Newkirk House

File:Bergen and Buyten Town map.jpg and sold to Samuel Edsall. The northern perimeter of the square became Newkirk Street.{{Cite book| publisher = Hagstrom Map Company, Inc

|isbn=978-0-88097-763-0| title = Hudson County New Jersey Street Map| year = 2008}}]] The part of New Netherland that would become Hudson County was first settled in the 1630s as Pavonia. In 1660, Director-General Petrus Stuyvesant granted a charter for development of a fortified village at what is now Bergen Square. Upon the British takeover of New Netherland it became Bergen Township, while the population remained rooted in native tradition and became known as the Bergen Dutch. Bergen, New Netherland became Bergen County, which in 1840 was divided, with its southern part becoming Hudson and long referred to as Old Bergen.{{cite web | last = Van Winkle | first = Daniel | title = Bergen | publisher = GetNJ | year = 1902 | url = http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/oldberg/chapter14.shtml | access-date = 2013-05-20}}{{Citation | last = Van Winkle | first = Daniel | title = History of Hudson County and of the Old Village of Bergen | place = Jersey City | year = 1920 | url = https://archive.org/stream/oldbergenhistory00vanw#page/n5/mode/2up}}{{Citation | last = Winfield | first = Charles Hardenburg | title = History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time | place = New York | publisher = Kennard & Hay Stationery M'fg and Print. Co. | year = 1874 | url = https://archive.org/details/historycountyhu00winfgoog }} The building is one of many in Northern New Jersey built by these early colonial settlers and their descendants.{{Citation | last1 = Scheltema | first1 = Gauss | last2 = Westerhuis | first2 = Heleen | title = Exploring Historic Dutch New York: New York City, Hudson Valley, New Jersey, and Delaware | publisher = Museum of the City of New York/Dover Publications | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0486486376 }}{{Citation | last1 = Brown | first1 = T. Robins Brown | last2 = Warmflesh | first2 = Schulyler | title = The Architecture of Bergen County, New Jersey: The Colonial Period to the Twentieth Century | publisher = Rutgers University Press | year = 2001 | volume = 2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=WuTMRvoAGgMC&q=The+Architecture+of+Bergen+County,+New+Jersey:+The+Colonial+Period+to+the+Twentieth+Century | isbn = 0813528674 }}

Mattheus Cornelissen Newkirk and his brother Gerrit Newkirk arrived in New Amsterdam aboard De Moesman in 1659. Their surname, van Niewkercke, translates as "from new church" near their birthplace.{{Citation | last1 = Bernardo | first1 = Leonard | last2 = Weiss | first2 = Jennifer | title = Brooklyn by Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges and More Got Their Names | publisher = New York University Press | year = 2006 | page = 111 | isbn = 9780814799468 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xdCL5VWmM4MC&q=Brooklyn+by+Name:+How+the+Neighborhoods,+Streets,+Parks,+Bridges+and+More+Got+Their+Names }} Mattheus C. moved to Bergen in 1665. His family acquired lots in and near the village and built another homestead nearby.{{Cite web | last = Karnoutsos | first = Carmela | title = Newkirk Homestead | publisher = New Jersey City University | url = http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/pages/N_Pages/Newkirk_Homestead_Enos_Place.htm | access-date = 2013-05-20 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130622035511/http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/pages/N_Pages/Newkirk_Homestead_Enos_Place.htm | archive-date = 2013-06-22 }}

During the American Revolution Bergen was nominally under the control of the British, although the Americans frequently made forays in the area for reconnaissance and foraging. The Newkirk House was located near Five Corners, and important crossroads where Summit Avenue ran north into the Bergen Woods. After the Battle of Paulus Hook, the Americans originally planned to retreat via ferry over the Hackensack River, but were forced to return to wait at Sip and Summit Avenues. The house was later identified on British military maps drawn in 1781 for General Henry Clinton.{{cite web|last=Petrocci|first=Charles A.|title=Battle of Paulus Hook|url=http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-paulus-hook.htm|work=HistoryNet|publisher=Military History magazine|access-date=30 September 2010|date=August 2000}}

File:Newkirk House 1 Summit Avenue Journal Square.jpg

The homestead remained in the Newkirk family until 1899, after which it was used by the Queen's Daughters Day Nursery Association and then by a succession of retail businesses. With the opening of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Summit Avenue station in 1912, the area around Bergen Square was redeveloped, and many of the homesteads were razed to make way for new buildings.{{Citation | last = Shalhoub | first = Patrick B. | title = Jersey City | publisher = Arcadia Publishing | year = 1995 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RRd8L50OdjoC&q=Shalhoub,+Patrick+B.+(1995),+Jersey+City,+Arcadia+Publishing, | isbn = 0752402552 }}{{cite web | title = Jersey City's oldest house... in Westfield? | publisher = Hidden NJ | date = February 2, 2012 | url = http://www.hiddennj.com/2012/02/jersey-citys-oldest-house-in-westfield.html | access-date = 2013-05-20}} Among them are the headquarters of the newspaper Jersey Journal, after which Journal Square is named,{{cite news | last = McDonald | first = Terrence T. | title = The Jersey Journal finalizing sale of its Journal Square offices in Jersey City | newspaper = The Jersey Journal | date = December 5, 2012 | url = http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2012/12/the_jersey_journal_finalizing.html#incart_river_default | access-date = 2013-05-20 }} and the Labor Bank Building, considered the city's first skyscraper. Another family property, the Newkirk Homestead was demolished, though a street still bears the name of the early settlers. The Sip Manor, built in 1666 and the oldest private home in New Jersey, was moved to Westfield.{{Cite web | last = Karnoutsos | first = Carmela | title = Vareth-Sip Manor House | publisher = New Jersey City University | url = http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/S_Pages/Sip_Manor_House.htm | access-date = 2013-05-20 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140101023203/http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/S_Pages/Sip_Manor_House.htm |archive-date = 2014-01-01}}{{cite web | last = Mills | first = Jzy | title = The Sip Manor (excerpts) | publisher = GetNJ | year = 1902 | url = http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/pastimperfect/sipmanorjerseycity.shtml | access-date = 2013-05-20}} In 1928, Summit Avenue was re-routed, affecting the property line of the tract; the front of the Newkirk House was altered and new windows were placed along its side.

File:Newkirk House 3 Summit Avenue Journal Square.jpg

In 1979, Newkirk House was listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places (ID#1519).{{cite web | title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Hudson County | url= http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists.htm | publisher=NJ DEP - Historic Preservation Office | page= 9 | date= April 5, 2013| access-date= 2013-05-20}} and became a restaurant known as the Summit House.{{cite news | last = Fussell | first = B.H. | title = A Rich Find Just Off Journal Square | newspaper = The New York Times | date = May 20, 1979 | url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C15FB355C12728DDDA90A94DD405B898BF1D3 | access-date = 2013-05-20 }} During renovations it was determined that it had originally been a one-story structure. It later became Sanai's, owned by native son, NBA star, and political activist Terry Dehere.{{cite news | last = Coyne | first = Kevin | title = Ex-Basketball Star Helps Rebuild His Hometown | work = The New York Times | pages = Section 14NJ, Page 1 | date = April 1, 2007 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/01njcol.html?ref=nyregionspecial2 | access-date = 2007-04-02}} The building is situated between the Journal Square Transportation Center and neighborhood known as The Hilltop. In 2012, the city adopted a variance for a development proposal to build a 42-story residential tower and adjacent garage on its south and east sides.{{cite news | last = Hunger | first = Matt | title = City Settles Lawsuit with Robinhood Plaza, Permits 42-Story Zoning for Property Along Summit Ave | newspaper = Jersey City Independent | date = November 29, 2012 | url = http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2012/11/29/49269/ | access-date = 2013-05-20 | url-status = dead | archive-url = http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20121129205325/http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2012/11/29/49269/ | archive-date = November 29, 2012 }}{{cite news | last = McDonald | first = Terrence T. | title = 42-story residential tower on tap for Jersey City | newspaper = The Jersey Journal | date = July 23, 2012 | url = http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2012/07/42-story_residential_tower_is.html | access-date = 2013-05-20 }}

The building was bought by a land preservation organization for $1.2 million, but remains empty since the restaurant's closing.{{cite news |date=July 18, 2022 |url=https://www.nj.com/opinion/2022/07/ensure-preservation-of-jersey-citys-oldest-building-jersey-journal-editorial.html |title=Ensure preservation of Jersey City’s oldest building |work=The Jersey Journal}}

• Bergen, New Netherland
• Old Bergen Church
• Van Wagenen House
• Van Vorst House
• List of the oldest buildings in New Jersey
• Three Pigeons
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Bergen County, New Jersey, including numerous Bergen Dutch homes
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Hudson County, New Jersey

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/3401591586/ Flickr image]
• [http://jclandmarks.org/tour-bergensq.shtml Bergen Square: A Walking Tour]
• [http://www.destinationjerseycity.com/vendors/newkirk-house/ Destination Jersey City]
• https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=156027

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Category:Houses in Hudson County, New Jersey

Category:History of Jersey City, New Jersey

Category:Buildings and structures in Jersey City, New Jersey

Category:Houses completed in 1690

Category:Stone houses in New Jersey

Category:1690 establishments in New Jersey