To all your history buffs, please visit Bergen County, NJ for interesting experience of visiting our historical sites and restaurants. Check out our Team Project from Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. “From Revolution to Renewal-A Historical Tour of Bergen County”.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
I had the most interesting semester for Spring Term at the college where I work. Everything started off fine. We had classes in the the afternoon, good discussions on Marketing and had a very successful Team Project marketing the Lyndhurst Snack Shop, the new Bulldog Cafe, for business (See Day One Hundred and Fifty-Nine in MywalkinManhattan.com):
I had just handed out the next Team Project, “From Revolution to Renewal: Exploring the Historic Bergen County”, a major tourism project I wanted to the students to work on for the remainder of the semester the week before the break. I had the students to break up into groups and get to know one another and get their game plans…
The Meadowlands Museum is the main steward of the history and culture of the Meadowlands region and one of its leading storyteller.
Its mission and collection, which resides in the Yereance-Berry House in southern Bergen County in Rutherford, NJ are distinctive and unique. The house too is a historic treasure and landmark and was built in 1804 by the Berry family, who were among the county’s earliest European settlers.
Rooms in the three-level American Dutch farmhouse are alive with permanent and temporary exhibits and sometimes include loaned objects from other museums and private collections. Historical artifacts like archives and photographs are mingled with textiles, furniture, housewares and artwork. There is even correspondence by the daughters of John Rutherfurd, a close confidant of George Washington. Grounds include the William Carlos Williams Poetry Garden, which acknowledges the legacy of Rutherford’s most famous native and the town’s history as a cultural center.
The everyday products of the Meadowlands Museum
Founder in 1961 as the Rutherford Junior Museum by parents of school age children to help connect them to their community, the museum is staffed by professionals assisted by dedicated volunteers and involved trustees. Interns add to the rich resource of individuals who contribute to its present and future.
A recent commercial developed by my Business 101 Class for the Meadowlands Museum for the project “Rocking it in Rutherford: Being a Tourist in your own Town”
The location of the Yereance-Berry House suggests a colonial farm dating to 1740. The oldest house in south Bergen County in close to original condition, it was part of the Historic American Building Survey project of the 1930’s. The building is also listed on the state and national registers of historic places and the Bergen County Stone House Survey.
The Yereance-Berry House is the now the Meadowlands Museum
Affiliated organization include the American Alliance of Museums, American Association for State and Local History, Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey Association of Museums and The National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Programming & Community Service:
Free and reasonably priced services for individuals, community groups, businesses, government bodies and educational institutions are available.
*Educational programs, lectures and traveling exhibits.
*Customized on and off site programs.
*Collaborative ventures with a wide range of partners.
*Assistance with academic research and other archival support.
Special Events:
Special events, which often are made possible by partnerships with businesses and other organizations, are an additional way for visitors of all ages to enjoy the museum. Public and private events occur on a regular or one-time basis; many are fundraisers. Call or email for a current calendar and sponsorship possibilities. The house hosts both permanent and special exhibits.
Our permanent exhibits include:
*Yereance Berry House on Scarecrow Day:
*Pre-electric kitchen: This unique kitchen in the basement shows off the collection of equipment that would be used in the kitchen from the Civil War to the 1950’s. There are coffee grinders, whisks, wash boards and such. It showed how much effort was put into preparing the family meal through the ages.
The Farm Kitchen of Bergen County
*Meadowlands Geology: there are all sorts of rocks and gems not just from the area but all over the state. There are two different rooms one of the specimens locally and there is a separate room for glowing stones. It is very interesting to see when the lights are out.
The Mineral Collection at the Meadowlands Museum
*Mining in South Bergen: This is how the county has changed when we mined ore.
The Mining Display at the Meadowlands Museum
*19th century Laundry Room: The Laundry room that is located in the basement has many of the things our grandparents would have used. The washboards, scrub bushes, old washing machines and ringers. Washing clothes was much harder back then.
*The wonderful Toy Exhibition of turn of the last century toys and from the 1960’s 70’s and 80’s. This contains Dolls, Board Games, play things and instruments:
The Toy Collection fascinates kids of all ages
The wonderful toy factory in Kearny, NJ that used to produce all these wonderful toys.
*Horse elevator
Recent special exhibits have included:
*High school football
*Needlecraft
*Steampunk
*Medical Innovations
*Maps of the region
*Civil Rights
*Dr. Williams’ Babies
*World War I
Special Events:
I went to the recent Scarecrow Day on October 20, 2018 where guests of the museum created their own scarecrows using their own creativity. All the scarecrows were lined up facing the street with their interesting clothes and accessories. Each person got to use their own clothes and each one had its own style to it. It was fun watching the families show their creativity at this annual event.
Scarecrow Day at the museum in 2018
Scarecrow Day in 2021: the winners of the contest for best Scarecrow
I also stopped by for the Dutch Christmas decorations. The museum was decorated for the holidays with garland and trees. On December 1st, they had a Dutch Christmas festival (I could not attend) with food and entertainment.
Help tell the story…
Individuals who value the purpose and work of the Meadowlands Museum remain its inspiration and abiding spirit. Donations, memberships, sponsorship’s, grants and fundraisers are crucial elements of the museum’s financial well-being.
Admission to the museum is free but donations are greatly appreciated. Fees for events and other services vary. A personal letter to the appropriate person acknowledges a gift made in the name of an individual. Donations to provide for the buildings and grounds are valuable links to the future and a kind of giving that is among the museum’s top priorities.
Disclaimer: This information was taken directly from the Meadowlands Museum’s pamphlet. For information on the site, please call or email the museum for more information.
I have been to many special events at the Garretson Forge & Farm over the years, but COVID had put a stop to many of them since 2020. The farm is now back and running beautifully with the help of their roster of volunteers and master gardeners manning the grounds both in the front and back of the homestead.
In previous years when I have visited, I have toured the home visiting the indoor kitchen and display room that is the oldest part of the house which was built in 1719.
The signage in front of the house
The kitchen of the Garretson Forge is from the original structure of the house.
The kitchen
The cooking utensils at the Garretson Forge kitchen
The spinning at the Garretson Forge farm was part of life
The newer part of the house where spinning takes place and where you can see examples of Dutch furniture with chest for clothing and a rope bed, where the expression ‘sleep tight don’t let the bedbugs bite’ comes from. You had to tighten a rope bed with a key to tighten the ropes at night and the mattresses were either made from straw or if you were lucky, goose feathers.
The newer part of the home with the upstairs dormers was built in 1760.
The upstairs is the newest addition to the house
The Upstairs
The Garretson Family tree
Inside the original part of the home is the family tree of the Garretson family who lived in the house for six generations from 1719 to 1972 when the last of the Garretson line, the husband of the wife who was a direct descendant died and the home was bought by a developer. The also have a collection of Presidential signatures that are kept under lock and key at night.
The Presidential Signature Room
The Living Room fireplace is right off the Signature Room
The kitchen in the original 1719 part of the home is decorated with period utensils, herbs and vegetables for drying and all the things you would need to prepare food for the long winter. These things would have been placed in the fruit cellar.
The Herb Garden right off the kitchen
The water pump and herb garden are right in back of the kitchen
Outside the home during the recent Harvest Festival that I attended in October 2022, you can visit all sorts of farming equipment, sleds, and hoes for using on the farm to grow plants.
The barn has herbs drying for the season and foods being stored. This along with farm equipment. These items have been brought from all over Bergen County.
The Fall Festival 2022 on October 9th, 2022
The other barn had period carriages and even a dairy vehicle delivery of milk and eggs to homes. There were items drying out in the barn for basketmaking and even in the back the tombstone of an original member of the family.
The Barn Vehicles
The barn equipment
The backyard of the home is an extensive number of plantings that the Master Gardeners maintain and many of the items grown on the property go to a foodbank in Paterson, NJ. I thought that was a very nice donation to give especially these days. I was able to walk through what was left of the vegetables and fruits that had not either been picked or went through their growing cycle.
Items drying in the barn
Activities at the Harvest Festival included making colonial dishes from original recipes including a roasting ham on the fire, pumpkin pie, chopped vegetables for stew and a stew that was cooking on the fire.
The bounty of Fall in Colonial America
Unfortunately, we were not able to sample these delicious looking items because of a food license but everything looked really good. They had everything laid out on the table as the ladies explained to me how things were cooked back then.
Roasting meats on the fire a traditional way
Here and there were tables of items for sale including snacks, crafts and vintage decorative items for the home. This helps raise money for the maintenance of the house.
There was also a plant sale where items grown on the property were being sold for people’s decorative gardens.
Before I left, the master gardener explained to me that the Chinese Chestnut Tree in the back of the property was a documented tree and was one of the oldest and largest in the State of New Jersey. They are not too sure who planted it years ago.
Their Harvest Festival was a lot of fun and there were lots to do for families with small children. This takes place every October.
The History of Garretson Forge & Farm:
Garretson Forge & Farm is one of the oldest historic sites in Bergen County, New Jersey. Settled in 1719, this Dutch Colonial homestead was home to six generations of the Garretson family. Their homestead remains a rare surviving example of a simple farming life that was prevalent in the 1700’s and 1800’s. It now functions as a living museum and a working farm, preserving our colonial past and agricultural heritage.
The Property:
Located along an old Native American trail, about a mile north of Garretson Lane, is one of the original farms in Slooterdam, owned by the Dutch family of Peter Garretson. Today, more than 300 years later, the trail has come to be known as River Road, Garretson Lane is now called Broadway and Slooterdam has evolved into Fair Lawn, yet the original farmhouse and remaining grounds are still referred to as the Garretson Homestead.
In the 17th century, New Jersey was divided into the Provinces of East and West Jersey by its English proprietors, Lords Berkeley and Carteret. These lands were then sold to a group of Quakers headed by William Penn. By 1692, part of East Jersey, known as the Saddle River Tract, had been divided into large lots, one of which was sold to the Stillwell family.
The Garretson homestead stand on a portion of land that was acquired in 1708 by David Daniellse from the Stillwell family. A copy of the original propriety deed signed by King George of England and the Lenni Lenape Chief, Spotted Tail and granting the land to David Daniellse, is hanging in the homestead. The original property was bounded on the west by the Passaic River and on the east by the Saddle River. Peter Garretson purchased the property from Mr. Daniellse in 1719.
After Peter Garretson’s death, title to the land was passed from one generation to the next. From time-to-time parcels of the tract were sold. The present site consists of 1.84 acres along River Road.
The beauty of the Garretson Forge Farm in the Fall
The Homestead:
The house is an example of Dutch Colonial architecture which is charismatic of Bergen, Passaic and Hudson Counties.
One and one-half stories high and built about 1719 of rubble and undressed stone, the current kitchen wing is considered by most to be the homestead. It features a large open-hearth fireplace typical of Flemish design of the late 1600’s. On a late nineteenth-century photograph of the house, remnants of a brick beehive oven can be seen on the outer wall.
Farming equipment outside the barn
In 1760, the larger section of the house was built using dressed stone. The sandstone blocks were held together with mortar made of river mud mixed with straw and hogs hair. It was under this section that fragments of clay pipes (c1720) were uncovered.
The farmhouse on River Road in Fairlawn, NJ
The Farmhouse
Extensive renovations were made to the house in 1902. The present gambrel roof replaced a steep gable roof; a front door was replaced with a window; an inner stairway to the basement replaced cellar hatches. A large center Victorian stairway to the second floor was also built and the open-hearth fireplaces were enclosed in the Victorian style. A large pillared porch was also added.
An early nineteenth century carriage house still stands on the property along with a large barn and several smaller outbuildings, the oldest of which is a small wooden structure built circa 1800 in the Dutch barn style.
The barn and carriage house
The Garretson Family:
The history of the Garretson family in America began in 1660 with the emigration of Gerrit Gerritse, his wife, Annetje Hermansse and their son, Gerrit from Wageningen, Gelderland (Netherlands). They arrived in New Amsterdam and proceeded to the town of Bergen, where in 1668, Gerrit (Sr) bought from Philip Carteret, eight parcels of land. The family resided in what is now the Communipaw section of Jersey City, where Gerrit died in October of 1696. His wife died on September 7, 1696.
Some of Gerrit Gerritse’s children took the name Van Wagenen, while others retained that of Garretson, from the name of their father. The descendants of Gerrit Gerritse, going by the surname of Garretson, Van Wegenen and Van Wagoner are today numerous throughout Bergen and Hudson Counties.
Mary Garretson’s Tombstone is located in the barn
Peter Garretson, grandson of the elder Gerrit Gerritse, purchased the Slooterdam Patent from David Daniellse in 1719. The house was built shortly afterwards. Six generations of the Garretson family resided on the farm until the death of Mary Garretson Brocker in 1950. Her widower, Feenix Brocker, remained at the homestead and continued farming until 1974.
The Gardens:
Originally a homestead farm, subsistence and market crops were grown from the early 1700’s through the early 1970’s by the Garretson family.
The back of the house
Today, the gardens at Garretson continue an agricultural tradition. A variety of heirloom vegetables, all open-pollinated are grown in the kitchen garden using organic and sustainable practices. Produce in season is donated to a local emergency food pantry. An extensive herb garden contains over 75 types of medicinal and culinary herbs that were grown in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds.
The Garretson farm gardens behind the house are tended to by the master gardeners.
Garretson’s Butterfly Garden provides host plants and nectar sources for many different kinds of butterflies. Since 2005, Garretson has been certified by Monarch Watch as a Monarch Waystation (monarch habitat).
The Children’s Garden at Garretson abounds in spring ephemeral wildflowers, bulbs and ferns. In the heat of summer its offers a welcome place to sit in the shade. Gardeners have been restoring native plants to this woodland area.
The garden sheds behind the house
Many of the garden volunteers are Rutgers-trained Master Gardeners who have done their community service at Garretson and who give back to the community and Bergen County Master Gardener Program by training new gardeners at Garretson.
The gardens at the Garretson Forge farms behind the house
Garretson Forge and Farm Restoration Inc.:
The Garretson property was sold in 1974 to a private builder for residential value, community members became interested in acquiring the property for preservation. This led to the founding of the Garretson Forge and Farm Restoration Inc. in 1974 for the purpose of raising funds for the purchase. Through the efforts of the organization, the community at large and government agencies, the necessary funds were raised for the acquisition of the property.
GFFR Inc. continued to raise funds to maintain the site and to restore the kitchen to its eighteenth-century design. Money was also used to purchase artifacts and articles related to Garretson history.
The open kitchen at the Garretson Farm
In 1977, ownership of the property was accepted by the Freeholders of Bergen County. Now a county historical site, the Garretson homestead continues to be administered by the members of Garretson Forge and Farm Restoration Inc.
GFFR Inc. is a volunteer organization whose mission is to preserve and maintain the Garretson homestead, keeping it open to the public; to educate the greater community about local and state history; to foster environmentally sustainable agricultural practices and biodiversity.
Programs and Special Events:
Throughout the year, Garretson Forge and Farm offers.
Living history events:
*The Spring Festival celebrating colonial life and crafts in the 1700’s.
*The Fall Festival celebrating the harvest and the 1800’s farm.
Fall Festival 2022
Civil War Activities at the Garretson Forge
Civil War activities at the Fall Festival
Spinning wool and cloth making at the Fall Festival
*Dutch Christmas presenting a traditional Dutch celebration with the homestead decorated in Victorian style.
Educational Programs:
The Map and Signature galleries
*School Tours
Children’s toys at the Garretson Forge
*Open House and garden tours
*Lectures on the environment and on local history.
The Signature and Map Collection at Garretson Forge
*The Master Gardener Program
*Organic/sustainable gardening
*Garden and craft workshops
*The annual Butterfly Festival for families.
Community Service Programs:
*Eagle Scout Projects
*Community Seed Bank
*Seasonal produce donations to local food banks.
For more information on events, please check out the website:
The Bergen County Division of Cultural & Historic Affairs received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.
Disclaimer: This information is taken directly from the pamphlet from the Garretson Forge & Farm. For more information on the site, please call the above numbers or email them.
*Bloggers Note: because of the size, location and time of year these sites are open, the hours and cost to get in can change since the blog was written. Please check with the site’s website or call the site before you visit. Things change over time.
My name is Justin Watrel and welcome to ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’, a trip through cultural sites, small unique museums, historic mansions and homes and pocket parks & community gardens in New York City and beyond its borders. I created this blog site to cross reference all the cultural sites that I came across when I was traveling through Manhattan for my walking blog, “MywalkinManhattan.com”.
Historic New Bridge Landing
I was inspired by all these sites that I had missed over the years and never knew existed in New York City and its suburbs. Many of these being in Bergen County, NJ where I live. I found that most people feel the same way. The only way you would know that these sites existed is by walking past them.
School House Museum in Ridgewood, New Jersey
So I created this site to showcase all these smaller, largely unexplored ‘gems’ in Manhattan, the rest of New York City and places outside the greater New York City area. I concentrate on smaller, more off beat cultural sites that you might miss in the tour books or may just find by passing them on the street. This has lead me to becoming a member of the Bergen County Historical Society in Riveredge, NJ as well as other cultural sites in the area.
The Aviation Museum in Teterboro, New Jersey
There is so many interesting historical sites, parks, gardens and homes to explore that I want to share it with all of you. They are tucked behind buildings and walls, locked behind gates or hidden behind trees only for you to want to discover them.
Ringwood Manor in Ringwood, New Jersey at Christmas
I want to give these smaller and unique ‘gems’ more exposure and ‘sing their praises’ to an audience (namely out of town tourists) who might overlook them. It is hard for a lot of these cultural site because of the lack of volunteers or volunteers getting older or the absence of money to properly advertise these sites.
Juan Leon’s work at Gallery Bergen on the Bergen Community College campus in Paramus, NJ
So join me in the extension of “MywalkinManhattan.com” with my new site “VisitingaMuseum.com” and share the adventure with me. Join me also on my sister blog sites, “DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com” and ‘LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com’ for restaurants and small shops.
The Dyckman Farm in Washington Heights in Manhattan
These sites featuring all sorts of small restaurants, bodegas and bakeries, where a quality meal can be had for $10.00 and under and unusual stores with unique merchandise that just stand out in their respective neighborhoods. It is important to support small business owners especially in this economy.
Lucy the Elephant in Margate, NJ
So, join me here as I take “MywalkinManhattan” to some unique and special historical sites and open spaces the New York Metropolitan area and beyond.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 