Steuben House

	Steuben Estate Complex; Ackerman–Zabriskie–Steuben House
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. Historic district
	New Jersey Register of Historic Places
	Steuben House in 2019
Location	New Bridge Road, Main Street and Hackensack River ; River Edge, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°54′49″N74°1′51″W / 40.91361°N 74.03083°W Coordinates: 40°54′49″N74°1′51″W / 40.91361°N 74.03083°W
Area	6 acres (2.4 ha)
Built	1752
Architectural style	Colonial, Dutch Colonial
MPS	Early Stone Houses of Bergen County
NRHP reference No.	70000381 (original); 80004403 (increase 1); 83001457 (increase 2)
NJRHP No.	656
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 18, 1970
Designated HD	December 9, 1980
Designated NJRHP	August 23, 1979

Last updated July 22, 2022

The Steuben House is a noted example of Bergen Dutch sandstone architecture, located at New Bridge Landing on the Hackensack River in River Edge, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.

It was confiscated from Loyalist Jan Zabriskie, and served as a military headquarters through much of the Revolutionary War. General George Washington made it his headquarters, September 4 to 17, 1780. Following the war, it was given to Major General Baron von Steuben, who occupied it from 1783 to 1788.

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1970, for its significance in architecture and military history.^[7] The Steuben Estate Complex, a 6-acre (2.4 ha) national historic district, was listed on December 9, 1980, for its significance in architecture, exploration/settlement, and invention. In addition to the Steuben House, the district includes three historic buildings moved from other sites.^[8] Named the Ackerman–Zabriskie–Steuben House, it was listed as part of the Early Stone Houses of Bergen County Multiple Property Submission (MPS) on January 10, 1983, for its significance in architecture and exploration/settlement.^[9] The Bergen County Historical Society opens the New Jersey State Historic site and two other sandstone houses and barn to the public for special events.

History

The Steuben House has long been esteemed a Revolutionary landmark. Its architecture and historic furnishings recall the Bergen Dutch, an agricultural community whose language and culture blended contributions from Dutch, Angolan African, German, English, French, Scotch and Scandinavian settlers. At a place known originally as Aschatking (where the river narrows), about ten miles (16 km) above the head of Newark Bay, a Swedish land-clearer named Cornelius Mattyse acquired 420 acres (1.7 km²) at the juncture of Tantaqua's Creek (Cole's Brook) and the Hackensack River, in 1682.

This was called Tantaqua's Plain, where a Hackensack sachem of that name resided with his kinfolk. David Ackerman, residing in the village of Hackensack, purchased the land from Matheus Corneliuson, son of Cornelius Matheus of Hackensack River, in 1695. He devised that portion of this tract of land lying east of Kinderkamack Road to his son, Johannes Ackerman, who built a dwelling on the Steenrapie (Kinderkamack) Road at the time of his marriage to Jannetje Lozier in 1713. A tidal gristmill was built on the Hackensack River. This mill got its power from an artificial pond: the high tide was trapped in the mouth of Cole's Brook by a dam with a special drop-gate, suspended from a horizontal timber. When the tides flowed out of the Hackensack River, the tidal millpond was slowly released through the waterwheel. Sloops pulled alongside the mill at New Bridge Landing. On March 9, 1744, a road was surveyed from Kinderkamack Road to the chosen spot on the banks of the Hackensack River where a "New Bridge" was to be erected (forming what is now Main Street, River Edge).

Jan and Annetje (Ackerman) Zabriskie purchased the Johannes Ackerman mill and farm in September 1745, shortly after construction of the first draw-bridge at the narrows of the Hackensack River. This wooden span was called New Bridge to distinguish it from an older crossing several miles upstream. In 1752, Jan Zabriskie built the oldest part of the Steuben House. Its walls were built with blocks of sandstone cut from the Kinderkamack Ridge - dressed stone on the two sides of the building facing the roadway and coursed rubble on the other sides. The front door opened into a center-hall. The Zabriskie family grew wealthy from increased trade brought on by the French and Indian War (1756–1763) and doubled the size of their dwelling about 1765, increasing it from five to twelve rooms, warmed by seven fireplaces, and covering it with a fashionable gambrel roof. The gambrel roof has four slopes instead of two, providing more headroom and storage space in the garret (for this reason, many barns used a gambrel roof to increase the size of the hay mow). The Jersey Dutch also adopted the gambrel roof to span the depth of a house that was one-and-a-half to two rooms deep. New Bridge Landing was the business center of the upper Hackensack Valley. Iron made in stone furnaces along the Ramapo Mountains was carried in ox-carts to New Bridge Landing where it was loaded onto sloops, some as large as 50 ton, for shipment to market. Flour and animal feed was shipped from the mill. All kinds of wares came in from boats returning from the city. This location had an added advantage: because of the wide Hackensack Meadowlands downstream, New Bridge remained the nearest river crossing to Newark Bay until 1790. Overland traffic including farm wagons and stage coaches, going to and from New York City, crossed the river at this spot on their way into the interior parts of the country.

The house was occupied as a military headquarters during much of the American Revolutionary War. General Washington headquartered here in September 1780 for 14 days when the Continental Army encamped on the Kinderkamack Ridge.

While a constant arena for conflict, the following significant Revolutionary War events are associated with Historic New Bridge Landing:

November 20, 1776: 5,000 British and Hessian troops, under the command of Cornwallis, crossed the Hudson River and scaled the Palisades at Lower Closter Dock, then marched south against Fort Lee. Warned by a sentinel, the troops at Fort Lee [2,500-3,000] led by General Greene evacuated Fort Lee narrowly missing an encounter with the British at the Liberty Pole [Englewood]. Washington marched at the head of the troops towards the bridge and avoided entrapment by safely crossing the Hackensack River at New Bridge, "the Bridge That Saved a Nation." The events were witnessed by Thomas Paine and inspired him to write "THESE are the times that try men's souls" and fifth paragraph: "Our first object was to secure the bridge over the Hackensack..." in the American Crisis.^[10]
November 21, 1776: British troops under Major General Vaughan attacked the American rear guard and seized the New Bridge, which American engineers were dismantling.
May 18, 1779: British and Loyalist troops under command of Captain Patrick Fergusen attacked about 40 Bergen militiamen at New Bridge.
August 18, 1779: Major Henry Lee led American troops from New Bridge, to attack the British earthworks at Paulus Hook (Jersey City).
March 23, 1780: A force of Bergen Militia and Continental troops attacked 600 British troops and German auxiliaries at New Bridge on their retreat from Hackensack and Paramus, during the two hours it took for the British to repair and cross the New Bridge.
April 15, 1780: A body of 312 British, Loyalist and German infantry, attacked and overwhelmed an American outpost at New Bridge commanded by Lieutenant Bryson.
May 30, 1780: Eight British soldiers were killed, and several wounded, by friendly fire when British troops attempted to attack a body of Bergen Militia in the Zabriskie-Steuben House at New Bridge.
July 20, 1780: Brigadier General Anthony Wayne led American troops from New Bridge on a raid against the Bull's Ferry Blockhouse.
September 4–17, 1780: General Washington made his headquarters in the Zabriskie-Steuben House during the Steenrapie encampment of the Continental Army, encompassing nearly 14,000 men.

The State of New Jersey confiscated the stone mansion from Jan Zabriskie, a Loyalist, in 1781. The New Jersey Legislature gave the Zabriskie estate at New Bridge to Major General Baron von Steuben, the Inspector General of the Continental Army, on December 23, 1783, on condition that he occupy it and not rent it to a tenant. To meet these terms he had to keep a bed and servant at all times and make regular visits. His aide-de-camp, Captain Benjamin Walker, resided there, operating the mill and river dock in partnership with Jan Zabriskie. Captain Walker purchased the Zabriskie estate on Steuben's behalf in 1786. This is the only extant 18th century building that Steuben owned. Steuben renovated the war-damaged house and sold the house to back to the Zabriskie family, Jan, son of the Loyalist, in 1788. His grandson, John J. Zabriskie, died trying to free the mill waterwheel in 1793. Andrew Zabriskie, a cousin, purchased the Steuben House in 1815. His descendants owned the property until 1909.

The Steuben House Commission was created in 1926 to purchase Baron Steuben's home at New Bridge. The State took possession of the historic mansion and 1-acre (4,000 m²) of ground for $9,000 on June 27, 1928. It was renovated and opened as the museum headquarters of the Bergen County Historical Society in September 1939. The Bergen County Historical Society continued stewardship of the site by purchase of land between the Steuben House and the encroaching autoparts yard in 1944. In 1954, the Society was able to persuade the County of Bergen to divert the planned 4-lane highway to the north of the site instead of alongside the historic site. The highway bridge opened in 1956 and the one-lane 1889 swing bridge was closed to vehicles. It remains open for pedestrians.

Historic district

The Steuben House, the bridge, the tide mill location and wharf are in the core area of Historic New Bridge Landing. Three additional buildings were moved onto the adjacent property of the Bergen County Historical Society, a private non-profit volunteer organization. The Demarest House was moved here from New Milford in 1956 and is maintained by the Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation. It was listed individually on the NRHP in 1983. The Westervelt-Thomas Barn was relocated from Washington Township in 1958. The County of Bergen moved the Campbell-Christie House here in 1977. It was also listed individually on the NRHP in 1983. The Society erected a working replica of a Bergen Dutch Out-Kitchen in 1991 and an outhouse in 2009.

The Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission was established by law in 1995 to coordinate and implement all private and governmental plans and activities at Historic New Bridge Landing Park, which was named one of three new urban state parks in 2004.

Gallery

The Steuben House pictured in 1936
Demarest House
Campbell-Christie House with Out-Kitchen
Westervelt-Thomas Barn

2007 flood

The Steuben House suffered little in the way of permanent damage in the April 2007 nor'easter.

Related Research Articles

Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben, also referred to as Baron von Steuben, was a Prussian military officer who played a leading role in the American Revolutionary War by reforming the Continental Army into a disciplined and professional fighting force. His contributions marked a significant improvement in the performance of American troops, and he is subsequently regarded as one of the fathers of the United States Army.

Fort Lee Historic Park is located atop a bluff of the Hudson Palisades overlooking Burdett's Landing, known as Mount Constitution, in Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States. Native Americans appear to have lived in the area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The bluff was the site of George Washington's 1776 encampment opposite Fort Washington at the northern end of Manhattan. Fort Lee is named for General Charles Lee. The site is a reconstruction of the encampment including the blockhouse, battery, quarters as well as a visitors center. It is part of Palisades Interstate Park.

New Bridge was a prosperous mill hamlet, centered upon a bridge strategically placed at the narrows of the Hackensack River. In the American Revolution, New Bridge Landing was the site of a strategic bridge crossing the Hackensack River, where General George Washington led his troops in retreat from British forces November 20, 1776. Eleven engagements took place here throughout the war. The current Draw Bridge at New Bridge was installed in 1889 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1989. The area is now a New Jersey historic site in portions of New Milford, River Edge, Hackensack and Teaneck in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.

The New Milford Plant of the Hackensack Water Company was a water treatment and pumping plant located on Van Buskirk Island, an artificially created island in the Hackensack River, in Oradell, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The site was purchased in 1881 by the Hackensack Water Company, which developed it for water supply use. The facility was built between 1881 and 1911, and it includes a brick pumping station from 1882, a tall filtration tower, and huge underground infrastructure. The Hackensack Water Company was merged into United Water in the 1980s; the successor today is Suez North America.

The Campbell-Christie House is a historic home that has been relocated to New Bridge Landing in River Edge, Bergen County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 10, 1983, as part of the Early Stone Houses of Bergen County Multiple Property Submission (MPS).

The table below includes sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Bergen County, New Jersey except those in Closter, Franklin Lakes, Ridgewood, Saddle River and Wyckoff, which are listed separately. Latitude and longitude coordinates of the sites listed on this page may be displayed in a map or exported in several formats by clicking on one of the links in the box below the map of New Jersey to the right.

Seven Chimneys, also known as the Nicholas Zabriskie House, was built between 1745 and 1750 by Nicholas Zabriskie, an early Dutch settler in the Hudson Valley. It is the oldest house in Washington Township, Bergen County, New Jersey. Notable visitors include Theodore Roosevelt. The house was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Seven Chimneys was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Bergen County Court House Municipal edifice in New Jersey

Bergen County, New Jersey had a series of court houses. The current one stands in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Ackerman House may refer to:

Demarest station is located in Demarest, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The station's depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 2004.

Hopper House may refer to:

The bridge at New Bridge Landing, New Jersey was built in 1888 to replace an earlier wooden one, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1989.

Jacob Vanderbeck Jr. House Historic house in New Jersey, United States

The Jacob Vanderbeck Jr. House, in Fair Lawn, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, is a typical historic house of the American colonial architecture style called Dutch Colonial on Dunkerhook Road, adjacent to the Saddle River County Park. It sits on a bluff above the Saddle River and is approached from Dunkerhook Road via Barrister Court, a condominium development it is now part of. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 9, 1983.

The Albert J. Zabriskie Farmhouse is located at the current address of 7 East Ridgewood Avenue in Paramus, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, just east of New Jersey Route 17. This is one of several Zabriskie historic sites associated with the descendants of prominent settler Albrycht Zaborowski (1638–1711). This stone house was built in 1805 by Albert Jacob Zabriskie (1760–1835) in the New Jersey Dutch style, owned by four generations of the family until 1924, and added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1977. Due to confusion from the street name and handwritten notes on one page of the NRHP nomination, the building is sometimes mistakenly listed as being in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Jacobus Demarest House is located in New Milford, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The house was built in 1765 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 17, 1978.

Demarest House is located in River Edge, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 10, 1983, as part of the Early Stone Houses of Bergen County Multiple Property Submission (MPS).

Zabriskie Tenant House Historic house in New Jersey, United States

The Zabriskie Tenant House was a historic house of the American colonial architecture style called Dutch Colonial on Dunkerhook Road in Paramus, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, adjacent to the Saddle River County Park. The Zabriskie family, who farmed much of the area to the east of the Saddle River, built the home to house their domestic workers. It was one of the few structures left in New Jersey directly related to free African American communities in the state, and was a remnant of an African American Dunkerhook community that included several homes and an A.M.E. Church. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1984.

The Staats House, also known as the General Baron von Steuben Headquarters, is a historic building located at 17 Von Steuben Lane in South Bound Brook, Somerset County, New Jersey. Constructed c. 1740, it is now known as the Abraham Staats House after its second owner. In 1779, during the second Middlebrook encampment of the American Revolutionary War, it served as the headquarters for Prussian-American General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 2002, and noted as representing "one of the finest remaining buildings from the second phase of Dutch immigration and settlement in the Raritan Valley".

The Kingston Mill Historic District is a 49-acre (20 ha) historic district in Kingston, New Jersey. It is roughly bounded by Herrontown, River, and Princeton-Kingston Roads in the townships of Princeton in Mercer County, South Brunswick in Middlesex County, and Franklin in Somerset County. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 10, 1986 for its significance in engineering, exploration/settlement, industry, and transportation. The district includes 16 contributing buildings and 2 contributing structures.

References

↑ "NJDEP-Parks and Forests-Centennial of NJ State Historic Site".
↑ Hoglund, David J. (July 3, 1979). "Early Stone Houses of Bergen County". National Park Service.
↑ "National Register Information System – Steuben House (#70000381)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
↑ "National Register Information System – Steuben Estate Complex (#80004403)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
↑ "National Register Information System – Ackerman–Zabriskie–Steuben House (#83001457)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
↑ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Bergen County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. September 28, 2021. p. 21.
↑ Elburtus Prol (August 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Steuben House". National Park Service. With accompanying photo
↑ Tholl, Claire K. (January 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Steuben Estate Complex". National Park Service. With accompanying 3 photos
↑ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ackerman–Zabriskie–Steuben House". National Park Service. 1983.
↑ Wright, Kevin W. (2019). The Bridge That Saved a Nation (first ed.). England: Arcadia Publishing with Fonthill Media. pp. 92–103. ISBN 978-1-63499-165-0 . Retrieved November 30, 2021.

External links

Media related to Zabriskie-Steuben House at Wikimedia Commons
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. NJ-47, " Zabriskie-Steuben House, New Bridge Road, River Edge, Bergen County, NJ ", 6 photos, 1 color transparency, 11 measured drawings, 4 data pages, 1 photo caption page
Bergen County Historical Society history of the Steuben House

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[1] "NJDEP-Parks and Forests-Centennial of NJ State Historic Site".

[2] Hoglund, David J. (July 3, 1979). "Early Stone Houses of Bergen County". National Park Service.

[nris1-3] "National Register Information System – Steuben House (#70000381)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.

[nris2-4] "National Register Information System – Steuben Estate Complex (#80004403)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.

[nris3-5] "National Register Information System – Ackerman–Zabriskie–Steuben House (#83001457)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.

[NJRHP-6] "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Bergen County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. September 28, 2021. p. 21.

[nrhpdoc-7] Elburtus Prol (August 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Steuben House". National Park Service. With accompanying photo

[nrhpdoc2-8] Tholl, Claire K. (January 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Steuben Estate Complex". National Park Service. With accompanying 3 photos

[nrhpdoc3-9] "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ackerman–Zabriskie–Steuben House". National Park Service. 1983.

[10] Wright, Kevin W. (2019). The Bridge That Saved a Nation (first ed.). England: Arcadia Publishing with Fonthill Media. pp. 92–103. ISBN 978-1-63499-165-0 . Retrieved November 30, 2021.

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