The Wyckoff House, or Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House, is a
historic house
A historic house generally meets several criteria before being listed by an official body as "historic." Generally the building is at least a certain age, depending on the rules for the individual list. A second factor is that the building be in ...
at 5816 Clarendon Road in the
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...
neighborhood of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The house is within Milton Fidler Park.
It is situated on land that
Wouter van Twiller
Wouter van Twiller (May 22, 1606 – buried August 29, 1654) was an employee of the Dutch West India Company and the fourth Director of New Netherland. He governed from 1632 until 1638, succeeding Peter Minuit, who was recalled by the Dutch ...
purchased from the local
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
people in approximately 1636.
(
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
ans often referred to the native inhabitants simply by the
Lenape language
The Delaware languages, also known as the Lenape languages ( del, Lënapei èlixsuwakàn), are Munsee language, Munsee and Unami language, Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian languages, Eastern Algonquian subgroup of ...
place name for the larger area: "Canarsie", in this case.
) The house was one of several ordered built by Wouter van Twiller before he was recalled to Holland by 1640. The house is estimated to have been built before Van Twiller returned to Holland, 16361640. The Wyckoff family moved in, ca. 1652,
The house is one of the oldest surviving examples of a
Dutch frame house in America, and it was one of the first structures built by Europeans on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. The majority of the current structure was added in the 19th century, with the small kitchen section dating back to the 18th century.
It is owned by New York City but is operated by The Wyckoff House & Association.
It was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1967
[ and ] and is a
New York City designated landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
.
See also
*
Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead
The Wyckoff-Bennett-Mont Homestead in Flatlands, Brooklyn, New York City, is a National Historic Landmark. It is believed to have been built before 1766. During the American Revolution, it housed Hessian soldiers, two of whom, Captain Toepf ...
, another historic house in Brooklyn
*
List of the oldest buildings in New York
This article attempts to list the oldest buildings in the state of New York, including the oldest houses and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based on architectural studies and historical records; other dates are bas ...
*
New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
References
External links
Wyckoff House Museum- official site
Wyckoff House Museum- official Facebook presence
Pieter Claesen Wyckoff HouseHistoric Marker Database
{{Authority control
Dutch-American culture in New York City
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn
National Historic Landmarks in New York City
Saltbox architecture in New York
Museums in Brooklyn
Historic house museums in New York City
Canarsie, Brooklyn
1652 establishments in the Dutch Empire
New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn
Wyckoff family