The Big House On Richmond Hill

The Gustav A. Mayer house sits on top a hill in New Dorp on Richmond Hill Rd. It was built in 1855 and made a land mark in 1989. The house was home to famed inventor Gustav A. Mayer, who moved his confectionery business to the Island from Manhattan. The house was originally built for David R. Ryers, and older man who was robbed by the New Dorp Highway Robbers in 1897.


Mayer was a entrepreneur who was very successful in the many things he took interest in. His shop was located in Stapleton to be close to the upscale section of Staten Island. Gustav was the inventor of the sugar wafer and also made desirable Christmas tree ornaments when they became a chic possession. He sold the sugar wafer to Nabisco who now owns the rights to the cookie. His ornaments where so desirable because of the shiny smooth tin and hand painted detail. He closed down his shop and moved his business into his house 


Members of the Mayer family still live at the location and are renovating the house to restore it to its original splendor. They upkeep the land it sits on the same way Gustav did when he ran the house.

On behalf of the NFL's opening day- The Staten Island Stapletons.

The Staten Island Stapletons also known as The "Stapes", was a football team in the NFL that was founded in 1915. They played for the National Foot Ball league between 1929 to 1930, and then two more seasons in 1931 and 1932. The  team was ran by  Dan Blaine, who also served as the team's halfback. Blain later became rich by building up a chain of restaurants. The Stapletons played similar semi-pro neighborhood teams from the New York City area. 


In the earlier years the team played for fun and only got paid about $10 per game. The team went inactive in 1918 due to WWI. Blain was in the army an had been deployed over seas. He came back a year later in 1919 and became the sole owner of The Stapes and retired himself as a player. He also became successful with a string of restaurants in Staten Island that sold alcohol during the prohibition. 


The team won the New York Metropolitan championship in 1924 by beating out the best Semi-Pro teams in the area. But in 1925 Tim Mara formed the New York Giants who moved into the Polo Grounds. The Giants stole the spotlight for the Statepltons because of a bigger stadium and the ability to support larger crowds and fans. The rivalry between The Giants and The Stapes began on Thanksgiving Day in 1925 when the Giants beat them out 7-0. On Nov 14th 1926, the Newark Bears beat the Stapes 33-0. Blain recruited most of the Bears players including their star rookie  Doug Wycoff who was more then willing to leave the Bears due to nonpayments. The Stapes greatly benefited from this and the Bears went out of business in 1928. Blain then hired a few NYU players as well. 


In 1927, the Stapes fielded their ex-Newark Bears squad, although Wycoff signed to the Giants. The Giants would go on to win the 1927 NFL championship and defeated the Stapes twice in non-league games, 19-0 and 18-0. The Stapes though did manage to beat the NFL's Duluth Eskimos, featuring Ernie Nevers 7-6 on November 27, 1927. By 1928, Blaine wanted the Stapes to become an NFL franchise. He bolstered his squad by resigning Doug Wycoff back as a player-coach and by signing six graduates from the nationally-ranked New York University team. The Stapes had their best season on record, going 10-1-1, including a 3-1 record against NFL teams. They even pulled out a 7-0 victory over the Giants on Thanksgiving Day.

After their record was set Blain applied for an NFL franchise. He had to obtain permission from Tim Mara, the owner of the Giants, because Staten Island was in his territory. But he actually had an extra franchise that originally belonged to the Brooklyn Lions but was handed over Mara when the team folded in 1927, because they owed him money. Mara had then allowed the New York Yankees, owned by Grange's manager C. C. Pyle, to use the franchise when they moved from the AFL to NFL. The Yankees went out of business after the 1928 season, so the franchise again went back to Mara and he passed those franchise's rights on to Staten Island.Blain hired Ken Strong who later became a Stapletons Hall of Famer, to play with the newly franchised team.

The Stapletons would never have a winning season in the NFL. During their first NFL season in 1929, the team went 3-4-3, defeating the Dayton Triangles, Brooklyn Dodgers and theMinneapolis Red Jackets. They also managed to tie the Frankford Yellow Jackets once and Orange Tornadoes twice. The team improved to a 5-5-2 record in 1930. That season the Stapes managed to defeat the rival New York Giants 7-6, after a four yard touchdown run from Doug Wycoff and an extra point kick from Strong.

In July 1931, the team's official name on the league records was changed from the Stapleton Football Club, Inc., to Staten Island Stapes. At this time, Doug Wycoff left the team to rejoin the Giants. In need of a coach, Blaine hired Hinkey Haines, who had played briefly for the Stapes in 1929. The Stapes opened at home by beating the Dodgers 9-7 before 7,000 fans. However a week later at Ebbets Field, the Dodgers forced 3 interceptions to defeat the Stapes 18-6. The team would post a 4-6-1 record in 1931, defeating the Giants (once), Dodgers (twice) and the Cleveland Indians. (Resources *)

In 1932 the Stapes finished last. They managed only to defeat the Giants and the Cardinals, and in 1933 the only team they beat was the new Philadelphia Eagles. Their star player Ken Strong went on to sign with the Giants and won the NFL Championship that year. In 1935 Blain's franchise was declared forfeit and the team folded. 

Giants beat Staten Island - November 13, 1932
Old Newspaper Clipping - footballhistorian.com - Archives

Staten Island fumbles away game Football History November 13, 1932 - Old Newspaper Clipping The New York Giants' home-field advantage and its far superior line was too much for the Staten Island Stapletons to overcome Sunday. The 15,000 in attendance at the Polo Grounds watched as quarterback Jack McBride guided the Giants to a 27-7 rousing win. McBride, the former Brooklyn Dodgers' quarterback, teamed up with his favorite pass catchers, Ray Flaherty and Red Badgro, and the New York city-team linemen played rough football much to the glee of their fans. The Stapletons, who have one of the best players in fullback Ken Strong, were no match for the Giants' aggressive style of play. The gate receipts should come in handy for the visiting Staten Islanders, whose owners reported last week that the financial loses suffered throughout the last four years (1929-1932) are causing them to think about folding after this season ends. Note: Staten Island folded after the 1932 season ended. footballhistorian.com - Football History - The Great Depression

Football Historian 

Happy Land-South Beach pictures

HAPPY LAND PARK, SOUTH BEACH, STATEN ISLAND

An old post card

Main Entrance

Bathers line the shores 

The Ball Room entrance

A water Carousel?

Happy Land Parks Boardwalk

An Old post card

The old Roller Coaster

for these and many other south beach pictures click here

South Beach's Glory Days.

                 Everyone's heard of Coney Island and all the fires that brought the amusement part to ashes, but have you ever heard of Happy Land Park? Maybe you did if your family is native to Staten Island, but i never knew anything about it. Happy Land Park was an amusement park that was located in South Beach, Staten Island. It was at its time in rival with Coney Island. The park cost roughly 200,000 dollars to open, and on its grand opening on June 30th 1906, it brought about 30,000 people, but admissions were free the 1st day of opening.

Aug 1908

               The Park was well known for its attractions and even had its own transit line right to the gates, as Coney Island did to its own park. It was lit up by over 50,000 lights and also featured a vaudeville theater, an attraction called the Carnival of Venice, complete with Gondola rides, hotels and resorts that lined the streets, as well as a Japanese tea garden and a shooting range.The park had got very good reviews by the New York Times and was a major attraction of the island. With the roof top restaurants and sprawling boardwalk its no wonder Staten Islanders had no desire to travel to Coney Island. Sadly despite good earnings and reviews, the park had to claim bankruptcy in 1910, though it still operated. Only up till 1917, when a devastating fire broke out. The fire wasnt the only thing that effected the island, pollution in the water also played a big part in the decline of admissions. After closing, the train stopped stopping in South Beach in 1953, and the tracks where ripped out in the 1980's.

The ball room at Happy Land park

People lining the boardwalk

South Beach 1980's

South Beach in the present day

What we see now of South Beach is not much more then sand and water. Aside from the baseball fields and boardwalk that lines the coast, there isn't even so much as a clue as to what South Beach once was. It is however home to the Franklin D. Roosevelt boardwalk. The FDR was built by Work in Progress in 1939, and it is one of the longest boardwalks in the world. New York has two others in the top ten: the Coney Island Riegelmann Boardwalk and Ocean Promenade on the Rockaway peninsula. And so the story always ends the same, by the 1970's most of all the arcades had closed down along with the restaurants and little shops, though the last arcade from Happy Land Park closed in 2006. A building complex went up along with a few mini malls and it looks no more special the an old abandoned beach when you walk down the boardwalk.

Greenridge & The abandoned Highway.

                      As a teen living on Annadale Rd. i often walked to Greenridge to meet up with my friends. There werent many places for kids our age to go hang out and not get chased away by cops all night. I would walk to Greenridge and meet up with the rest of my friends knowing that they would be there ( this was before everyone had a cell phone). I would walk down Dorval till it hit the Korean War Vets and like everyone else cross through the abandoned highway. We would all hang out on that highway, away from people that could yell at us and of course cops. I remember always thinking about how that highway got there and where was it supposed to be going anyway? I've walked all the way up it literally leads to no where. I'm sure I am not the only one who thought about this, because we've all talked about it. Well I found out the answer as to how it got there and why it never got finished, along with a couple more interesting facts.

                  In 1921, on the corner of Aurthur Kill rd and Richmond ave were safari golf now sits, sat a amusement park and restaurant call Al Deppe's. It was an indoor play ground with small rides and pin ball machines, a beautiful carousel that was imported from Germany, as well as shooting booths for target practice. . The owner who opened this place also bought a mansion built in the 1850's across the street, known to me and you as the Elks Club. 

              

After buying the house, Al built a 200 ft tunnel that ran from his house to the restaurant across the street so that he could go back and forth with money and other such valuables unnoticed and unharmed. Some people say Al was so paranoid he actually hid some of his money in the tunnel for safe keeping and that its still there today. Along with this tunnel there are a few other tunnels that lead to various locations in the area, some dating back to the civil war era as legend has it. Before the construction of the Korean War Vets and the West shore Richmond Ave was the only way to travel from Eltingville, so of course this place did very well and was a well known establishment. They were best known for the hot dogs and their fresh clams.

          And so the story always ends the same, in the late 1960's or early 1970's the city wanted to build a better way to travel the Island, and proposed the building of The Richmond Parkway, currently the Korean War Vets, and Al Deppe's stood right in the way. So the place was condemned and knocked down to make way for the exit off the Parkway. As we know this never came about though there are 4 over passes ( 2 on each side) that were built, along with a street sign, and paved roads with guard rails and all. The plan was to make a quick exit from the Richmond Parkway to the Staten Island Expressway, it was to cut though CSI as well, however it was never even fished due to a change of plans.It must have been a heartbreak for the Deppe family and other people who frequented the spot.

1947

*Any pictures and info about any topic would be great.

Tottenville - the town the oyster built.

                     Tottenville is considered the "End of New York". Its located on the southern most tip of Staten Island. Tottenville is home to many historic sites, and land marks. The Billop House is the southern most building in New York state and was built in 1898, in the late 17th century when Staten Island was an independent county. It was built by Captain Christopher Billop, and played a big part in Revolutionary War history, which Tottenville played some part in. The Totten family, in the 18th century owned a large amount of land on the island. After a few different names such as Unionville and Bently Dock, it was settled that the town would be called Tottenville. The towns name was changed in 1869. 

             The confrence house was also built by Christopher Billop in 1678, the family owned the house as well as the surrounding area through to 1776, when the failed meeting took place. In 1784 the property was taken over because the Billop family were Tories. 

           In the early 1900's Tottenville was a thriving town, filled with business and well known familys. Staten Island became part of New York State/city in 1898. Tottenville, with the use of the ferry that crossed the Aurther Kill into Perth Amboy, was the center of trade and travelers coming from Philly. The streets where lined with mom and pop shops and new stores and family owned businesses, even small factories, such as the Terra Cotta plant that produced decorations for the city's first skyscraper, the Woolworth Building, as well as some of the houses in Sea View. Ship and boat building were also major factors if income to Tottenville, with WWI the revival of boat building was underway though short lived and the last ship yard in Staten Island closed in 1930. Tottenville, in the late 1800's into the early 1900's was known for oyster distribution. Most of the fanciest and lavish houses built at the end of the 19th century, were built for oyster mongols. Places as far away as Europe where getting their oysters from this island. But in 1921 the farming of oysters was shut down by the New York City health department due to pollution and thus making them unsafe and unclean.  Rumors where going around that some people are trying to revive the oyster beds in Raritan Bay. The oysters actually filter the water and clean it out so this would be beneficial in more then one way. Unfortunately NJ state officials put an end to this saying that the water is not clean enough to do this and that they do not have the means to support the project long enough to find the outcome. They had to destroy all the oyster beds that they took over 2 years to build up. 
         With the opening of the outterbridge crossings in 1928, there was little need for the Peth Amboy ferry and it was used less and less until it shut down for good in 1963.Tottenville is a beautiful town with all the big old houses and sea front property, but no longer carries the charm that it once did, and no longer thrives as it had a long time ago. I love it over there though, the parks are beautiful as are all the trees and old houses, some places still look like something out of the early 1900's, with the big yards and houses on top of hills.

Lakeman-Courtelyou-Taylor House: One of the oldest buildings in Staten Island

Lakeman-Courtelyou-Taylor House

 In the New Dorp section of Staten Island stands a pretty amazing building. Said to be built in 1680 by Abraham Lakeman, a well known islander who's name appears all over the Islands historic documents, it stands on what is now Richmond Rd for over 5 centuries, 2286 Richmond to be exact. Richmond Road is a colonial-era road whose origins go back to, maybe even, the Native American period before the colonization.

Lakeman built this house on a piece of property he received from his fathers estate  after his death. Then in 1751 it was bought by Aaron Cortelyou, who's son in law sold it to Joseph Taylor in 1794. The house is now owned by the  Kirchoffer family who bought it in 1928 and use it as part of their family business, you guessed it a floral shop. Better known to new aged islanders as Moravian Florist.

The house was going to be torn down to make room for newer structures, but in 1999 the Kirchoffer family hired a architect from the island named David Carnivale. So in 2001 the plans were set into action after researching the history of the home. Carnivale discovered that even though the house had major structure problems, it was surprisingly intact. He uncovered 3 17th century fire places, beautiful paneling walls where uncovered that dated to the 17th century as well. There is little history and documents on this house, but i will try to gather up some more info as i am planning a trip to the historical society to rummage through old documents i will update this post as soon as i can.