pleasant tree-lined route through a middle-to-upper class area. Moravian Cemetery, which contains the burial vault of the famed Vanderbilt family, is about two blocks to the north, on the slope of Todt Hill.
Mary Beth was surprised to see a street sign with your webmaster’s name on it.
Of course, it’s not me. The name on the sign honors a local longtime owner of an electrical contracting firm located on Midland who was greatly admired for his local good works as well as involvement with churches, schools, and nonprofit organizations.
But who’s to know?
7/9/13