Welcome to Kreischerville

Welcome to Kreischerville. . , For more than half a century, until World War I, Staten Island's Charleston was called Kreischerville. The area was named for Balthazar Kreischer, a Bavarian builder who became a successful manufacturer of clay products., Business is Booming , In 1849, Kreischer moved his Manhattan clay works company to Arthur Kill Road in Staten Island to take advantage of the nearby clay pits and transportation opportunities of the Arthur Kill. At its height, the company used 13,000 tons of local clay to produce more than three million bricks a year, which people used to line their furnaces, ovens, and chimneys., Kreischerville was within walking distance of the clay works factory and it became Staten Island's only "company town," housing more than 300 clay works employees and their families., Kreischer also helped found the Staten Island Railroad and built Saint Peter's German Evangelical Church as a gift to the town., By 1854, Kreischer had built his 26-room Staten Island home in town, overlooking the bay. The house, called Fairview, featured a cupola on the rooftop that may have helped him keep an eye on his shipping interests., Because of the type of clay found in the area, Kreischer bricks have an off-white tint to them.