The Rose and Crown Tavern was a farmhouse and tavern located in

New Dorp New Dorp is a neighborhood on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York City, United States. New Dorp is bounded by Mill Road on the southeast, Tysens Lane on the southwest, Amboy and Richmond Roads on the northwest, and Bancroft Avenue on the n ...

, Staten Island.

History

The tavern was built by

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

immigrants in 1665. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

the tavern was owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt, the uncle of

Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

. An historian described the tavern as a "one-story building of stone, with a hall through the middle, and rooms on either side; in front was a large elm tree." The future King William stayed at the tavern as a young adult for an extended period in 1781 during the British occupation. In 1776, General William Howe, with his aides-de-camp and 30,000 British and Hessian soldiers, was encamped on Staten Island awaiting orders to invade

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. During that time, the tavern became the local British headquarters. On July 9, 1776, General Howe read the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...

to his troops at this tavern. Other military occupants of the tavern representing the British included General

Wilhelm von Knyphausen Wilhelm Reichsfreiherr von Innhausen und Knyphausen Some documents produced after 1806 referred to him as Reichsfreiherr Wilhelm zu Innhausen und Knyphausen while some documents after 1919 use Wilhelm Reichsfreiherr zu Innhausen und Knyphausen. ...

and Sir Guy Carleton. It was here at the tavern that the Battle of Brooklyn was planned. The building itself was demolished in 1854. In 1855 an Italianate mansion was built on the site by David R. Ryers, who sold it in the 1890s to German confectioner Gustave Mayer, who invented

Nilla wafers Nilla is a brand name owned by Nabisco that is most closely associated with its line of vanilla-flavored, wafer-style cookies. The name is a shortened version of vanilla, the flavor profile common to all Nilla-branded products. Originally sold as ...

at that location. the formula of which was sold to

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...

. The house, considered haunted, was listed for sale in 2015 for US$2.3 million.‘Haunted’ Staten Island mansion can be yours for $2 million
Retrieved January 18, 2022 In 1921, the Richmond County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a stone marker at the approximate location of the tavern to signify that the tavern once stood there. The marker is located at the corner of New Dorp Lane and Richmond Road.

References

{{Coord, 40, 34.54, N, 74, 7.2, W, display=title New York (state) in the American Revolution History of Staten Island Military history of New York City Taverns in the American Revolution New Dorp, Staten Island