The Stephens-Black House is a 19th-century house featured in

Historic Richmond Town Historic Richmond Town is an authentic town and farm museum complex in the neighborhood of Richmondtown, Staten Island, in New York City. It is located near the geographical center of the island, at the junction of Richmond Road and Arthur Kill ...

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was designated as a

New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

on August 26, 1969.

Architecture

The deed to the Stephens-Black House suggests that its construction began shortly after 2 February 1837, but the house is generally dated to 1838-40. It is located on a 25 by 100 foot plot at the corners of Center Street and Court Place. It was built in a modified

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style. The main floor of the original structure included a side hall entry with two adjoining formal parlors. The second floor originally housed three large bedrooms. The third parlor was added onto the western side of the structure sometime after 1840. Two more bedrooms were the added above the third parlor. The basement of the structure houses both a functioning 1830s kitchen and what was once the home's dining room. The adjoining general store was built as a series of additions between 1840 and 1870.

As a museum

The house is currently open and interpreted as of approximately 1860 with historically accurate reproduction wallpaper, carpet, and window treatments. In 2012, the House was used as the Kinneret Lodge during the filming of

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...

People

Stephen Dover Stephens, born in 1808, was the original owner. He owned the home and operated the store between 1837 and 1870. He was married to Elizabeth Johnson in 1829 at Saint Andrew's Church, which is also located in

Richmondtown Richmondtown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Island section of Staten Island, New York City. It is bounded by Arthur Kill Road on the northwest, Richmond Road on the north, Amboy Road on the east and southeast, and the United Hebrew and Ocean ...

. Their five children Stephen Dover Jr., William James, Lucretia, Mary Elizabeth Jr, and Charlotte Ann were all baptized at that same church. In 1870 both the home and the connected store were sold to Mary and Joseph Black. The Stephens family then moved up the road to the Stephens Prior House. Mr and Mrs. Stephens both resided there until their deaths in 1883. The Black family raised eleven children in the home and their family operated the store until 1926. In 1926 the remaining members of the Black family sold the store to Willet and Bertha Conner who operated a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

in the store until the time of

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After which the house was separated into two apartments and rented until it became property of

and was subsequently designated as a landmark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens-Black, The, House Historic Richmond Town Houses in Staten Island New York City Designated Landmarks in Staten Island

Architecture

As a museum

People

See also

References