On Sept. 11, 1776, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge crossed to Staten Island to meet British Admiral Lord Howe in a stone house overlooking Raritan Bay. The meeting, held at Howe's request, was the only peace conference of the American Revolution, and it ended without an agreement. The house still stands at the southern tip of Tottenville, and this weekend docents are leading tours of it, alongside a free exhibit about that day and a free Sunday morning 5K through the park.

Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8: docent tours of the Conference House

The Conference House, also called the Billopp House, is a two-story fieldstone house built around 1680 by Royal Navy Captain Christopher Billopp, a major landowner. Nearly a century later, his great-grandson, who remained loyal to the Crown, offered the family home for the 1776 meeting. By the time the delegates arrived, the Declaration of Independence had already been signed, and the war went on for seven more years.

Today the house is owned by NYC Parks and run by the Conference House Association as a museum interpreting an 18th-century colonial manor. Docents lead tours from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8. The suggested donation is $10 per person. The museum is at 298 Satterlee Street, and the association can be reached at 718-984-6046 or admin@conferencehouse.org.

All week: Voices of 1776

In the park's Visitor Center, the Lenape Gallery holds Voices of 1776: The People and Events Surrounding the Historic Staten Island Peace Conference of the American Revolution, an exhibit created for the nation's 250th anniversary by the Conference House Association and NYC Parks. NYC Parks lists it open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the week, and admission is free. The Visitor Center is in the parking lot on Hylan Boulevard off Satterlee Street.

Two more small exhibits in the park cover Tottenville's working past. In the H.H. Biddle House, the Tottenville Historical Society shows terra cotta ornaments and masonry bricks from the area's brick and terra cotta industry, including the former Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, with an outdoor terra cotta garden on the house's west lawn. Down the hill at the Rutan-Becket House, 6 Shore Road, Still Waters: Reflections of a Maritime Community covers the South Shore's maritime history and the A.C. Brown & Sons Shipyard of Tottenville. That one is free and open by appointment; email Carmine.Raimondi@parks.nyc.gov to book a visit.

Sunday, Nov. 8: a free 5K at the state's southern tip

New York Road Runners holds its free weekly Open Run in Conference House Park on Sunday mornings, and this week's starts at 8:45 a.m. on Nov. 8. The 5K is community-led and open to runners and walkers of all ages, abilities and experience levels. The start is off Hylan Boulevard, next to the parking lot on the path leading to the water. Sign up through NYRR's Open Run page before you go.

Lend a hand on the beach

Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Conference House Park Conservancy and NYC Parks run Blue Wave, a drop-in beach and park cleanup. Stop at the Visitor Center at 298 Satterlee Street, at the corner of Hylan Boulevard, to borrow a bucket and a trash grabber. No RSVP is needed.

Getting there

The S59 and S78 buses reach the park. Tours: Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8, noon to 4 p.m., $10 suggested donation. Open Run: Sunday, Nov. 8, 8:45 a.m., free.

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