Theodore F. and Elizabeth J. De Hart House

134 Main Street | Tottenville | built 1950

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1849

    October 11

    Henry Butler buys a Main Street lot for $250 and builds a cottage

    Henry Butler bought this lot from John Totten Jr. for $250 and put up the house, possibly one of the first on what became Main Street. He may have been kin to the Tottens, and an earlier Butler, Isaac, ran the Perth Amboy ferry from 1788 to 1828.

    “Henry Butler (1821-1899) built the house at 134 Main Street after he acquired the lot from John Totten, Jr., for $250 on October 11, 1849.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1856

    March 25

    Oyster opener Joseph W. Totten buys the cottage from his cousin

    Joseph W. Totten paid $1,400 for the house, buying it from his cousin William H. B. Totten. The son of oysterman John Totten Jr., Joseph was a partner in a firm opening oysters that, according to the 1855 census, turned out 12,000 gallons a year and employed 15 people. He kept the house for less than three years.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1874

    March 20

    Oyster planter Theodore F. De Hart buys the house and stays 39 years

    Theodore F. De Hart, son of a Tottenville oysterman, bought the house for $2,600. He and three brothers were listed as oyster planters in 1875, raising seed oysters from Maryland or Virginia in the waters around Staten Island. De Hart lived here until his death in 1913, by far the longest residency of any owner, and his only child, Mina De Hart Cole, inherited the house.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1968

    May 8

    Main Street grocer Benjamin F. Bedell buys the De Hart House

    Benjamin F. Bedell and his wife Marie bought the house from Maurine LeCato. Born in Perth Amboy, Bedell bought a grocery store at 111 Main Street after serving in World War II, and settled in Tottenville. His grandfather John Bedell had run the village's first drug store.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

All 9 buildings with stories in Tottenville