Strategically located at the narrows of the Hackensack River, New Bridge served as a battleground, fort, encampment ground, military headquarters, and intelligence-gathering post in every year of the American Revolution.
At Historic New Bridge Landing you can find distinctive Jersey-Dutch artifacts and architecture including three sandstone houses on fifteen acres in the heart of Bergen County.
The Steuben House was built in 1752 by the prosperous miller and river merchants Jan and Annetje (Ackerman) Zabriskie.
They fled the hotly contested area during the American Revolution. General George Washington headquartered here in September 1780 while 14,000 troops were camped along Kinderkamack Road, River Edge. Confiscated and given to Major-General Baron von Steuben after the war, it is the only extant house that Steuben owned. Steuben restored the war-damaged mansion and this is largely the house that you see today.
The Campbell-Christie House (1774), Demarest House Museum (1794) and Westervelt-Thomas Barn (1889) were moved to New Bridge Landing in 1977, 1956 and 1955, respectively. Spanning the Hackensack River the 1889 swing bridge is open to pedestrian traffic. A mobile history walking tour and hard-copy walking tour are available at the two site kiosks. Bird watchers may want to bring binoculars, many species of birds are attracted to the area.
This scenic destination is only 2 blocks from the New Bridge Landing Train Station on the Pascack Valley Line from Secaucus Junction, 7 miles from the George Washington Bridge and 3 miles from Exit 161 on the Garden State Parkway.
Home to the Bergen County Historical Society since 1938.
Visit bergencountyhistory.org for the event schedule.
