Port Richmond history starts with
The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church on Staten Island
(at today's 54 Port Richmond Avenue)
on the same spot in Port Richmond since 1680.
The town grew up around the Church, not the other way around.
Their congregants, and their Dutch Reformed belief that
your destiny relies on your efforts, not your heritage,
are why Port Richmond played a pivotal role in the founding of this nation.
Their graveyards have 45 heroes of the Wars that created America--
The American Revolution, The War of 1812, and The Civil War.
After our own Cornelius Vanderbilt created the modern business world,
Port Richmond continued to play a role in American History
through the development of industry and commerce.
Port Richmond Avenue, our commercial street and primary public space,
is alive with healthy development even as
today's Port Richmond faces the latest challenges to the American Dream,
most recently with the Federal removal of materials from the Manhattan Project.
This Civic Association emerged in June 2018
out of a Civic Summit hosted by the Reformed Church in February 2018.
The Church gave us a physical meeting place for our first several years.
This writer's familial connection to the Dutch Reformed Church,
and the Church in Port Richmond in particular,
extends back to 1568 in the Netherlands
and to 1730 in Port Richmond and Pennsylvania.
The Reformed Church and its Graveyards are a New York City Landmark
and a National Historic Site nominee.
There are four other NYC Landmarks within easy walking distance.