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Farms of the Past on Staten Island

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In conjunction with the Museum of the City of New York's Exhibit " From Farm to City: Staten Island, 1661-2012 " we will display some photos  (courtesy of The New York Public Library)  of old  farms on Staten Island   on our Blog . Agriculture played a distinctive and important part of Staten Island's economic growth, from Native Americans who farmed the land to the colonization of the Island by the Huguenots and the English. Farm life was a constant battle with nature, taming the landscape to create farm fields, the cutting of forests and the clearing and draining of the swamps and marshes for pasture for domesticated animals.  Horses were a dominant feature, used for the plowing and transport of produce. Many farms also had fruit orchards growing various types of apples, pears, peaches, and figs. Manhattan was the primary market for the 18th and 19th century Yeoman Farmer of Richmond County. The only remaining working farm on Staten Island is the ...
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GARNER MANSION DAY at the LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION

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Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 1 Center Street, Manhattan, 9:30AM The public hearing of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission will consider the WILLIAM T. and MARY MARCELLITE GARNER MANSION. WILLIAM T. GARNER  MANSION Now a part of Richmond University Medical   Center, 355 Bard Avenue, Randall Manor.   The house is one of the few free-standing pre-civil war mansions still surviving in New York City. It was built in 1859-60 by Charles Corey Taber, a prominent cotton broker and real estate developer.In 1870 it was purchased by William T. Garner, the owner of Harmony Mills.  A vice-commodore of the NY Yacht Club, Garner owned the largest yacht in the world. It became St. Austin's School for Boys in the 1880's and later St. Austin's Military Academy.  In 1903 it was   aquired   by the Sisters of Charity.  It was heard but not designated in 1966. In 2003 PLSI again requested landmarking, but it was not heard. The Garner Mansion is the fi...
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The Scott-Edwards House (Port Richmond/West Brighton)

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Along with the lush grounds and gardens lovingly maintained by the owner, this Greek Revival house (renovations c. 1840) was originally built c. 1730 in the Colonial Dutch Farmhouse style.  This is truly a home out of the 18th century. The combined use of diverse building materials, including sandstone on the ground floor and wood clapboard on the upper half-story give this house its enduring charm.  The eyebrow windows under the eaves of the Portico make this an intriguing and mysterious structure.  The house sits on a parcel of land that was originally granted to Governor Dongan in 1677. The property was passed down to the Governor's nephew and then the investigation grows cold for the Revolutionary War period. Judge Ogden Edwards, the nephew of Jonathan Edwards (the famous American theologian noted for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"), then took possession of the house in the 1840s.  The Judge was also the cousin of the infamous Aaro...
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