Kaltenmeier Playground

Virginia Ave. and Anderson St.

Staten Island

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

Reinhard E. Kaltenmeier (1876-1933) hailed from Rosebank, Staten Island, ascended the ranks of city politics, raised a family, and always had time for a friend. His grandfather, John Kaltenmeier, emigrated from Germany in 1843 and settled on Staten Island. Reinhard Kaltenmeier attended St. Mary’s Parochial School, on the corner of this block, and then public school, until age 14. His home, which also functioned as his father’s saloon and hotel, stood just a block away, at 53 St. Mary’s Avenue. In a shop behind the house he learned the trade of goldbeating, and continued making goldleaf for five years, while also helping out in the saloon. On December 19, 1896, Kaltenmeier married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Doyle, who also lived in Rosebank.