1938-07-26

BARNETT SHEPHERD, born on this date (d: 8/6/2025) was an American architectural historian and preservationist. In 1977, he founded the Preservation League of Staten Island. He was the executive director and CEO of Historic Richmond Town.

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and raised in Greenville, Mississippi, Mr. Shepherd spent much of his adult life on Staten Island. When he arrived in 1972, the borough was in the midst of an unprecedented development surge following the 1964 opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Bulldozers threatened many historic properties and preservation was not always a priority.

To raise awareness of the importance of saving historic buildings, Mr. Shepherd founded the Preservation League of Staten Island in 1977. His projects over the next several decades would include the former Sailors’ Snug Harbor, the St. Paul’s Avenue Historic District and Historic Richmond Town, where he served two terms as executive director and CEO.

During his tenure at the historic village, Mr. Shepherd guided plans and funding for the $1 million renovation of the Historical Museum, led the restoration of four buildings and the roofing of 14 additional buildings, oversaw the design and construction of the Edna Hayes Collections Care building as well as the acquisition and relocation of the Jacob Crocheron House, circa 1820. The Stephens-Prier House, circa 1857-1859, also became part of the village during his tenure.

Mr. Shepherd was the author of several books on Staten Island history and architecture. Working with the Tottenville Historical Society, he surveyed 250 buildings as research for “Tottenville: The Town the Oyster Built,” published in 2003.

His book book, “Staten Island Scenery: Paintings, Prints, Drawings and Photographs 1679-1900,” revisits and reinterprets the local treasures —  the Cropsey paintings and the Alice Austen photographs, the Almstaedt stereographs and the old newspaper woodcuts.

He was an ordained Presbyterian minister and an active member of Christ Episcopal Church New Brighton, where he and his longtime partner, Nick Dowen, were married last October. The couple resided in the Judge Jacob Tysen House, built in 1834 and located outside the gates of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden.