William Dyckman built the Dyckman house in 1785 after his family's prior home was destroyed in the Revolutionary War — and it still stands as Manhattan's last farmhouse today.
The first Dyckman farmhouse was built in the 17th century, but the current house dates back to 1785.Wikimedia Commons One of the preserved bedrooms of the Dyckman farmhouse. Wikimedia Commons The farmhouse was built on the island of Mannahatta which later became Manhattan after it was colonized by the Dutch. Wikimedia Commons The farmhouse has porches on both sides of the residence. Wikimedia Commons The fireplace inside the Dyckman farmhouse. It was once used by members of the Dyckman family who passed the property down for generations.Wikimedia Commons Legend has it the Dutch colonizers bought Manhattan from the Indigenous Lenape people for trinkets. But this "sale of Manhattan" myth oversimplifies the transaction as a mutual agreement between the settlers and natives and has been refuted by New York historians and descendants of the Lenape.Wikimedia Commons Entrance to the Dyckman Farmhouse. At its peak, the farming property had at least three other houses to accommodate its laborers as well as a barn, stable, and cider mill. Wikimedia Commons The farmhouse museum boasts two parlors, one of which is decorated with the personal effects of the Dyckman family. Wikimedia Commons Jan Dyckman, who built the original house, emigrated to New Amsterdam from Westphalia in 1661.Wikimedia Commons When the house was built, the island of Manhattan was known a Mannahatta.Wikimedia Commons The face of the area quickly changed in the early 20th century, when farms were demolished to make way for new shops, apartments, and a subway route.myinwood.net The Dyckman Farmhouse grew crops like cabbage and corn while maintaining a stable, barn, and an apple orchard with a cider mill.myinwood.net The farmhouse's old colonial design starkly contrasts the tall buildings of the upper Manhattan neighborhood where it still stands.myinwood.net By 1820, about 30 people were living on the Dyckman Farmhouse property including farmhands who worked on site.myinwood.net The Dyckman Farmhouse is now a historic landmark and museum. It hosts a variety of public events including history tours, arts and crafts workshops and musical performances.Dyckman Farmhouse Museum Residents of the city bike past the farmhouse's facade. Dyckman Farmhouse Museum At one point the property's bounds spanned from 213th Street down to the 190s in upper Manhattan. Dyckman Farmhouse Museum The large property's size was whittled down after the family began to auction away parts of the land.Dyckman Farmhouse Museum The small garden that grows right next to the farmhouse.Dyckman Farmhouse Museum An old wellhead that was once functional.Dyckman Farmhouse Museum Reenactment of what it may have looked like inside the house by the fireplace during winter time. Dyckman Farmhouse Museum One of the huts that were built for workers on the Dyckman farmhouse property.Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation/Flickr In 1915, daughters of the last Dyckman to grow up in the farmhouse kicked off an ambitious project to restore the centuries-old structure. It had been falling apart for some time.Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation/Flickr View from the farmhouse garden toward the city streets.Scott McDonough/Flickr Plaque of the Dyckman farmhouse. It officially became a National Historic Landmark in 1967.Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation/Flickr
How The Dyckman Farmhouse Has Stood For 235 Years While New York City Grew Up Around It View GalleryTake a stroll down Broadway through upper Manhattan and you'll find yourself at the steps of an old farmhouse. The Dyckman Farmhouse is the oldest 17th-century Dutch colonial-style farmhouse in New York City, an enduring remnant of the city's agricultural past.
The first Dyckman farmhouse was built by Jan Dyckman, a Westphalian immigrant who settled in what was then still New Amsterdam, a colony set up by the Dutch.
After the Revolutionary War, his descendant William Dyckman built the current house, which has withstood the urbanization that transformed Manhattan from lush farmland into one of America's biggest cities. It was renovated by Dyckman's descendants to be preserved as a historic site in 1915 and ultimately became a National Historic Landmark in 1967.
And remarkably, this relic of New York's past is still open to visitors today.
The Early Colonization Of Manhattan
Dyckman Farmhouse MuseumThe first farmhouse was built by Jan Dyckman who arrived in New Amsterdam in 1661.
Before the European colonization of North America, the area we know as New York was inhabited by the Indigenous Lenape people. They inhabited Lenapehoking, a vast territory that stretched between modern-day New York City, Philadelphia, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and part of the state of Delaware.
Within this territory, there was a "hilly island" detached from the mainland known as Mannahatta — which would later become Manhattan, home of the Dyckman house. The Lenape people farmed, fished, and hunted on the land. But they weren't just resourceful, they were also enterprising.
The Lenape used their hunting bounties to trade with other tribes along the island's rivers. As such, the area became an attractive trade territory for European settlers who arrived in North America in the 17th century.
The Dutch, represented by their state trade enterprise the Dutch West India Company, arrived in the Lenape territory in 1624. They quickly colonized the area, setting up residences and infrastructure through foreign laborers they brought.
These workers were mostly German, English, the Walloons, who are the French speakers of today's Belgium, and enslaved Africans.
The new Dutch colony was named New Netherlands with its center, the island of Mannahatta, dubbed New Amsterdam. The settlement had a diverse set of occupants due to the immigrant laborers brought by the Dutch.
But immigration to the Dutch colony was slow since most Dutch people lived quite well in their homeland. So, the settlers brought even more African slaves to work on the settlement. By 1640, about one-third of New Amsterdam populated by enslaved Africans.
As the legend goes, Peter Minuit, who had just become the new director-general of the Dutch West India Company, bought Mannahatta island from the Lenape people in a peaceful deal that only cost trinkets and beads worth about 60 guilders.
This origin story has been refuted by historians and descendants of the Lenape. Experts posit the sale of the island was one-sided; the Dutch believed they were the owners of Mannahatta while the Indigenous Lenape believed it had been an agreement to simply share the land, not sell it.
The Lenape people refused to leave for decades after the "sale" took place. But they were eventually forced off of their lands, which later became New York state.
Inside The Historic Dyckman Farmhouse
Dyckman Farmhouse MuseumThe Dyckman Farmhouse is the oldest colonial farmhouse to still exist in New York City.
The undeveloped land in New York was prime for farming, and the Lenape people had long successfully grown crops and other produce on the island.
Jan Dyckman was among the first wave of settlers to arrive in 1661. The Westphalian quickly acquired his own plot of land which spanned 250 acres in the upper area of Manhattan island. He built a modest yet comfortable house for his family and began to cultivate his plot.
By the time of the American Revolution, the Dyckman Farmhouse had been inherited by Jan's grandson, William. And when the British forces invaded Manhattan, William Dyckman took his family to seek refuge upstate.
After the Revolutionary War, the original Dyckman Farmhouse and everything else on the property was destroyed.
Dyckman Farmhouse MuseumThe Dyckman Farmhouse is now a historic landmark and museum in the middle of Manhattan.
Undeterred, the Dyckman patriarch rebuilt the homestead. He moved the house to a different location on Kingsbridge Road which is today in the city's Inwood neighborhood.
He built a two-story house using fieldstone, brick, and wood which he painted white, and added porches on both sides of the residence. On its top, the house is sheltered by a gambrel roof, a nod to its Dutch colonial roots.
Inside the house were two parlors. One now serves as a front desk for the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum while the other holds the personal documents of the Dyckman family.
Over the years, the Dyckman Farmhouse grew its produce business planting crops like cabbage and corn while maintaining a stable, barn, an apple orchard, and a cider mill.
Other abodes were added to the property to accommodate the family's growing staff of farm laborers. By 1820, there were 10 people living in the main Dyckman house with 20 others living among the three other houses on the farm.
Like any other piece of real estate, the Dyckman Farmhouse's boundaries ebbed over the centuries. But at one point the property's bounds would have spanned about 20 blocks from 213th Street down into the 190s in upper Manhattan.
The family ultimately auctioned off most of the Dyckman Farmhouse property, but the farmhouse itself remained under the family's possession until 1916.
Preservation Efforts At The Dyckman Farmhouse To This Day
The Dyckman Farmhouse is the oldest remaining farmhouse in Manhattan.Amid early 20th-century New York City, the Dyckman Farmhouse fell into disrepair. The empty plots and farms that surrounded the farmhouse were filled with new construction. New shops and housing as well as an extension for the subway line turned the rural area into a new part of the rapidly growing city.
As the environment around the house began to change, Mary Alice Dyckman Dean and Fannie Fredericka Dyckman Welch, daughters of the last Dyckman family member to grow up in the house, began restorations on the house in 1915.
The Dyckman descendants worked with their respective husbands, curator Bashford Dean and architect Alexander McMillian Welch, to accomplish the ambitious project which sought to restore the home to its earliest facade. The Dyckman Farmhouse was officially opened to the public in July 1916.
Over a century later, visitors can still visit the Dyckman house amid the ever-evolving urban landscape of Manhattan. It has gained a reputation as a quirky landmark with its tranquil facade like a window to the agricultural past of its busy city setting.
Next, wade through more of New York City's fascinating history with these photos of the city's grimey and graffiti-covered subway during the 1980s and then time-travel to century-old New York in vividly colorized photos.
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