18th - 19th Century

1767 John Totten (d. 1785), weaver, is the first documented member of the Totten family to purchase land and settle on Staten Island.

1834 John Totten Jr. purchases waterfront property at the foot of today's Main St. where he builds a dock and general store. Totten's Dock (aka Totten's Landing) would become the hub of commercial activity.

1840 Totten's Shipyard is established by William Totten, John Jr.'s brother, on the Arthur Kill waterfront adjacent to Totten's Dock.

1841 Bethel Methodist Church is built on an acre of land donated by John Totten Sr.

1850 The Rutan Shipyard is established by brothers James M. and William H. Rutan. The business operates for nearly 30 years.

1851 John Totten Jr. establishes the Tottenville Post Office and is appointed postmaster.

1853 The post office is moved to Bentley St. and renamed Bentley.

1855 The Butler & Sleight Shipyard is established near Ward's Point.

1855 Robert Journeay acquires property along the shores of the Arthur Kill and establishes the Journeay Shipyard.

1857 The Ellis Shipyard, located to the east of Totten's Dock, is founded by Jacob S. Ellis in 1857 and continues through the 1920s.

1860 The Staten Island Railway is extended to Tottenville (foot of Main St.).

1861 The post office is renamed Tottenville.

1865 World-renowned artist William Page builds an octagon house near the southwest corner of Hylan Blvd and Page Ave.

1886 Bethel M.E. Church is destroyed by fire. The church is rebuilt on the same site and dedicated in 1887.

1897 The Atlantic Terra Cotta Works is established along Ellis St.

1898 Staten Island consolidates with the other four boroughs to become the City of Greater New York.

1899 Tottenville's first library opens at 206 Johnson Ave.

20th Century

1900 The Tottenville Copper Co. (later Nassau Smelting) is established near Mill Creek.

1904 The Tottenville Branch Library opens at 7430 Amboy Rd. It is the first Carnegie library built on Staten Island.

1904 St. Louis Academy, a private school for girls organized by sisters of the Congregation of Marianites of the Holy Cross, opens on Main St.

1905 A new school building, P.S. 1, opens its door on Summit St. The old school building, previously called Bay View Academy and Westfield District School No. 5, is renamed P.S. 1 Annex.

1909 Cornerstone is laid for the Huguenot Lodge No. 381, F.&A.M., 236 Main St.

1910 Post office name changes to Bentley Manor, temporarily.

1914 Congregation Ahavath Israel organizes and incorporates in 1916. It is not until 1933, however, that the congregation builds a house of worship

1915 The Norwegian Evangelical Free Church elects trustees and incorporates. In 1917, a vacant lot at 266 Wood Ave. is purchased and a church built in 1924. Today, it is called Tottenville Evangelical Free Church.

1922 The 123rd Police Precinct, a three-story masonry building, is constructed at 116 Main St.

1922 The trackless trolley begins operation to Tottenville. Fare: 5 cents. It is replaced by municipal bus service in 1927.

1923 The brick apartment buildings at 239-241 Main St. are constructed.

1925 The Conference House Association is formed to preserve the house. Formerly known as the Billop House, it is dedicated and opened to the public in 1937.

1927 The Stadium Theatre at 217 Main St. opens.

1928 The Outerbridge Crossing, connecting Perth Amboy, NJ to Staten Island, is opened to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

1929 Construction of the FDNY firehouse at 7219 Amboy Rd. is completed.

1931 The Tottenville Copper Co. is sold to Western Electric Co. and renamed Nassau Smelting and Refining Co.

1936 A new high school, Tottenville High School, opens its doors on Yetman Ave. and Academy Pl.

1942 The Honor Roll Plaque to honor Tottenville men and women serving in World War II is erected on Main St., across from the Stadium Theatre. It was removed circa 1950; its whereabouts is unknown today.

1948 The side-wheeler ferryboat Charles W. Galloway, operated by the Staten Island Railroad, made its last run to Perth Amboy on Oct. 16, 1948. Service continues with smaller boats.

1961 The South Shore Swimming Club is opened and dedicated.

1962 A new post office building at 228 Main St. is completed.

1963 Ferry service between Tottenville and Perth Amboy is discontinued.

1963 April 20, 1963. Black Saturday. Brush fires destroy more than 100 homes on Staten Island including many in Rossville's Sandy Ground community and Tottenville's beach community south of Hylan Blvd.

1964 The Guthrie Scout Shack, located on Bethel Church property, burns to the ground.

1965 St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Amboy Rd., is destroyed by fire.

1965 Page Avenue Shopping Center, the first strip mall, opens at the corner of Page Ave. and Amboy Rd. The A&P relocates there from 209 Main St.

1972 A newly constructed building for Tottenville High School opens on Luten Ave. in Huguenot.

1972 The S.S. White Dental Co. closes its Prince's Bay plant.

1975 The Rinky Dink Roller Rink opens on Valentine's Day in the old Stadium Theatre building. Admission: $1.65.

1976 The West Shore Expressway, connecting the Outerbridge Crossing to the Goethals Bridge and the Staten Island Expressway, is built.

1980 Population: 6,486

1985 Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Amboy Rd., is destroyed by fire. A new church is dedicated in 1990.

1987 The 135 ft. smokestack from the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company on Ellis Street is razed.

2005 The Tottenville Historical Society is founded.

2005 The James L. and Lucinda Bedell House , 7484 Amboy Rd., a NYC landmark, is spray-painted with neon colors by its owner.

2007 Population: 11,931

2012 Superstorm Sandy destroys multiple homes along the Raritan Bay waterfront and takes the lives of two members of the Dresch family.

Timeline