Tripping around Bergen County

Warning on this post: N rated. 

I love local history, but, like many people, have never visited historic sites in my own neighborhood. Sure, we'll drive to Gettysburg or visit Newport, but if it's local it just doesn't get noticed. I'm like the New Yorker who's never visited the Empire State Building or the New York Public Library--that's just for the tourists, not the natives who walk by it every day. Of course one little historic Dutch sandstone house in Bergen County is not as exciting as the Statue of Liberty or the Intrepid Museum, (even if George Washington slept there or his army camped out in the backyard).


One of the problems is that these sites are small and can be seen in a short amount of time, so don't warrant going out of your way to see. Many times you need to go a very specific time-- the 2nd Saturday of the month (Paulsgate, the home of suffragette Alice Paul) or Thursday afternoons from 1 to 4 pm only (Pt Pleasant Beach museum). The PPB "museum" is actually a trailer next to the municipal building, manned by a garrulous group of seniors and jam packed with reference materials. I showed up one week on the appointed Thursday at 1 pm only to be greeted by a yellow sticky note: "Sorry, we're closed today."  The guys must have decided it was a good fishing day.

So, I was excited about this past Saturday's History Day around Northwest Bergen County, organized by a group of historic sites with the philosophy that if one historic house is too little, THINK BIG and wrap up a tour with eight different stops. You could start at any of the sites, buy your ticket, get a map and off you went. A bargain at $10!

I visited four of the sites, starting with the Hermitage in Ho-Ho-kus.

The Hermitage, Ho-Ho-Kus

Built in 1760, the Hermitage was visited by George Washington, James Monroe, Marquis de Lafayette and other notables from the American Revolution. (New Jersey was designated a national heritage site in 2006--the Crossroads of the Revolution--and is developing a management plan to highlight important sites.)  
In 1782 Aaron Burr married the widow Theodosia Prevost in the living room of the mansion. But the story that fascinated people the most was the last resident, Mary Elizabeth Rosencrantz, who lived here until her death in 1970--with no electricity or central heating. She willed the house to the State of NJ.

John Fell House, Allendale

Also built in 1760, the Fell house was owned by patriot John Fell, who fought the British and was imprisoned by them for one year. He served in the Continental Congress and worked to ratify the new Constitution. (NJ was the 3rd state to do so, after Delaware and Pennsylvania).  

The property has been recognized as a "witness site", a term I wasn't familiar with, meaning that the house was there and "watched" GW troops pass by on their march to Yorktown in 1781. Smart house!

Hopper-Goetschius Museum, Upper Saddle River

The Hopper House in Upper Saddle River was built in 1739 and is a prime example of a Dutch stone house and farm. Included is the original "out kitchen" and privy as well as the Tice barn that was disassembled and moved to the site in 1999.  In the picture the original house is the tiny,white section on the left , with the main house added on in the 1800's. One young kid in the group commented: "You mean even in the winter, they had to go outside to the bathroom?"  Life was hard, whether you were talking about cooking, heating the house, making clothes or doing the farm work. Good thing they didn't have TV because nothing would have gotten done and besides the tiny hard furniture didn't even have a recliner option. What would Tim say? See here.

The Schoolhouse Museum, Ridgewood

The Old Schoolhouse was my last stop-used from 1875 to 1905 and outfitted now with the old desks and a dunce hat perched on a high stool in the corner.  A list of teacher duties included cleaning the chimney and bringing in water from the well. If you got married, you were fired. You were urged to save part of your salary, so as not to be a burden on society, once you stopped teaching. (So that's where Governor Christie gets his pension system ideas!)








I totally enjoyed the tour and was not alone. It was labeled a success by the organizers, attracting over a 100 visitors. Here are my suggestions for future events:

1. Get rid of the cranky old lady. Most docents were fun and interesting, but at least one was exhausted and annoyed from the beginning. I know they're dedicated unpaid volunteers, but this one lamented: "I've already given this talk 10 times and it's only noon." I ignored her tone and responded,"Must be exciting to have such a great turnout."  She glared at me with the Ghost of the Hermitage evil eye and rebuked me for standing too close to the wallpaper.  
2. Definitely repeat the bake sale at the Fell house--yummy cinnamon bread and the cookout at the Hooper Goetschius house--hot dogs with sauerkraut. Worthy of a Homer Simpson drool:



Sauerkraut- ullllllgllglglgl

3. Order up the same perfect weather- sunny, warm, gorgeous. Everything green and flowering and if you stuck to the back roads and avoided Route 17, you could almost feel like you were in the history bubble.      
4. Mark the sites with big signs or balloons or flags flying. Some were festive, but others looked like you might have skimmed the newspaper article too quickly and showed up on the wrong day.
5. Ditch the map and make it a cellphone scavenger hunt game. Have Stray Boots set it up as a Northern NJ game zone. (shameless plugging here for my favorite start up: www.strayboots.com)
6. Consult with an historic interpreter who can train your docents to be better tour guides. (more shameless plugging...check out my favorite H.I. and his new blog--Rear Window. 
7. Consider making it a 2 day pass. After four sites, you start to get a little tired!  hmm...now who's the cranky old lady?

Oh, the N rating for this post--I'm sure you've guessed by now that it stands for Nerd.