Many of Staten Island's prominent families made their homes here during the nineteenth century. One of these families was the Jones family, most of whose descendants came to New York from Philadelphia. The most 
prominent member of this family on Staten Island was Shipley Jones, who was born in the middle of the nineteenth century. He was born into a wealthy family who created a large estate for him in the current neighborhood of New Brighton. Originally, the estate was owned by his parents, both of whom died prior to the first years of the twentieth century. At that time, the estate was passed down to Shipley Jones, who owned it for a number of years before he too passed away.
Shipley Jones graduated from Columbia College in 1869 with a Bachelor of…
school was initially built, a schoolyard and tot lot were constructed next to the building, above Arnold Street and to the east of Clyde Place. Not long after the construction of the schoolyard and tot lot, a fire destroyed the school building and it was replaced by Public School 31, which was constructed further northeast in the neighborhood. Although the school was no longer in use, maintenance of the tot lot was taken up by the current Cottages Hill Tenant Association, a community group.
In 1916, a seven-foot monument was sculpted by Allen G. Newman and given to the City of New York. The monument, known as The Hiker, was constructed to honor the soldiers who fought during the Spanish-American War. For some time, the monument stood in front of Staten…
