7 State St. (between Pearl and Water st)

Located right in front of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and Battery Park, it’s hard to miss this red brick house with large white columns and surrounded by multi-story commercial steel buildings.

The history of the lot on which the pretty building is built dates back to the time of Native American occupation and the Dutch arrival in 1666. Close to commercial transactions and the entry of new immigrants, this location is no longer the image of yesteryear. According to some archive photos, a series of Georgian townhouses lined the street.

After trading between different hands, it was in 1793-4 that James Watson erected the house (right part) and a stable (demolished now) on the lot he had received from Gozen Ryerse two years earlier. It is said that the front columns were made with ship masts, which is possible considering that the house was located near the port. The house aligns nicely with the curvature of the street and is one of the few surviving homes of Lower Manhattan’s wealthy early occupants, but already, by 1800, the surroundings were changing. Mr. Watson was a prominent local businessman and political member.

The property was sold in 1805 to Moses Rogers who made some modifications (addition of the left part of the house) and from 1885, Reverend John J. Riordan became the owner and donated it to the Mission of Our lady of the Rosary. The parish then welcomed a growing clientele of Irish immigrants.

According to https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny0400/ny0416/data/ny0416data.pdf, the first floor of the building was used as a chapel, while the second and third levels were occupied by pastors.

In 1965, a chapel harmoniously integrated into the residence was built and a sanctuary honors Elizabeth Ann Bayley (Saint Mother Seton) (1774-1821), the first canonized North American saint and founder of the Sisters of Charity in the United States. She was from Staten Island and would have lived briefly at this address.

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