Van Vorst House

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The Van Vorst House is a colonial-era residence in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, located at 531 Palisade Avenue in The Heights.{{cite book|title=Jersey City|last=Shaloub | first=Patrick B.|year=1995 | publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780752402550|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GUWQLmEIGUwC&q=%22west+side+park%22+%22jersey+city%22&pg=PA90}} The stone house was built c.1740–1742 by descendants of the first settlers in the region. It is arguably the oldest building in Jersey City.{{Cite web | last = Karnoutsos|first = Carmela|title = Van Vorst House|publisher = New Jersey City University|url = https://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/V_Pages/Van_Vorst_John.htm|access-date = 2013-05-31|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150923182911/https://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/V_Pages/Van_Vorst_John.htm|archive-date = 2015-09-23}}{{cite web|title = Jersey City Heights/Van Vorst House|publisher = Forgetten New York|date = February 28, 2008|url = http://forgotten-ny.com/2008/02/the-heights-van-vorst-house/|access-date = 2013-05-31}}{{cite web|last = Olszewski|first = Anthony|title = From Before the Revolutionary War! Jersey City's Oldest House|publisher =City of Jersey City|year = 2002|url = http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/vanvorstfarmhouse.shtml|access-date = 2013-05-31|archivedate=May 2, 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502153830/http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/vanvorstfarmhouse.shtml}}{{cite news|title = 2012 Jersey City Historic Preservation Month|newspaper=The Jersey Journal|date = April 30, 2012|url = http://photos.nj.com/jersey-journal/2012/04/2012_jersey_city_historic_pres_2.html| access-date = December 13, 2021|archivedate=August 11, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811172201/http://photos.nj.com/jersey-journal/2012/04/2012_jersey_city_historic_pres_2.html}}

The Van Vorsts were a prominent family who trace their North American roots the third superintendent of the patroonship Pavonia, whose bowery was located at Harsimus, where his widow built the first stone house in the colony on the shores of the North River (Hudson River) in 1647.{{Cite web|last=Karnoutsos|first = Carmela|title = Van Vorst Homestead site|publisher = New Jersey City University|url=http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/pages/V_Pages/Van_Vorst_Homestead_Site.htm|access-date = 2013-05-31|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130403100745/http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/pages/V_Pages/Van_Vorst_Homestead_Site.htm|archive-date =2013-04-03}}{{cite news|last=Haff|first=Joseph O.|title=Jersey City Searches 6 Months to Find Remains of 1647 House|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 7, 1960|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C15F93B5A1A7A93C3AA178CD85F448685F9|access-date = 2013-06-01}} Their descendants played an important role in the development Jersey City, establishing the Township of Van Vorst (including the namesake Van Vorst Park) which was later incorporated into it. Cornelius Van Vorst acted as mayor of Jersey City from 1860 to 1862 and built the landmark Barrow Mansion.{{cite web|url=https://njcu.libguides.com/barrow|title=Jersey City Past and Present, Barrow Mansion / Ionic House|publisher=New Jersey City University|accessdate=December 13, 2021|archivedate=August 3, 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803092401/https://njcu.libguides.com/barrow}}