Tappen Park

Canal St., Water St., Bay St.

Staten Island, 10304

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

This park is named after World War I (1914-1918) veteran James Tappen.

James J. Tappen (1891-1918) served in Company D of the 308th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army during World War I. He was killed on September 29, 1918, at Binarville, France, in the Battle of Argonne. In July 1934, a bill introduced by Alderman Daniel Leonard and signed by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882-1947) named this park in Tappen’s honor. Before that, local residents called it Stapleton Park, for the surrounding neighborhood, though it had officially been known as Washington Square since 1867.