Tag: addthistoyourgrocerycart@Wordpress.com

Van Cortlandt House Museum in Van Cortlandt Park at Broadway & West 246 Street Bronx, NY 10471

Van Cortlandt House Museum

Van Cortlandt Park at Broadway & West 246 Street

Bronx, NY 10471

(718) 543-3344

infor@vchm.org

Open: Tuesday-Friday 10:00am-4:00pm/Saturday & Sunday 11:00am-4:00pm

Admission: $5.00 for Adults/$3.00 for Seniors & Students/Children under 12 are free/General Admission is free on Wednesdays. Guided and group tours are available.

Review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g47369-d103501-Reviews-Van_Cortlandt_House-Bronx_New_York.html?m=19905

The Van Cortlandt House:

Welcome:

Van Cortlandt House during Christmas time

The entrance of the Van Cortlandt House decorated for the Revolutionary era Christmas

I visited the Van Cortlandt House Museum for the their Annual Christmas Decorated House event. The mansion was decorated for Christmas in the 1700’s so it was not overdone as it would during the Victorian times. The front of the house entrance was done with sprays of holly, mistletoe above the door and garlands of pine around the banister and fireplaces. The windows had candles in them and the dining room was set for Christmas luncheon in post-Revolutionary War era.

Van Cortlandt House for Christmas is Post-Revolutionary War in 2019

The entrance hall welcomes you to a Revolutionary era holiday season

While most of the house is represented during the Dutch era with floors with no rugs, vintage furniture and decorations and the second and third floors are set for family entertainment. The first floor is set for entertaining for the holidays with the formal dining room, family parlor and the formal living room for games and dancing. The formal dining room was the only room decorated post-Revolutionary War era.

Van Cortlandt Mansion at Christmas 1800’s

The current entrance to the house from the back of the building

Until the Victorian era, Christmas was a more religious affair with church service in the morning and luncheon in the afternoon. Things were formal and less elaborate. The acts of gift giving, sleigh rides, tree decorating and card giving came during the affluence of Queen Victoria’s reign in the post Civil-War era. This is the reason why the house is decorated so simply and elegantly.

Dining Room set for Christmas lunch circa 1780’s

In 2019, the site celebrated the holidays with a Sinterklaas, a Dutch Christmas celebration, a candlelight tour and a reading from Santa Claus. Please check their website for more information on future events. The house was closed for most of the COVID years and nothing had been planned. The house was open in December of 2022 for touring again for the holidays but was not decorated as much as in the past.

In 2022, when the house reopened after a long period of COVID, the self-guided tours were back and you could tour the house at your own pace ($5.00 donation) and tour the three floors of furnished rooms. You can see how the family lived from the three generations that lived in the residence.

The tour starts at the front hallway where guests would be received for formal affairs and for business meetings with the head of the household.

You would be greeted by servants at the entrance of the home

On either side of the front hallway is the East and West Parlors where you would be directed where the family would receive you. The West Parlor would have been used for business calls and more informal meetings when meeting with the Van Cortlandt family. The family’s wealth would be on display with fine furniture, china and bric-a-brac that would show off the family’s merchant roots and business.

The West Parlor

The West Parlor decorated for Christmas

The East Parlor on the other side of the entranceway would have been used for more formal affairs. The East Parlor is where the family would formally entertain guests with dancing, music and card playing. This is where long evenings of entertaining would take place and the family would enjoy their holiday celebrations.

The East Parlor

The East Parlor decorated for the Christmas holidays

The Dining Room was toward the back of the hallway and was decorated in the Empire Design of the late 1700’s to early 1800’s. The look is very similar to styles used today and the wallpaper is a copy from one of the styles used by the family that was imported in from France. The table was set for Christmas luncheon circa the late 1780’s.

The Dining Room

The Dining Room at the Van Cortlandt House

There are two sets of stairs to the second level of the house where the family bedrooms were located. There was the formal stairs and then there was the stairs that the servants used to go from floor to floor so that they would not be seen.

The steps upstairs to the second floor

On the second floor of the home are the bed chambers of the family. The main bedrooms for the family were located here and then the nursery and servants quarters were located on the Third floor of the home.

The West Chamber:

The bedroom

The ‘Washington Bedroom’ in the Van Cortlandt House

The East Chamber Bedroom:

The Bedroom:

The Landing of the stairs to the third floor lead to the Nursery, an additional guest room and the enslaved servants quarters. These were kept out of site from the other members of the household. It is a reminder of the pecking order of the household and the conditions that people lived under at this time.

The Second Floor Landing leads to the nursery and servants quarters

The Dutch Chamber was formerly a guest room that is used to show life in early Colonial New York City:

The Dutch Chamber:

The Dutch Chamber shows early life in Colonial America

The Second Floor Setup:

The Nursery:

The nursery set up room:

The servants quarters were to the back of the house and were not the most glamorous place to live in the house. There were drafty and not insulated. The amount of time a servant would be here would have been minimal.

The servants quarters:

The servants quarters:

History of the Van Cortlandt’s:

The Van Cortlandt House Museum, also known as Fredrick Van Cortlandt House or Van Cortlandt House, is the oldest surviving building in New York City’s borough of The Bronx. The Georgian style house, begun in 1748, was build of fieldstone by Fredrick Van Cortlandt (1699-1749) on the plantation that had been owned and farmed by his family since 1691. Fredrick intended the house to be a home for him and his wife, Francis Jay and daughters, Anna Maria, 14 and Eve, 13. His sons, Augustus, 21 and Fredrick, 19, were not intended to be permanent residents of the house.

Sadly, Fredrick died before the new house was completed. In his will written in 1759, Fredrick left the house to his son, James Van Cortlandt (1726-1781) and a lifetime tenancy to his widow, Francis Jay Van Cortlandt (1701-1780).

The Van Cortlandt House gardens in the Summer

The Van Cortlandt’s were a mercantile family prominent in New York affairs. Fredrick’s father, Jacobus, established a thriving wheat growing and processing business on the plantation including a grist mill for processing the wheat into flour and a fleet of shallow draft boats to carry the flour from the south end his lake down Tibbet’s Brook and out to the Harlem and Hudson Rivers to market. During the Revolutionary War, the house was used by Rochambeau, Lafayette and Washington.

(From History of Van Cortlandt House and Museum)

In 1887, after 140 years of occupancy by the Van Cortlandt family and the community of plantation workers, the property was sold to the City of New York and made a public parkland. Before the house became a museum, it saw a variety of uses including as a temporary police precinct house and as a dormitory for ranch hands responsible for taking care of a herd of buffalo.

Van Cortlandt House historic marker

By 1895, The National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York expressed their interest in restoring the house as a museum open to the public. There was only one obstacle keeping the Colonial Dames from this important project, there was no provision in the New York State Law allowing the stewardship of a publicly owned building by a private organization. Undaunted, the first Society President, Mrs. Townsend, took the Society’s cause to Albany where on May 22, 1896 in the 199th session of the New York Legislature, Chapter 837 was approved by the governor and passed by a 3/5 majority to become law.

The Van Cortlandt House dollhouse

After nearly a year if repairs and restoration, Van Cortlandt House Museum was opened to great fanfare on May 25th of 1897. The original license agreement grained custody of the house to the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York for a period of 25 years at a ‘peppercorn’ rent of $1.00 per year. Although the Society no longer pays the city rent, they remain, to this day as dedicated to Van Cortlandt House as they were in 1896.

Van Cortlandt Park in the Summer Months

In 1967, Van Cortlandt House was added to the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1967. The house was declared a New York City Landmark on March 15, 1966, recognizing the historic and architectural importance of both the exterior and interior.

(From the Van Cortlandt House Museum NSCDNY)

The Van Cortlandt House gardens during the winter of 2022

The General Porter Statute in front of the house

The New Jersey Firemen’s Museum at the New Jersey Firemen’s Home 565 Lathrop Avenue Boonton, NJ 07005

The New Jersey Firemen’s Museum at the New Jersey Firemen’s Home

565 Lathrop Avenue

Boonton, NJ 07005

(973) 334-0024

http://www.NJFH.org

Open: Sunday-Saturday 8:00am-4:00pm

Admission: Free

http://www.njfh.org/njfh-museum.php

My review on TripAdvisor:

Located inside the Boonton New Jersey Firemen’s Home, The New Jersey Firemen’s Museum is an 8000 square feet, two story museum that houses steamers, ornate hose carts and antique fire trucks from all eras.

The museum was established in May of 1985 and is home to many fire department in New Jersey’s memorabilia. It seems like everyone fire department in the State of New Jersey is represented here with old fire department pictures, patches from the fire companies, fire trucks from all eras and pictures of department fires from all over the state.

Filling the cases is antique fire equipment, badges from officers in many departments, figurines of fire equipment and ribbons from conventions of the past. There are old fire buckets from the beginnings of the fire service, horns to sound the alarms from the turn of the last century and helmets that retired chiefs from many departments donated with much honor.

Many companies donated their department pictures from fires of their past that were fought with much bravery. People forget that this job is very dangerous and we have to watch ourselves in every step.

The fire trucks are from every era from the carts that were dragged by hand to horse drawn engines to the original steam engines that were introduced with the advent of technology. All of the equipment has been carefully restored and shined to almost new. Much care has been taken to show the transition of the fire service over the years.

The tours are on your own and the admission is free. You don’t have to be a fire fighter or visiting a resident here to visit the museum. If you are a serious fire buff or have children that are really into fire fighting or being a fireman, this museum will give you all sorts of perspectives on the fire service and its development not just in New Jersey but all over the county as well.

Don’t miss the memorial to the victims of 9/11 off to the side. It is very touching and shows the support of the fire service to the members of the FDNY and their families.

9/11 is still fresh in all our minds

It is a nice afternoon out. The museum is free to the public. These pictures are just a glimpse of the collection of the NJ Firemen’s Home Museum. It is two floors of donated equipment, memorabilia, awards, dedications and department antiques that are so well preserved. If you love the history of firefighting, this is the museum for you.

Fire equipment from the past and present

Sound the Alarm

The Patch Board is extensive

The Convention Wall of attending as a delegate

Preparing for rescue

Don’t miss all the antique equipment

Fearless Girl Statue Bowling Green Park (now on Wall Street) New York City, NY 10004

Fearless Girl Statue

Bowling Green Park (Now on Wall Street)

New York City, NY 10004

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d13109380-Reviews-Fearless_Girl-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

*The statue has been moved since this blog has been written and it on Broad Street near the New York Stock Exchange.

The ‘Fearless Girl’ statue is the latest addition to the street art in lower Manhattan. Placed next to the statue of the ‘Charging Bull’, she portrays a defiance and a look that almost says, “I am standing up to the power and I am standing up to fear’. She has a look of determination on her face that clearly shows that she is standing her ground. She was designed by artist Kristen Visbal.

The statue is located at the northern tip of Bowling Green Park in Lower Manhattan both statues are an easy find on the Broadway side of the park. Be aware that this is a big tourist area for pictures so there will be a crowd.

Artist Kristen Visbal

http://www.visbalsculpture.com/

There has been some controversy from Arturo Di Modica the creator of ‘Charging Bull’ who says that it takes away from the meaning of his own work. Di Modica has challenged that the piece exploits his work and distorts the meaning of his own work by turning the ‘Charging Bull’ into a villain instead of the his true meaning for the work which is a ‘symbol of prosperity and for strength’. Both statues are being planned to be moved by the NYC Parks Department in the future (Wiki and the New York Times 2018).

History of ‘Fearless Girl’:

The statue was installed on March 7, 2017, the day before International Women’s Day, by State Street Global Advisors, in a campaign developed by advertising agency McCann New York. SSgA was celebrating the first anniversary of its “Gender Diversity Index” fund that “invests in U.S. large-capitalization companies that rank among the highest in their sector in achieving gender diversity across senior leadership. The concept for the statue was developed by Senior Art Director Lizzie Wilson and Senior Copywriter Tali Gumbiner. Wilson and Gumbiner established both the idea for the statue as well as the overall look of the girl using countless mood boards and imagery, which Visbal referenced (Wiki).

This is where the statue was originally placed and now it is located near the New York Stock Exchange

Fearless Girl was originally given a one week City Hall permit that was later extended to 30 days. Later, it was announced that the statue would remain in place through February 2018. Among those advocating for the statue to stay longer was U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York’s 12th congressional district who stated, “This statue has touched hearts across the world with its symbolism of the resiliency of women. New York City Public Advocate Letitia James wrote a letter that supported keeping the statue, “Fearless Girl stands as a powerful beacon, showing women, young and old, that no dream is too big and no ceiling is too high” (Wiki).

A petition on Change.org asking for the statue to be made permanent gathered 2,500 signatures in the first 48 hours. Efforts to make the statue permanent continued after the statue was granted a one-year permit. In April 2018, after ‘Fearless Girl’ had been in place for thirteen months, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that both ‘Charging Bull’ and ‘Fearless Girl’ would be moved to a location facing the New York Stock Exchange. The move would occur before the end of 2018 (Wiki).

The plaque below the statue states: “Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference.” (Wiki)

The statue is available to be seen 24 hours a day.

Disclaimer: The history of the statue was taken from Wikipedia and I give them full credit on the information. The rest is my personal opinions on the statue.

Bowling Green Park Broadway & Whitehall Street New York, NY 10004

Bowling Green Park

Broadway & Whitehall Street

New York, NY 10004

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bowling-green

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bowling-green/history

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d136413-Reviews-Bowling_Green-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Bowling Green Park in Spring 2024

Bowling Green Park on the first day of summer 2024

I visited this wonderful park for my walking project, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com-Day 113-Walking the Historical Bars & Pubs of New York City’.

The entrance to the park.

This is one of the most fascinating parks in New York City and probably one the most historical in the shaping of the United States. Located on the grounds of the original Dutch settlement, this tiny park placed an important role in the confrontation of the Loyalist versus the Patriots when deciding who to support during the Revolutionary War.

The toppling of the King George Statue was the beginning of a new Republic. Along the historic fence which has been standing in the park since the late 1700’s are the markings where the tiny crowns were sawed off by the Patriots in defiance to the Crown.

The toppling of the statute of King George (parts of the statue are at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, PA-read my blog on this.)

The exhibit at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia on the King George Statue

Now it is a resting spot for tired tourists off the boats from Ellis and Liberty Islands and for Wall Street workers who need a nice place to eat their lunch. It is still a relaxing little park with tree lined paths and a beautifully landscaped fountain area. In the later summer, the flowers are still in bloom and the colorful highlights of the trees accent all sides of the park and keep it private. Even in this secrete setting it is mind boggling of the fact that people put their lives on the line to establish this country right from this tiny park.

Map of Lower Manhattan

Take time to walk through the cool paths of trees to the edges of the park, which are lines with historic buildings with decorative stone work and look at the beautiful statuary work on the old U.S. Custom House that now serves as the Museum of the American Indian. Take a quick tour of Stone Street just a few blocks away and see the development of the New York City after the Great Fire of 1823, which destroyed most of lower Manhattan.

Just at the tip of the norther part of the park is the famous statue of ‘Charging Bull’ a gift to the City by artist Arturo Di Modica to show the ‘strength of the American people’ and the now becoming famous statue of “Fearless Girl” by artist Kristen Visbal which was erected for International Women’s Day. Both statues have created quite the debate since they were both placed here in 1989 and 2017 and their fate is up to the City.

Take time to really see what all these symbols mean to the Bowling Green.

History of the Park:

The beauty of Bowling Green Park in the early morning hours.

The Bowling Green is New York City’s oldest park. According to tradition, this spot served as the council ground for Native American tribes and was the site of the legendary sale of Manhattan to Peter Minuit in 1626. The Dutch called the area “the Plain” and used it for several purposes including a parade ground, meeting place and cattle market. It marked the beginning of Heere Staat (High Street, now Broadway), a trade route which extended north through Manhattan and the Bronx. In 1686, the site was designated as public property, when the City Charter put all ‘waste, vacant, unpatented and unappropriated lands’ under municipal domain (NYC Parks.org).

The historic marker for the park.

Bowling Green was first designated as a park in 1733, when it was offered for rent at the cost of one peppercorn per year. Lessees John Chambers, Peter Bayard and Peter Jay were responsible for improving the site with grass, trees and a wood fence “for the Beauty & Ornament of the Said Street as well as for the Recreation & delight of the Inhabitants of this City.”

A gilded lead statue of King George III was erected here in 1770 and the iron fence (now a New York City landmark) was installed in 1771. On July 9, 1776, after the first public reading in New York State of the Declaration of Independence, this monument was toppled by angry citizens who dragged it up Broadway, sent it Connecticut, melted it down and recast it as ammunition.

The exhibit at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia:

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60795-d12163505-Reviews-Museum_of_the_American_Revolution-Philadelphia_Pennsylvania.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Museum of the American Revolution 101 South 3rd Street Philadelphia, PA 19106

The pieces of the statue are on display at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia

The pieces of the statue

Portions of the statue are held by the Museum of the City of New York and the New York Historical Society (which also possesses musket balls made from the statue’s head) (NYC Parks.org).

The park with the buildings in the background.

By the late 18th Century, Bowling Green was the center of New York’s most fashionable residential district, surrounded by rows of Federal-style townhouses. In 1819, the Common Council that neighbors could plant and tend the area in return for the exclusive use of the park by their families. By mid-century, shipping offices inhabited the old townhouses and the park was returned to more public use. Monuments installed in the park in the 19th century include two fountains (now gone) and a statue of New York’s early Mayor and later colonial Supreme Court Judge Abraham DePeyster (1896, by artist George Bissell). DePeyster was moved to nearby Hanover Square in 1976 and finally to Thomas Paine Park in 2014 (NYC Parks.org).

Bowling Green Park Spring 2024

Bowling Green Park Spring 2024.

In the first decade of the 20th Century, Bowling Green was disrupted by the construction of the IRT subway. The park was rebuilt as part of citywide improvements made in preparation for visitors to the 1939 World’s Fair. Renovations to Bowling Green included removing the fountain basin, relocating the interior walkways, installing new benches and providing new plantings. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, members of the Board of Estimate and local businessmen participated in the rededication ceremony held on April 6, 1939. Despite unseasonable late snow, the ceremony included a demonstration of colonial era lawn bowling (NYC Parks.org).

The tulips at Bowling Green Park in Spring 2024.

A 1976-77 capital investment restored Bowling Green to its 18th century appearance. Improvements included the redistribution of subway entrances, the installation of new lampposts and benches and landscaping. Publisher and philanthropist George Delacourte (best known for the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park) donated the park’s central fountain (NYC Parks.org).

The Spring time flowers at the Bowling Green Park.

Since December of 1989, the statue of Charging Bull (1987-89) has been on display at the north end of the park. Its sculptor, Arturo Di Modica, says the three ton and a half bronze statue represents “the strength, power and hope of the American people for the future.” It has been linked to the property enjoyed by Wall Street in the past decade.

The park in the Summer of 2025

In 2004, the reconstruction of the park included new perimeter bluestones sidewalks and interior paths, landscaping, plantings and the re-sodding of the lawn. Antique-style gas lamps and hoof benches were also placed in the park with the addition of a new irrigation system for the parks fountain (New York Parks.org).

The “Charging Bull” sculpture.

Disclaimer: This information was taken directly from the New York City Parks.org site and I given them full credit for it. This is one of the special parks of the City so take some time to visit it while on your way to one of the other tourist sites or to Liberty Island or Ellis Island.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: