Van Voorhees Archives - National Parks With T

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For the past 8 years, the Northwest Bergen History Coalition has been holding a themed History Day. On History Day, several historic sites in the area are open, running tours and stamping passports. This year, the theme was ‘How Immigration & The Railroad Shaped Our Towns’ with 10 sites participating.

There are a few Zabriskie Homes in Bergen County, the family having been early settlers in the area. The Van Voorhees-Quackenbush-Zabriskie House in Wyckoff is actually two homes that were combined in later renovations. The original stone house was built around 1740 by William Van Voorhees and enlarged in 1824 by Albert Van Voorhees.

I first visited the original section of the house..two rooms off a side entrance downstairs. There were volunteers in period costumes there to tell me about the history of these small quarters.

Then I went back outside and through the front entrance to the larger, later addition. The Van Voorhees mansion was purchased in 1867 by Uriah Quackenbush. His granddaughter Grace Quackenbush Zabriskie inherited the home and lived there until she died.

Grace Zabriskie was a collector of antiques and filled the home with beautiful furnishings and decor appropriate for its colonial origins. She willed the home and contents to the Town of Wyckoff in 1973. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places 10 years later.

I wasn’t allowed to photograph anything inside the house…there are some fairly valuable pieces inside. This was probably the best maintained site I visited on history day. I did get a few shots of the lovely garden.

I managed to tour five of the participating sites that day. To see my posts on the other NW Bergen County historic sites, click on the following links: