History
Van Cortlandt Manor [3] was originally an 86,000-acre (35,000 ha) tract granted by royal charter to Stephanus Van Cortlandt (son of Dutch immigrants who would become the first native-born mayor of New York City) in 1697 by King William III. As described in the charter, the tract stretched "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." [4] The massive holding was acquired by direct purchase from the Kitchawank (also spelled Kitchtawanc or Kitchawonke) people, [5] [6] a Lenape tribe of the Wappinger confederacy. The purchase was made in part by Stephanus van Cortlandt and in part by others whose titles he subsequently bought. [5] 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 Lenape, this time, the Rumachenanck (Haverstraw) tribe. [7] [6]
The manor house was built sometime before 1732 [8] but was not any owner's principal residence until a grandson, Pierre Van Cortlandt, moved there in 1749 [8] with his family. At that time, the manor house was on a 1,000-acre (405 ha) portion of the original tract. [2]
Pierre made the manor into a self-sufficient community with a position of social and economic importance to the Hudson Valley. [9] He established an apple orchard, dairy farm, carpenter and blacksmith shops, bee house, and kiln, as well as a tavern. [10] A 1776 map shows a mill on a stream between Colabaugh Pond and the Croton River. [3] Slaves were brought in to work in the main house. [9] While the patriotic Van Cortlandts would champion the ideals of freedom and equality for the new nation during the American Revolution, their estate relied on the labor of enslaved Africans. [11]
The manor house is essentially a Dutch colonial country house, [12] and by no means a mansion comparable to the Philipse Manor Hall, the country seat of the Philipses, close relatives of the Van Cortlandts. Yet, it occupied an important place in the public life of the Province of New York because of its owner, Pierre Van Cortlandt, who was a prominent political figure and, during the American Revolutionary War, was one of the foremost supporters of the Colonial cause. Military leaders of the Revolution, including Washington, Rochambeau, Lafayette, von Steuben, and others, repeatedly visited it. [8]
The manor was used to assist the Continental Army, using its resources to make food and supplies. Pierre's 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, having become a brigadier general by the war's end, returned and, along with his sister, Catherine (who became well known for her resistance to the British occupiers [13] ), restored the manor to working order. [9] [14] The work of repairing and rebuilding the estate was done by slaves. [11]
In the years that followed the war, Van Cortlandt Manor became a crucial stop on the route from New York to Albany. The Albany Post Road ran through the property, past the manor house. 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. [9] 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. [9] [14]
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.
