NEW BRIDGE LANDING
Main Street, River Edge,
Bergen County, New Jersey
18 acres
Close to the Riverside Square Mall.
Von Steuben House is here
DIRECTIONS to NBL (from: http://www.carroll.com/bchs/directions.html)
New Bridge Landing is located on the west bank of the Hackensack River at the dead-end (east) of Main Street, River Edge, NJ. Nearby streets are marked with brown Historic New Bridge Landing signs.
From Exit 161 on the Garden State Parkway North or Rt. 17, travel about 2 miles on Route 4 East, taking the exit for Hackensack Avenue North. Proceed through 2 traffic lights, then take the exit for Main Street, River Edge. Turn right onto Main Street. New Bridge Landing is located on the left side of street.
From Route 4 West, take the exit for River Edge and proceed north on Hackensack Ave through 2 traffic lights and turn right onto Main St, River Edge. New Bridge Landing is located on the left side of street.
From S. Washington Ave / Teaneck Rd, take New Bridge Road West. After crossing the Hackensack River, make a left onto Main Street. New Bridge Landing is located on the left side of street.
New Bridge (1888-89)
Steuben House
(201) 487-1739 Campbell-Christie House
(201) 343-9492
The Steuben House is open year-round, Wednesday through Saturday, 10 am to 12 noon and 1 pm to 5 pm, Sundays 2 pm to 5 pm. It is advised to call ahead to confirm hours or to make school / group reservations. There is no admission charge / by donation. The Campbell-Christie and Demarest Houses are open for special events.
New Plan to Transform New Bridge Landing into "Miniature Williamsburg"
U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli of NJ announced on July 10, 2000 that $15 million dollars were slated for a renewal of New Bridge landing Historic Sites. This would make the site the first Revolutionary War historical village of its kind in New Jersey.
Scheduled for the area is a visitor center and museum, nature center, Hackensack River schooner, a nature walk and boating and swimming. (The Star Ledger, July 11,2000, p. 12)
This is the area of River Edge, New Jersey known as New Bridge Landing. It contains the Ackerman-Zabriskie-Steuben House, a New Jersey State historical site. The park land belongs to adjacent Teaneck, NJ, and the multi-building complex of the Bergen County Historical Society (BCHS). The complex includes a re-created 18th century Dutch kitchen, a barn, the Campbell Christie House and the Demarest House, among others.
1. Steuben House. Built 1752. Described in 1784 as a "Large Mansion House containing twelve rooms built with stone, with Outhouses consisting of a Bake House, Smoke House, Coach House, and two large Barns, and a Garden, Forty Acres of Land consisting of Meadow Land and two Orchards."
2. New Bridge. A "New Bridge" with sliding draw was built here in 1744. The present Pratt-type Low Truss Swing Bridge, installed by the King Iron Bridge Co. of Cleveland using channel iron made by the Phoenix Iron Co. of Philadelphia, opened February 2, 1889. Joseph W. Stagg built the sandstone abutments. Closed to automobile traffic in 1956. Listed on NJ and National Registers as the oldest highway swing-bridge in State.
3. New Bridge Landing. A narrow mill landing, built of log cribbing in 1744, could accommodate 50-ton sloops. Iron was brought here from Ringwood and Long Pond for transshipment. Present bulkhead built shortly after completion of present bridge in 1889.
4. Zabriskie's Mills. A gristmill, 40 ft by 20 ft, containing two pairs of grinding stones was constructed in 1744. High tide was trapped in Cole's Brook behind a dam, creating an artificial pond to run the waterwheel during ebb tide. The mill burned down in 1852.
5. Demarest House Museum. 18th-century two-room sandstone dwelling with double front doors and distinctive spring-eave on front. Removed from original site beside French Burial Ground in New Milford in 1955-56. Displays collection of Demarest family and Bergen Dutch artifacts. Open for special events and by appointment. Owned by Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation.
6. Campbell-Christie House. Gambrel, center-hall sandstone dwelling erected on River Road and Henley Avenue, New Milford, by Jacob Campbell, a mason, in 1774. Note paneled reveals and Dutch stoop at front entrance. John Christie, blacksmith, purchased this house in 1795 and continued its operation as a tavern. Moved to River Edge in 1977 by County Freeholders, it is owned by the County of Bergen and operated by the Bergen County Historical Society. Open for special events. Gift shop and rest room.
7. Westervelt-Thomas Barn. Built 1889 by Peter J. Westervelt on his farm on Ridgewood Road, Washington Township. Henry Thomas purchased farm in 1906. Donated to BCHS and relocated in 1958.
8. Out-Kitchen. Authentic out-kitchen built by BCHS in 1990, using antique materials, replicating John R. Demarest Out-Kitchen in Demarest.
The principle dwelling at New Bridge Landing is the State run "Steuben House." At the time of the Revolution, it was owned by Colonel Jan Zabriskie of the Bergen County Militia. However, being a Loyalist, he joined the British forces and received a captain's commission.
The house was confiscated by the Americans and given to Baron Friedrich von Steuben as a token of appreciation for his services. The house was sold to John Zabriskie, son of the Loyalist officer.
During the war, the house was several times the scene of action or encampment, particularly by the New Jersey Volunteers, whose 4th battalion was raised almost exclusively in Bergen County. The county had such a large proportion of Loyalists, that the Whig Governor Livingston referred to it as "the disaffected country."
The houses contain collections drawn largely from the county's heavy Dutch population of the 18th century.
History of the Site:
Zabriskie had a store here.
Washington withdrew through here on his flight to Trenton, November 1776.
American raid toward New Bridge.
British troops stationed at New Bridge; Tories.
British troops here September 1777.
Capture of Brouwer, February 1778. Two American "cowboys" had taken Toreyite Richards into custody. Richards tried to escape and was short and killed by Brouwer. A large Tory prize was put on Losier and Brouwer's heads. Within a week of the shooting, Brouwer was captured and brought in to New York for imprisonment. Later, Losier was captured. (Leiby 1980: 145-148) Even Washington himself got involved in the concern over the bad treatment of the two American prisoners, who were being held in irons.
All during the late summer of 1778 Washington had kept Major Alexander Clough at New Bridge. New Bridge was a crucial location for the American because this was a place where every traveler from New York City could be stopped and questioned. Clough did not get along with the local Bergen militia partly because they did not know of Clough's secret mission. The militia suspected that Clough was consorting with the enemy. (Leiby 1980: 163)
American troops withdraw, Sept 1778.
British troops at New Bridge, September 1778.
British troops here May 1779. A British force under British rifleman Captain Patrick Ferguson crossed over from Manhattan to Fort Lee. They moved toward Hackensack and New Bridge. At the latter, the Americans tried unsuccessfully to take up the bridge's planks. Shots were exchanged with little damage to either side. The American retreated. (Leiby 1980:210-212)
American form to attack Paulus Hook, August 1779.
Col. Washington at, November 1779.
British retire across New Bridge March 1780.
Skirmish at New Bridge, April 1780. Americans under Major Thomas Langhorne Byles. British under Colonel DuBuy. The action was at nearby Hopperstown. The Americans lost 7 officer and 40 enlisted men killed. (Leiby 1980:247-249)
American troops at New Bridge, July 1780.
Major Lee at New Bridge, October 1780.
PLANT LIST
Joseph Labriola and Dr. Patrick Louis Cooney
Trees:
Acer negundo (boxelder maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Catalpa bignonioides (catalpa)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive) 4/30/00
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus rubra (red oak) 4/30/00
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix alba var. (weeping willow)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) 4/30/00
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray-stemmed dogwood)
Deutzia scabra (deutzia)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lycium barbarum (matrimony vine) 8/26/00
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Philadelphus x virginalis (mock orange)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rosa spp. (horticultural roses) 8/13/98
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Syringa vulgaris (common lilac) 4/30/00
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)
Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelain berry)
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper) 7/22/2006 8/13/98 8/26/00
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Cuscuta gronovii (dodder) 8/13/98 8/26/00
Echinocystis lobata (wild balsam apple) 8/13/98 8/26/00
Euonymus fortunii (Fortune's euonymus)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Humulus japonicus (Japanese hops)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Menispermum canadense (moonseed)
Mikania scandens (climbing false buckwheat) 8/13/98 8/26/00
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade) 8/13/98 8/26/00
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Agastache sp. 8/13/98
Alisma subcordatum (water plantain)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) 4/30/00
Allium cernuum (nodding wild onion) 7/22/2006
Allium vineale (field garlic) 8/13/98
Amaranthus cannabinus (water hemp) 8/26/00
Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed) 8/26/00
Anthemis arvensis (field chamomile) 7/22/2006
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp) 8/26/00
Arctium minus (common burdock) 8/26/00
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort) 8/26/00
Baptisia tinctoria (false indigo) 8/13/98
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress) 4/30/00
Bidens frondosa (beggar ticks) 8/13/98
Cerastium vulgatum (mouse-ear chickweed) 8/26/00
Chelidonium majus (celandine) 4/30/00 8/26/00
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Chenopodium ambrosioides (Mexican tea) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle) 8/26/00
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) 7/22/2006 8/13/98 8/26/00
Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley)
Conyza canadensis (horseweed) 8/13/98
Crocus sp. (crocus)?
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) 7/22/2006 8/13/98 8/26/00
Eclipta prostrata (yerba-de-tajo) 8/26/00
Erechtites hieraciifolia (pilewort) 8/26/00
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Erysimum repandum (treacle mustard)? 4/30/00
Eupatorium maculatum (spotted Joe-Pye-weed)
Euphorbia maculata (spotted spurge)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Galium sp. (bedstraw) 8 in a whorl
Geum canadense (white avens) 8/26/00
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground) 4/30/00
Helenium autumnale (sneezeweed) 8/26/00
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Hesperis matronalis (dame's rocket) 7/22/2006
Hibiscus moscheutos (swamp rose mallow) 8/13/98 8/26/00
Hosta sp. (hosta) 7/22/2006 8/13/98
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) 7/22/2006 8/13/98 8/26/00
Iris pseudacorus (yellow flag)
Iris versicolor (blue flag)
Lamium purpureum (purple dead nettle) 4/30/00
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)
Lepidium virginicum (peppergrass)
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Lysimachia terrestris (swamp candles)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) 8/13/98 8/26/00
Mazus pumilus (mazus) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover) 8/13/98
Melissa officinalis (lemon balm)
Mentha suaveolens (apple mint)
Mollugo verticillata (carpetweed) 7/22/2006
Muscari sp. (grape hyacinth) 4/30/00
Myosotis laxa (forget-me-not)
Narcissus spp. (daffodils)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose) 7/22/2006 8/13/98 8/26/00
Oxalis dillenii (yellow wood sorrel) 8/26/00
Oxalis stricta (yellow wood sorrel) 7/22/2006 8/13/98 8/26/00
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed) 7/22/2006
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) 7/22/2006 8/13/98 8/26/00
Pluchea odorata (salt marsh fleabane) 8/13/98 8/26/00
Polygonum arenastrum (common knotweed)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) 7/22/2006
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed) 8/26/00
Polygonum hydropiperoides (false water pepper) 8/26/00
Polygonum lapathifolium (nodding smartweed) 8/26/00
Polygonum pensylvanica (Pennsylvania knotweed) 8/13/98
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed knotweed) 8/26/00
Portulaca oleracea (common purslane)
Potentilla argentea (silvery cinquefoil) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Potentilla norvegica (rough cinquefoil) 7/22/2006
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Rudbeckia laciniata (cut-leaf coneflower)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad-leaved dock)
Samolus floribundus (water pimpernel) 8/26/00
Saponaria officinalis (bouncing bet) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Sedum sarmentosum (stonecrop)
Silene latifolia (white campion) 7/22/2006
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade) 7/22/2006
Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Solidago canadensis var. scabra (goldenrod) 8/26/00near
Solidago gigantea (smooth goldenrod) 8/26/00near
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod) 8/26/00
Tanacetum vulgare (tansy) 8/13/98 8/26/00
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) 4/30/00 7/22/2006
Thlaspi (field pennycress) 4/30/00
Trifolium repens (white clover) 7/22/2006 8/26/00
Tulipa sylvestris (tulip) 4/30/00
Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaved cattail)
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain) 8/13/98 waning; 8/26/00
Viola sororia? (common blue violet?)
Xanthium strumarium (clotbur)
Rushes and Sedges:
Cyperus strigosus (false nutsedge)
Eleocharis sp. (spikerush)
Grasses:
Dactylis glomeratus (orchard grass)
Digitaria sanguinalis (crabgrass) 8/26/00
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer tongue grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass) 4/30/00
Poa pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass)
Setaria faberi (Faber's foxtail grass)
Setaria viridis (green foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top grass) 8/26/00
NEW BRIDGE LANDING
Talk given by Kevin Wright
We are standing on land that was at one time Glacial Lake Hackensack that went all the way south to Perth Amboy and Staten Island. The moraine there plugged up the river system and created a lake. In this area some 2,557 layers of silt were lawn down. One would have to bore down some 187 feet before bedrock was hit. This created a lot of clay and thus the clay of the later clay pits of Little Ferry and other places were created.
Looking south you see a hill known as Teaneck Hill. It was a sand dune beech of Lake Hackensack. In fact one of the shopping plazas is in a hole created by the running of a commercial sand pit. And at one time it was the Maple Grove Swimming Club which lasted until 1962.
The point that we are on is 9 miles in from the mouth of the Hackensack River. This was the only bridge across the river in Washington's time. At one time this used to be a white sandy bottom river.
The Hackensack River is a tidal river. Two times every day the river rises some 8 to 10 feet from low tide. 100 ton coastal schooners use to ride in and ride out with the tide. These schooners were 65 feet long, shallow draft vessels.
There was a grist Mill at the meeting place of Coles Brook and the Hackensack River on the south side of the brook across from the Von Steuben House. The ships would load and unload materials from the grist mill. The influx of the tide and the capturing of the water there permitted the use of the water power generated by the return of the water in the brook to the river to be used to run the mill. The grist mill burned in 1852.
The Hackensack Valley was home of the Jersey Dutch. The people of the area were a real mixture of peoples: 28% Dutch, 20% German, 20% black, 20% English, with a smattering of others. They spoke a hybrid language that was blended together and that survived into the 19th century. They had a common architecture and there remains today some 235 sandstone houses typical of that architectural style. The house now known as the Von Steuben House was the home of a wealthy river merchant. Zabrieski was a Silesian from Poland.
In early times this house was one of the most visited house of the area. One-third of the American Revolution was fought on Jersey shore. Lord Cornwallis crossed the Hudson River with his near Alpine. There is a vertical rise of 450 feet there. In order to escape the enemy Washington had to drive his men toward the enemy and then he had to quickly veer off and over New Bridge.
Thomas Paine was here and was inspired to write his defenses of the American Revolution.
The house was used as military headquarters by both sides. Washington himself stayed here for two weeks in 1780. The house has typical Jersey Dutch furnishings. One the prizes of the house is an 1868 oak tree dug out for use as a canoe. Judge Ackerson was using this 6,000 year old artifact as a feeding trough for his pigs. In 1902 the Smithsonian was able to retrieve the canoe and it now resides up stairs in this house.
Around 1890 suburbanization hit Bergen County. But even so, at the end of World War II one-quarter of the land was till agricultural. This particular spot was a treeless plain because of cereal grain farming in the area, so none of the trees here are older than 60 years of so. The people here owned woodlots in the hills from which they got all their wood.
The house here opened as a museum in 1939. Very few old plants are left from the 18th century. In the back of the house there is a pair of black walnuts. It was often the custom to plant two black walnuts in honor of a bridal pair. One was struck by lightning in 1938 and is now compelled hollow. These are the last living eye witnesses to what happened here during the American Revolution.
The reconstructionists tried to plant some trees that would have been used during Revolutionary times. They planted black locust because many of the settlers used black locust wood for fence posts. An 80 year old elm just died last summer. The reconstructionists brought in Catalpa because of its nice Indian sounding name. Some white cedar were planted, but they did not last long because the muskrats got to them very quickly.
In 1913 Harry Benson opened up Benson's camp ground across the river from here (where Brett Park now stands). Of course, that activity had to stop when all the sewage thrown out by New York City and other places would be brought into this area via the tides. This sewage outlet did not stop until 1952. Now instead of a sandy bottom the river has a thick muck lining. Th shad, smelt, and bass all died. Eight foot long sturgeon used to be out here, but now the German carp is the dominant species of fish. Not too long ago a harbor seal was spotted hanging out in the Hackensack River. Students from nearby Fairleigh Dickinson came out, took his picture, and it was on the front page of their paper. The students nicknamed the seal Elvis and so we see that some sightings of Elvis still continue.