...Then we drove to Tottenville, the southwestern extremity of the island, and a very pretty little town it is.."  Source: Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1878, pg. 556, A Spring Jaunt In Staten Island

Where is Tottenville?

Tottenville is located in the borough of Staten Island, in the city and state of New York.
Some people say New York ends here.
We say it begins here!

Tottenville Map

Staten Island: Before There Was A Place Called Tottenville

Earliest Settlers, Native American Indians

The original residents were the Algonquin Indians of the Lenape culture. The Unami, one tribe of the Algonquin nation, settled in a string of communities along the western shores of Staten Island from West Brighton to Tottenville. Tottenville is home to the largest known American Indian burial ground in the metropolitan area. Known as Burial Ridge, this protected site is located within Conference House Park.

Europeans

In 1624 the first families of white people settled on Staten Island - the Walloons of Belgium. But they didn't stay long. Following numerous confrontations with the Native American tribes, they soon retreated to New Amsterdam (Manhattan).

The Dutch arrived around 1630 and colonized the north shore of Staten Island near the Fort Wadsworth area. They, too, engaged in numerous conflicts with the Indians, but this time it was the Indians who began to retreat. By 1661, Staten Island had fallen into British hands. They negotiated an agreement with the Indians, who left the Island permanently in 1670.

Christopher Billopp, a British Royal Navy captain, was granted a 932-acre tract of land by the Duke of York in 1674. In 1687 the land grant was increased to 1,600 acres, encompassing the entire southern portion of the Island. On a rise of land overlooking Raritan Bay, Capt. Billopp built a two-story stone house c. 1680, known today as The Conference House.  Originally, Billopp's house and property was known as The Manor of Bentley.  Bentley was the name of his sailing vessel.  Because of their loyalist connections, Billopp's descendants lost the property after the American Revolution.  The land was subsequently divided into smaller farms and sold.  The use of the name Bentley Manor, however, would continue through the 19th century.

Tottenville Profile

Tottenville Changes Its Name

The land area now known as Tottenville was originally part of the Manor of Bentley and later the Town of Westfield.

On February 5, 1851, a post office was established at Tottenville; John Totten was appointed the first postmaster.  The post office moved to Bentley St. in 1853.  It was  located in the home of George Cole, and was renamed Bentley Post Office.

By 1861, fueled by political changes, a controversy over the name of the town ensued with Stephen D. Arents, master sail maker, promoting the name Arentsville, while the Totten family pushed for Tottenville.  The influential Totten family won the battle, and the post office reopened as the "Tottenville Post Office" on Totten St. (today's Main St.) across from the railroad station.

The Village of Tottenville incorporated in 1869, but the legal papers were reportedly improperly drawn.  In April 1871, an election was held in the village; the majority voted to revoke charter.  In 1894, a second attempt to incorporate was successful.

In April 1910, in response to a petition of 300 names, the Post Office Dept. changed the name to Bentley Manor.  Supporters of the historic name, led by the D.A.R., responded with two petitions containing over 1,300 signatures.  The Washington Post, dated November 5, 1910, reported the following:  "Complying with a general request by citizens, Postmaster General Hitchcock yesterday ordered the name of the postoffice at Bentley Manor, N.Y., changed to the old name of Tottenville."

In addition to the controversy over the name change, a debate was also brewing about how Billopp actually received the original land grant that included Tottenville.

Following much coverage in the New York newspapers, George Oakley Totten, Jr., a direct descendant of Tottenville's founding family, wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Times on April 2, 1910:

"I have been greatly interested in your articles about the change of name of the Tottenville Post Office.  In an editorial article you give the popular legend of how Billopp received his grant of land for sailing around the island.  It is a pretty story and is given as you state it on Page 102 of Bayles's History of Richmond County, New York, but you will notice that on Page 105 Bayles says:  'Another account says that Billopp received the plantation as a douceur from the Duke of York for his gallantry in some naval office.'  So, pretty and romantic as the story sounds, it may or may not be true."

Oystering and Maritime Industries

By the early 19th century, the oysters harvested from the waters of Princes Bay and Tottenville had become known world-wide to be of exceptional quality.  Oysters were a staple in the American diet, and by 1820, Staten Island's native oyster population had become exhausted.  Supply had finally exceeded demand.

The 19th century oyster industry was based upon oyster populations from Virginia, Long Island, and Maryland.  Oystermen bought the oyster seeds from these regions and replanted the local beds.  By the 1830's, the oyster industry began to thrive once again.

The revitalization of the oyster industry and the maritime industries associated with that revitalization were the impetus for the development of the village of Tottenville.

Around that time, Capt. John Totten purchased acreage on today's Main St.  It is unclear whether he built the house which remains standing on the lot today.  We do know that Totten built a dock nearby and established a general store. "Totten's Landing" soon became the hub for Westfield 's oyster and fishing industries. Other maritime industries, including ship repair and then ship building, developed quickly and began to prosper. Wealthy sea captains and merchants, as well as oystermen, boatmen, ship carpenters, sail makers, and watermen soon settled in the village.  Many of these seaman, known as "master of a vessel," built stately homes along Main St. and along the water's edge.  Main St. became known as "Quality Row" and was paved with crushed oyster shells and lined with beautiful shade trees.

The oyster industry began to decline in the 1880s and 1890s due to industrial and shipping pollutants and sewage. In 1916, the New York Department of Health declared clamming and oystering in the waters around Staten Island illegal.

In addition, the introduction of the steel hull effectively ended the wooden shipbuilding industry of Tottenville.

Agriculture

Agriculture was another important industry through the mid-19th century. The cultivated lands, located mostly south of Amboy Rd. to Raritan Bay, were producing abundant crops of wheat, rye, oats, corn and potatoes. The sandy soils were well suited for strawberries, tomatoes, asparagus and cabbage. Many of Westfield's oystermen supplemented their income in the off-season with truck farming.

During the second half of the 19th century, Tottenville underwent a period of rapid growth and development.  Much of the land in the village proper was subdivided into smaller lots and developed.  A mixture of large lots (20+ acres) and smaller parcels (1-5 acres) extended south of Amboy Road to Raritay Bay.   During the 1880s, many of the properties between Amboy Road and Hylan Boulevard were divided into smaller parcels, and by 1898, much of this area was divided into 25x100-foot lots.

Industrialization

By 1900, big industry was moving in, reducing the economic impact caused by the collapse of the oystering and shipbuilding trades.  The Totten dock property at the foot of Main St. was sold in 1907 to H.G. Stiles, J.B. Runyon, and Joseph C. Seguine.

A new wave of population growth for Tottenville had begun.  The Atlantic Terra Cotta Co. began its operations in 1897 on the Arthur Kill shores, near Ellis St.  It became the world's largest producer of architectural terra cotta. Its products were used in the construction of the Flatiron Building and the Woolworth Building in Manhattan, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The depression years and changes in the building industry closed the business in the 1930s.

The Tottenville Copper Company, a metal processing plant, was established near Mill Creek in 1900. By 1941, the plant was operating as Nassau Smelting and Refining Company. In 1971, it became a metal recycling plant and renamed Nassau Recycling Corporation. Today, an extensive remediation of the contaminated site is underway.

The opening of the Outerbridge Crossing in 1928 and the end of ferry service between Tottenville and Perth Amboy in 1963 both affected the way people lived, and shopped. The "mom-and-pop" businesses along Main St. and Amboy Rd. were becoming a thing of the past. The opening of the Staten Island Mall in 1973 closed many of these storefronts forever.

Several attempts to revitalize Main St., once a bustling business center, have been unsuccessful. Page Ave., the dividing line between Totttenville and Richmond Valley, has become the center of shopping plazas and strip malls.

Most family-run businesses have disappeared from Tottenville. We may agree it's not the same town it used to be. But the evidence of Tottenville's rich history and heritage can still be found in many houses and buildings. We need to preserve that heritage, so that future generations will know and understand the story of Tottenville - the town the oyster built.