Van Cortlandt Manor | |
Location | South Riverside Avenue, Croton-on-Hudson, New York |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°11′30″N73°52′35″W / 41.19167°N 73.87639°W |
Built | 1665 |
Architectural style | Dutch-English Colonial |
NRHP reference No. | 66000579 |
NYSRHP No. | 11953.000005 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 [1] |
Designated NHL | November 5, 1961 [2] |
Designated NYSRHP | June 23, 1980 |
Van Cortlandt Manor is a 17th-century house and property built by the Van Cortlandt family located near the confluence of the Croton and Hudson Rivers in the village of Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County, New York, United States. The colonial era stone and brick manor house is now a museum and is a National Historic Landmark.
By royal charter, Van Cortlandt Manor was originally a 86,000-acre (35,000 ha) tract granted as a Patent to Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1697 by King William III, stretching from the Hudson River on the west to the first boundary line between the Province of New York and the Colony of Connecticut, on the east, twenty English miles in width by ten in height, in shape nearly a rectangular parallelogram, forming, "The Manor of Cortlandt." The massive holding was acquired by direct purchase from the Indians, in part, by Stephanus van Cortlandt, a native born Dutch gentleman of New York, and in part by others whose titles he subsequently bought. The Manor also included a small tract on the west side of the Hudson River opposite the promontory of Anthony's Nose, which van Cortlandt also purchased from the Indians. [3]
The Manor House [4] was built sometime before 1732 but was not any owner's principal residence until a grandson, Pierre Van Cortlandt, moved there in 1749. [5] At that time the manor house was on a 1,000-acre (405 ha) portion of the original tract. [2]
Pierre brought his family to the estate in 1749 and created the manor's most vibrant days, according to some. He established a self-sustaining community [6] of an apple orchard, dairy farm, bee house, kiln, tavern, and carpenter and blacksmith shops.
At this time, though, tensions leading to the Revolutionary War were building and the manor would become a place of wartime retreat. Pierre sided with the colonies and the manor was used to assist the Continental Army, using its resources to make food and supplies. Pierre was involved with military legislature, and his son Philip was a soldier for the Continental Army. Eventually Pierre and his family vacated the manor in the thick of the war. The manor was ransacked by the British Army and left in poor standing. Philip, becoming a brigadier general by the war's end, returned and, along with his sister, Catherine, brought the manor back to working order. [7] [8]
Van Cortlandt Manor became an essential stop on the route from New York to Albany in the years that followed the war. The mills were once again thriving and provided the community and travelers with food, supplies, and lodging. Pierre and his wife did not return until 1803 once the manor was in full working order again. The manor was passed down in the family until it was sold to a non-relative, Otis Taylor, in 1945. By this time the property had lost luster, and was not the flourishing estate it had once been. Some buildings and barn houses were taken down to accommodate for more modern facilities, such as a drive-in movie theater. [7] [8]
In 1953 John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased the property and began restoring the manor to previous prominence. In 1961, Van Cortlandt Manor became registered as a National Historic Landmark.
The house is not included in the area of the hamlet of Cortlandt Manor, New York. It is one of the historic sites owned and operated by Historic Hudson Valley.
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population of 1,004,456, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 55,344 (5.8%) from the 949,113 counted in 2010. Located in the Hudson Valley, Westchester covers an area of 450 square miles (1,200 km2), consisting of six cities, 19 towns, and 23 villages. Established in 1683, Westchester was named after the city of Chester, England. The county seat is the city of White Plains, while the most populous municipality in the county is the city of Yonkers, with 211,569 residents per the 2020 U.S. Census.
Cortlandt is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, located at the northwestern edge of the county, at the eastern terminus of the Bear Mountain Bridge. The town includes the villages of Buchanan and Croton-on-Hudson.
Croton-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2020 United States census over 8,070 at the 2010 census. It is located in the town of Cortlandt as part of New York City's northern suburbs. The village was incorporated in 1898.
Somers is a town located in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 20,434. The nearby Metro-North Commuter Railroad provides service to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan with an average commute time of 65 to 75 minutes from stations at Purdys, Goldens Bridge, Croton Falls, and Katonah.
Pierre Van Cortlandt was an American politician who served as the first lieutenant governor of New York.
The New York and Putnam Railroad, nicknamed the Old Put, was a railroad line that operated between the Bronx and Brewster in New York State. It was in close proximity to the Hudson River Railroad and New York and Harlem Railroad. All three came under ownership of the New York Central system in 1894. The railroad was abandoned starting in 1958, and most of the former roadbed has been converted to rail trail use.
Cortlandt Manor is a hamlet — an unincorporated section — of the Town of the Town of Cortlandt in northern Westchester County, New York, roughly surrounding Peekskill, encompassing Corlandt Estates and lying east of three sections of the Town of Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Crugers, and Montrose — a mostly residential area.
The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity 41 miles (66 km) from the Croton River in Westchester County to reservoirs in Manhattan. It was built because local water resources had become polluted and inadequate for the growing population of the city. Although the aqueduct was largely superseded by the New Croton Aqueduct, which was built in 1890, the Old Croton Aqueduct remained in service until 1955.
Philip Van Cortlandt was an American surveyor, landowner, and politician from Westchester County, New York. Van Cortlandt was the son of Pierre Van Cortlandt and brother of Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. He was a Continental Army officer during the American Revolution, and later served several terms in the United States House of Representatives.
The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow (Dutch: Oude Nederlandse Kerk van Sleepy Hollow), listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Dutch Reformed Church (Sleepy Hollow), is a 17th-century stone church located on Albany Post Road (U.S. Route 9) in Sleepy Hollow, New York, United States. It and its three-acre (1.2 ha) churchyard feature prominently in Washington Irving's 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The churchyard is often confused with the contiguous but separate Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
Frederick Philipse, first Lord of the Manor of Philipseborough (Philipsburg) and patriarch of the Philipse family, was a Dutch immigrant to North America of Bohemian heritage. A merchant, he arrived in America as early as 1653. In 1662, he married Margaret Hardenbrook de Vries, a wealthy and driven widow. Together, and variously in league with slavers, pirates, and other undesirables alongside the prominent and respectable, the couple amassed a fortune.
Jacobus van Cortlandt (1658–1739) was a wealthy Dutch-born American merchant, slave owner, and politician who served as the 30th and 33rd Mayor of New York City from 1710 to 1711 and again from 1719 to 1720.
Pierre Van Cortlandt Jr. was a United States representative from New York. A member of New York's Van Cortlandt family, he was the son of Pierre Van Cortlandt, an early New York political figure, and brother of Philip Van Cortlandt, who was also a U.S. Representative from New York.
The Van Cortlandt family was an influential political dynasty from the seventeenth-century Dutch origins of New York through its period as an English colony, then after it became a state, and into the nineteenth century. It rose to great prominence with the award of a Royal Charter to Van Cortlandt Manor, an 86,000-acre (35,000 ha) tract in today's Westchester County sprawling from the Hudson River to the Connecticut state line granted as a Patent to Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1697 by King William III.
Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. The organization runs tours and events at five historic properties in Westchester County, in the lower Hudson River Valley.
Philipsburg Manor was a manor located north of New York City in Westchester County in the Province of New York. Netherlands-born Frederick Philipse I and two partners made the initial purchase of land that had been part of a Dutch patroonship owned by Adriaen van der Donck. Philipse subsequently bought his partners out and added more land before being granted a royal charter in 1693 for the 52,000 acres (21,000 ha) estate, becoming its first lord.
Van Cortlandt Upper Manor House is a historic home of the van Cortlandt family located in Cortlandt Manor, Westchester County, New York. The original house was built about 1773 and subsequently enlarged and altered a number of times.
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site is a historic house museum located in the Getty Square neighborhood of Yonkers, New York. Originally the family seat of Philipse Manor, it is Westchester County's second oldest standing building after the Timothy Knapp House. Located near the Hudson River at Warburton Avenue and Dock Street, it is owned and operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Westchester County, New York, excluding the city of Peekskill, which has its own list.
There are numerous nationally and locally designated historic sites and attractions in Westchester County. These include architecturally significant manors and estates, churches, cemeteries, farmhouses, African-American heritage sites, and underground railroad depots and waystations. There are sites from pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary times, as well as battlegrounds. Westchester County also played an important role in the development of the modern suburb, and there are many associated heritage sites and museums.