The Clifton Woods Monster

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
In 1895, the residents of Clifton Park, Staten Island were reported as living in "deadly fear" of a wild animal roaming on the "Leavitt property, 200 feet from the Vanderbilt gold fish pond."

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St. Andrew's Church Richmond, Staten Island

​It bellowed all night, so loud and awful that everyone within a mile stayed awake and shivering in their bedroom until dawn.

Three hundred persons gathered one night with bicycle lanterns and guns to find out what was making the cries. They didn't find anything, and police were called out. The pond already had the reputation of being haunted, and they were asked to dredge it. There was talk of calling the fire department and draining the pond.

Mr. Coweiser who lived on Centre Street went to the police to complain that a lion was loose in the area, and its loud growls didn't allow him to sleep. He offered a reward of $100 for its capture.

Only one policeman was sent to the area, and he reported the majority of residents agreed that a marine monster dwelt in the swamp. Some even thought it was a monster bullfrog. Sailors pegged it on an alligator or a sea serpent.

Jack Holton, who was known as a "truthful resident" said that it was a banshee.

With the enticement of the reward, several assembled around the swamp every evening. They brought nets and game bags, but all they heard was a loud hooting. Some climbed trees and others threw their lines into the swamp, or waded in rubber boots through the murky water. Nothing was found.

Jimmy Arnold the engineer of the ferryboat Northfield told a reporter the following story: 

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The noise came from somewhere back of the Clifton Park roads. My first impression was that it was made by an alligator that had been put in the swamp and had outgrown himself and feeling lonesome stuck his head out of the mud every night and barked.

​When next I heard it, it sounded like the scream of a dying baby, and I felt superstitious. There were hundreds of people round the swamp last night waiting for the thing to cry. I never knew of so much excitement on Staten Island before. At Clifton the people can't sleep. They are thoroughly alarmed, some believing that the end of the world is coming.

They had three policemen at the swamp last night. At 10 o'clock the thing suddenly let out a yell and the policemen ran and haven't been seen since. They had expected to get the reward of $100.

What was the creature seen around Richmondtown dating back to 1895?

The reporter went to the swamp and a number of "white-faced Cliftonianas" stood around with lanterns. A man holding a hay rake told him: "It's all very well for you to make fun, but if you had the devil living in a horse-pond in your back yard and howling like a hyena every night just to depreciate property you wouldn't take it so lightly."

Lest you think this was a group of superstitious people that were spooked by an owl, there have been other reports of a strange creature on Staten Island.

In December, 1974 Frank Pizzolato and Phillip Vivolo were in the woods when they saw what they thought was an upright bear that roared at them. They described it as standing at around 6 feet in height and was covered in dark hair.

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Monster reported in Clifton Woods c.1895

A month later, Mrs. Daly another resident of Richmondtown, Staten Island was driving late at ight and had to brake to avoid a bigfoot crossing the road in the area from the church car park, and heading for the rubbish dump and swamp behind the church. She said it measured about 6 feet in height.

The same month, a young couple saw a bigfoot in the church parking lot early in the morning.

For those who question why physical proof of bigfoot has not been provided; it wasn't until 1957 that Canadian bison which had been declared extinct in 1940, were found once again. It was a herd of 200 that were genetically undiluted. These animals are cousins to the American buffalo, but a distinct species. They were found in a remote part of Alberta, Canada during an air patrol, only fifty miles from a 100 year old station.

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Greenbelt pond, Staten Island

In reference to the gold fish pond mentioned in the story from 1895, Cornelius Vanderbilt, patriarch of the Vanderbilt family was born in Port Richmond, Staten Island, on May 27, 1794. Several family members had homes built on Staten Island throughout the years.

Staten Island present day, has a greenbelt of 2,800 acres of forest. During the 1970s, it was even more undeveloped, and as described by the witnesses there was a parking lot across the street from the church with a swamp and dump close by.

Another place on Staten Island with its own strange history is the Kreischer Mansion.

So the question remains, what was the creature the residents heard during those nights in 1895? It was loud enough to be heard far and wide in the general area, and the fear it sparked proved this was not the usual wildlife that inhabited this part of Staten Island. Was this the same creature that was seen in 1974?

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