Conference House Park
The southernmost point in New York State, with a 1680s stone manor house where the only peace conference of the American Revolution was held — and a quiet beach nobody goes to.
- What it costs
- The park and beach are free. The historic house charges a small admission on open days.
- Best in
- Spring, Summer, Fall
- Where
- 298 Satterlee Street, Staten Island, NY 10307
- Official site
- nycgovparks.org
The peace conference that failed
On 11 September 1776, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge met Admiral Lord Richard Howe in this house — the only peace conference held during the American Revolution.
Howe offered clemency if the colonies withdrew the Declaration of Independence. The delegates declined. The meeting lasted three hours and the war ran another seven years.
The Conference House itself, also called the Billopp House, is a stone manor built around 1680 and is one of the oldest buildings in New York City. It opens on limited days — check before you travel.
The southern tip
The park's shoreline is the southernmost point in New York State, looking across the Arthur Kill at New Jersey.
There's a marker, a quiet pebble-and-sand beach, and salt marsh. On a weekday you will likely have the entire shoreline to yourself.
It's a strange feeling to be at the bottom of the state and still inside New York City.
Tottenville
The surrounding neighborhood is a small former oystering and shipbuilding village that still looks the part — wooden houses, a main street, and a pace that has nothing to do with the rest of the city.
It's a two-hour trip each way, so this is a commitment. Go if you want the far edge of New York and a genuinely quiet afternoon, and pair it with the Staten Island Railway ride, which is half the pleasure.
Getting there
Ferry to St. George, then the Staten Island Railway all the way to Tottenville, the last stop — about 40 minutes on the train — then a ten-minute walk.
Around two hours from Midtown. This is the far end of New York City in every sense.
The railway takes the same OMNY tap. It's a pleasant ride down the east shore.
Getting around once you're there
The park paths are a mix of paved and unpaved with some grades down to the shore. The historic house is a 17th-century stone building with steps and no step-free entry. Tottenville station is at grade.