Pest Control in Charleston, Staten Island
Charleston occupies the southwestern corner of Staten Island near the Outerbridge Crossing, where the Arthur Kill separates the island from New Jersey. It is a mix of old and new, with historic worker cottages and the Victorian Kreischer Mansion alongside newer townhouse and detached home developments. The Bricktown Centre shopping complex and other retail and industrial sites line Arthur Kill Road, while Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve protects a large area of woods, ponds and wetlands. Charleston retains a semi-rural feel in places, with wooded lots and wildlife close to many homes.
Also known as: Kreischerville.
About Charleston
In the nineteenth century the area was known as Kreischerville, after Balthasar Kreischer, a German immigrant who established a brick and terra-cotta works using the local clay deposits. Workers lived in company cottages, and Kreischer's son built the ornate Kreischer Mansion in the 1880s. During World War I the name was changed to Charleston amid anti-German sentiment. The brickworks eventually closed, and in recent decades new housing and shopping centers have filled much of the former industrial land.
Common Pest Problems in Charleston
Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve, with its ponds, sandy barrens, wetlands and woods, supports a large wildlife population right next to residential streets. Raccoons and opossums move from the preserve into yards to forage in garbage and den under decks and sheds. The preserve is home to a variety of snakes, mostly nonvenomous species such as garter snakes and black racers, which sometimes wander into garages and basements of homes close to the park edge.
Historic cottages and older homes in the former Kreischerville area are particularly vulnerable to subterranean termites, which thrive in the damp, sandy soils. Newer developments are not immune, especially where wood decks and mulch beds touch the foundation. The industrial and commercial properties along Arthur Kill Road, including the shopping center, attract Norway rats that move into nearby streets, and mice seek shelter in homes each fall, particularly in townhouse rows where one unit's problem quickly becomes a neighbor's.