Wyckoff House
Encyclopedia
The Wyckoff House, or Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House is located at 5816 Clarendon Road in the Flatbush
area of Brooklyn. The house itself is located in Milton Fidler Park. The house is estimated to have been built in 1652, it is the oldest surviving example of a Dutch saltbox
frame house in America, and was one of the first structures built by Europeans on Long Island. The majority of the current structure was added in the 19th century, with the small kitchen section dating back to the 18th century. Only a small section remains from 1652.
It is on land that Wouter van Twiller
purchased from the local Lenape
people in approximately 1636. (Europe
ans often referred to the native inhabitants simply by the Lenape language
place name for the larger area: "Canarsie", in this case)
It was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1967.
It is owned by New York City but is operated by a nonprofit.
It is believed that every person with the name Wyckoff (or its variations) has descended from Pieter (Claessen) Wyckoff from this house. Pieter Claessen was forced to change his surname sometime after 1664 and chose "Wyckoff." At that time there were no other known Wyckoffs. There are some 60 known variations of the name that appeared between 1790 and 1900 (after which, no new variations appeared).
Flatbush, Brooklyn
Flatbush is a community of the Borough of Brooklyn, a part of New York City, consisting of several neighborhoods.The name Flatbush is an Anglicization of the Dutch language Vlacke bos ....
area of Brooklyn. The house itself is located in Milton Fidler Park. The house is estimated to have been built in 1652, it is the oldest surviving example of a Dutch saltbox
Saltbox
A saltbox is a building with a long, pitched roof that slopes down to the back, generally a wooden frame house. A saltbox has just one story in the back and two stories in the front...
frame house in America, and was one of the first structures built by Europeans on Long Island. The majority of the current structure was added in the 19th century, with the small kitchen section dating back to the 18th century. Only a small section remains from 1652.
It is on land that Wouter van Twiller
Wouter van Twiller
Wouter van Twiller was an employee of the Dutch West India Company and the Director-General of New Netherland from 1633 until 1638...
purchased from the local Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
people in approximately 1636. (Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans often referred to the native inhabitants simply by the Lenape language
Lenape language
The Delaware languages, also known as the Lenape languages, are Munsee and Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family...
place name for the larger area: "Canarsie", in this case)
It was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1967.
It is owned by New York City but is operated by a nonprofit.
It is believed that every person with the name Wyckoff (or its variations) has descended from Pieter (Claessen) Wyckoff from this house. Pieter Claessen was forced to change his surname sometime after 1664 and chose "Wyckoff." At that time there were no other known Wyckoffs. There are some 60 known variations of the name that appeared between 1790 and 1900 (after which, no new variations appeared).
See also
- Wyckoff-Bennett HomesteadWyckoff-Bennett HomesteadWyckoff-Bennett Homestead, located at 1669 E. 22nd Street in Brooklyn, New York, 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 Toepfer of the Ditfourth regiment and Lieut. M...
, another historic house in Brooklyn - List of the oldest buildings in New York
External links
- The Wyckoff House & Association website
- Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House Historic Marker Database