JENNY Faber, a member of the Faber pencil manufacturing family, lived in Port Richmond and in 1869 was granted a patent to the land along the Kill Van Kull in Port Richmond on condition that she build a dock “for commerce or enjoyment.” Part of it would eventually become Faber Park and Pool. Under Parks Department jurisdiction, architect Frederick H. Zurmuhlen Jr. built a seawall, recreation building, playground and pool, the largest in Staten Island when it was completed in 1932. Faber Park has enjoyed spectacular views of the nearby Bayonne Bridge since its 1931 construction.
Faber Park, at Richmond Terrace and Faber Street, is one of the few public spaces facing the water on Richmond Terrace. It offers middling views of the Kill Van Kull and Bayonne, but spectacular views of the Bayonne Bridge (seen here during its deck replacement in the mid-2010s), though better views are available from private property.
Miles away from Port Richmond is another manifestation of Faber pencils. Eberhard Faber, the scion of a Bavarian pencil producing family, arrived in the USA from Germany in 1848, and after his first USA pencil factory burned down in 1861, relocated to Greenpoint in 1872. His son Eberhard II (he had changed his name from John) took over the company, which remained in Greenpoint until 1956, when it decamped to Wilkes-Barre, PA. Faber is recalled by the huge yellow terra cotta pencils on the Art Moderne building at Greenpoint Avenue and Franklin Street, constructed in 1924, which served as its offices. There are still various pencil factories located on Greenpoint’s side streets near the river, marked by the Faber star-in-a-diamond motif. Some of the factory buildings have been converted to residences, and one on Kent Street housed offices for Kickstarter, the crowd-funding company. Other Faber factories in the area are marked by the company symbol of a star within a diamond.
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