How Did Todt Hill Road Get Its Name?

Have you wondered how Todt Hill Road on Staten Island got its name? In this post, learn the answer as well as a bit of the history of this notable New York City road.

What language is the word Todt?

Todt is a word in Dutch, the language most commonly spoken in the Netherlands. Prior to the government established by the British in 1660s, the region was considered to be part of New Netherland.

Many other places in New York City have names that are clearly Dutch or have roots as Dutch words. For example, New Dorp Lane in Staten Island was named by the Dutch.

We even see Dutch influence in names in other parts of New York State. Many small upstate towns, such as Stone Arabia, can trace their names to likely Dutch roots.

What does Todt mean in Dutch?

Todt is one spelling of the word “death” in Dutch. The most common spelling of death in Dutch is dood, which is pronounced almost exactly the same as todt.

New Yorkers no longer pronounce todt the Dutch way. Instead, it’s now pronounced “tote”, which sounds nothing like the old Dutch word.

What is the origin of the name of Todt Hill Road?

Todt Hill Road is named after the nearby hill known as Todt Hill. Since now you know that todt means “death” in Dutch, you might not be surprised to learn that Todt Hill may have been the location of Dutch and Indigenous burial grounds.

So, as the story goes, the hill was associated with the burial grounds and named Todt Hill by Dutch speakers. Then, the adjacent road took on the name of the hill.

To be clear, no one knows absolutely for sure that the road was named after the hill, or even if the road was named after the cemeteries, or even if there really were old burial grounds in that exact location.

Other theories about the origin of the name include a story about a woman, her would-be lover, and toads. Alternatively, Todt is seen in Germany and the Netherlands as a surname, so it is conceivable that a person with the last name of Todt lived on or near the hill.

During research for this article, I scoured maps of Staten Island going back as far as the 1600s and did not find Todt Hill marked on any maps prior to the late 1800s.

Is Todt Hill the most elevated point on the eastern seaboard?

Technically, Todt Hill is the highest point on the Atlantic Plain south of Maine. There are other locations in east coast states that are higher than the 390 feet at the peak of Todt Hill’s elevation, but they are not on the Atlantic Plain.

It’s important to note that Todt Hill Road does not reach the highest elevation of Todt Hill itself, so it wouldn’t be accurate to say that Todt Hill Rd has the highest elevation. It’s the hill that Todt Hill Rd is named after (i.e. Todt Hill) that is the high point of the region.

Conclusion

I hope that this post has helped you learn about the name origins of Todt Hill Rd in Staten Island, as well as some other interesting facts about this road. It’s great to learn a bit about the history of the places where we spend our time.

If you have any questions about something that you read here, please be sure to join in the discussion below.

Thanks for reading today!