New Bridge Landing - Historic Homes

Historic Homes

On December 23, 1783, in gratitude for his service to the Continental Army, the State of New Jersey presented use of a house, mill and the surrounding areas to Major-General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. The house had been confiscated from Jan Zabriskie, a Loyalist, in 1781. This gift was one of many grants of land von Steuben received from several states in thanks for his efforts in training the Continental Army. This estate is considered to be the most valuable and is now known as the Steuben House.

The Steuben House Commission was created in 1926 to purchase Baron Steuben's home at New Bridge. The State of New Jersey took possession of the historic mansion and 1-acre (4,000 m2) of ground for $9,000 on June 27, 1928. The Steuben House was renovated and opened as a public museum in September 1939 displaying period artifacts belonging to the Bergen County Historical Society. The Steuben House, listed on the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places, is under the jurisdiction of the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission. The Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission was established by legislation (P. L. 1995, Chapter 260, powers expanded by P. L. 2009, Chapter 45) to coordinate and implement governmental and private development policies and other activities incidental to the preservation, maintenance, restoration and interpretation of the historic riverfront village surrounding New Bridge, so as to optimize its educational and recreational benefit to the public.

Since this historic neighborhood spans the Hackensack River at the intersection of four municipalities (namely, River Edge, New Milford, Teaneck, and Hackensack), the Commission provides an intercommunicative forum to inform and coordinate decisions made by diverse public and private entities having ownership of properties within the Commission’s jurisdiction. The Bergen County Historical Society, non-profit volunteer organization, is a member and lead force of the commission, is the largest landowner and volunteers provide all programming.

The house is now the cornerstone of a historic site. Other threatened historic homes, including the Campbell-Christie House and the Demarest House Museum were moved from New Milford and the Westervelt-Thomas Barn, from Washington Township, have been relocated onto BCHS property for preservation. BCHS constructed a working out-kitchen.

The April 2007 Nor'easter caused significant damage to the Steuben home and the many historic artifacts housed there.