It's the highest point on the Eastern seaboard and a neighborhood many believe is Staten Island's most exclusive. But where did Todt Hill get its name? NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed this report.

Even on a cloudy day, it's possible to see all the way to the ocean from the back porch of the Richmond County Country Club on Todt Hill.

"This piece of like heaven on Staten Island, it's beautiful," one Islander says. 

With all that beauty, not to mention the wealth and prosperity, comes a name with a dark meaning. Todt means "death" in Dutch. Some believe early Dutch settlers gave it the name because a cemetery once stood atop the hill.

"There is also a possibility that there was an encounter with Indians back in the early, early period of settlement and that there was some fighting there, or something like that," says Barnett Shepherd of the Preservation League of Staten Island. 

"Toad—like a frog—and then there were frog stories to go with it, about somebody courting, and maybe the girl didn't like it and so she threw a frog at him and it got its name from that," syas Carlotta DeFillo of Historic Richmondtown.  

Many of the old homes here are the work of architect Ernest Flagg. Flagg Place is named in his honor.

Something else Todt Hill is known for: iron mining. 

There's early evidence iron mining took place here as early as the 1600s, though most historians agree the bulk of it took place between 1832 and 1881.

In fact, Todt Hill was once called "Yserberg." That's Dutch for Iron Hill. 

Iron ore was plentiful in the island's serpentine rock, and mining was relatively easy because the iron lay close to the surface. 

Streets like Iron Mine Drive pay homage to the once booming industry.

"Richmond County golf course. You see the beautiful topography, the changing elevations—that was all mined out. That was a hill, and they just dug that out. So that beautiful topography is a result of iron mining," says Staten Island borough historian Thomas Matteo. 

At the foot of Todt Hill sits Moravian Cemetery, with its tombstones of some of the island's most prominent settlers. 

Some believe it's a burial ground that explains the Todt Hill name, even though it's technically in the town of New Dorp. New Dorp, for its part, means new village, but that's another story.