Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
This is the last Dutch farmhouse in Manhattan. and one of he oldest buildings in New York City.
Jan Dyckman established a farm near the northern tip of Manhattan in the 1660s.
After its destruction in the Revolutionary War, his grandson, William Dyckman, replanted the land and built this Farmhouse around 1784.
The bulding is constructed mostly of fieldstone and clapboard, and features sloping spring eaves, wide porches, and a simple brick facade facing the street.
The small home served three generations of the Dyckman family until 1868.
In 1915, daughters of the last Dyckman to grow up in the house bought the building and restored it as a museum to early America, and donated it to NYC.
Displays include uniforms of the Hessian soldiers who occupied the house during the Revolutionary War, and period furnishings.
Be sure to visit the charming small garden behind the house.
The Dyckmans were Patriots, and fled north to the Hudson Valley when the British “took” the city. They stayed with the Dyckman cousins in what is now Boscobel, in Cold Spring, another historic home turned into a museum.
Personal note - NYCOTC Editor Evelyn Kanter grew up a few blocks from what was then simply called the Dyckman House, so this is an important part of my childhood and an important reason for my lifelong curiosity about NYC history.
So it is a personal favorite of all the historic homes in NYC.
- Also a member of the Historic House Trust.
- It’s a few blocks north of Dyckman Street, named for the family that once owned the land.
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Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum
In 1654, Thomas Pell purchased the land on which the Bartow-Pell Mansion now sits from the Siwanoy Indians. Four generations of Pells lived in the house, which was constructed in 1836 by Robert Bartow, hence the hyphenated name.
In 1888, the Bartow family sold the house and its vast grounds to New York City to become part of what would become Pelham Bay Park, the city’s largest park.
After being home to numerous private and charitable organizations, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia used it as his home, instead of Gracie Mansion.
The house has been open to the public as a museum since 1946, and also is part of the Historic House Trust. Bartow-Pell Mansion is a National Historic Landmark and a New York Cit Landmark.
- In addition to the house, its grounds, gardens and historic cemetery are well worth a visit.
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