Historic Richmondtown, Staten Island

Historic Richmond Town — aka Richmondtown to most Staten Islanders — is a living museum of old buildings from the 1600’s through 1800’s on 25 acres of country-like land in the middle of Staten Island just under Lighthouse Hill and LaTourette Golf Course.

The museum is officially called Historic Richmond Town — so as not to confuse people with the actual current town of Richmondtown, the bucolic residential neighborhood adjacent to it.

But most Staten Islanders simply call it Richmondtown — knowing that there is a residential community too.

In this article we will take middle ground and call it Historic Richmondtown — or simply Richmondtown. It consists of more than 30 historic buildings and sites — some of the buildings have been relocated from other parts of Staten Island.

The main campus of Historic Richmondtown has 15 restored buildings. You can go into these buildings for free. Inside there are typically guides dressed in fashion of the 1700’s, who will tell you and show you what life was like back in the 1700’s and 1800’s.

How Historic Richmondtown Came to Be

Historic Richmondtown was established in 1958 and was the result of efforts by many Staten Islanders, led by local historians and preservationists Loring McMillen, William T. Davis and local banker David L. Decker. They wanted to establish something for Staten Island that was similar to Colonial Williamsburg. Richmondtown is much, much smaller than Colonial Williamsburg — but has the same flavor.

Historic Richmondtown is currently a joint project of the Staten Island Historical Society (an independent nonprofit cultural organization), and the City of New York, which owns the land and the buildings and supports part of its operations with public funds from the Department of Cultural Affairs.