Richmond Ter., New York, New York. County/parish: Richmond.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places March 16, 1972. NRIS 72000909.
10 contributing buildings.
Sailors' Snug Harbor (also Snug Harbor) is a cultural center comprising more than two dozen architecturally significant buildings on the North Shore of Staten Island in New York City, New York, US. Set in an 83-acre (34 ha) park along the Kill Van Kull strait, they were constructed for and originally used by Sailors' Snug Harbor, a retirement home for sailors, in the 19th and 20th centuries. The buildings and grounds are used by various arts organizations under the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. The entire complex is a National Historic Landmark District, and several structures are New York City designated landmarks.
Captain Robert Richard Randall bequeathed funds and land for a sailors' home upon his 1801 death. Fights over his will delayed the complex's development and forced its trustees to find a new site, where building C, the first structure at Snug Harbor, opened in 1833. Additional structures were built on the grounds in later years. Following a prolonged preservation dispute and several redevelopment proposals, the institution moved to North Carolina in 1976. The Staten Island site became a cultural center operated by Snug Harbor Cultural Center, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. The cultural center has gradually renovated the grounds and many buildings over the years.
The buildings at Sailors' Snug Harbor are designed in the Greek Revival, Beaux Arts, Italianate, and Victorian styles. Among those are buildings A–E, five interlocking Greek Revival structures known as Temple Row. The buildings are set in extensively landscaped grounds, surrounded by a cast iron fence. The grounds also include other structures such as a chapel and the Music Hall, along with the 55-acre (22 ha) Staten Island Botanical Garden. The Snug Harbor Cultural Center operates some of its own facilities and programs, including the botanical garden, the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, and the Music Hall. Other space is leased to institutions such as the Staten Island Children's Museum and the Staten Island Museum.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321389