Martin Van Buren National Historic Site
| Linden Forest Martin Van Buren National Historic Site |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| National Register of Historic Places | |||
| National Historic Landmark | |||
| National Historic Site | |||
 Entrance side of the house |
|||
|
|||
| location | Kinderhook , Columbia County, New York | ||
| Coordinates | 42 ° 22 '10.9 " N , 73 ° 42' 15.1" W | ||
| surface | 0.16 km² | ||
| Built | 1841 | ||
| architect | Richard Upjohn | ||
| Architectural style | Federal ; Neo-Gothic | ||
| Number of visitors | 13,617 (2004) | ||
| NRHP number | 66000510 | ||
| Data | |||
| The NRHP added | October 15, 1966 | ||
| Declared as an NHL | 4th July 1961 | ||
| Declared as NHS | October 26, 1974 | ||
The Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is a historic monument under the administration of the United States National Park Service . The area is located in Columbia County, New York , just south of Kinderhook and about 30 km south of Albany city . It includes the Lindenwald estate of the eighth President of the United States , Martin Van Buren , which he acquired during his tenure in 1839 and which served as his residence after the end of his term until his death in 1862.
history
The first building on the site and the core of the current house was the home for the Peter Van Ness family, which was built at the end of the 18th century. It can still be recognized today as a Georgian house with two floors, a full basement and an attic. The year “1797” on the knob of the entrance door is a clear indication of the construction time. The symmetrical facade design on the entrance side shows a central Venetian window and an elaborately designed entrance area. The building probably still had two rear wings , of which no significant traces can be found today. In 1810, Peter Van Ness' son changed the floor plan and had the number of rooms increased significantly.
In 1824 the Van Ness family sold the building and in 1839 Martin Van Buren acquired it along with 137 acres of agricultural land. After his defeat in the presidential election of 1840 , he moved his residence to Lindenwald and began to redesign the property according to his ideas. The stairs inside were changed, a dining room for up to 30 people and facilities to improve living comfort (heating, bathroom, bells) were installed. From 1849 the largest renovation took place, which determined the current state of the house. Smith Thompson Van Buren, one of Martin Van Buren's sons, commissioned Richard Upjohn to expand the facility so that he and his family could also live there. Upjohn added a one-story extension with a full cellar on the southwest side of the house and the tower in a style that was based on residential buildings from the Italian Renaissance . At the same time, the interior was converted and the building technology expanded, including one of the first central heating systems in the area.
The name "Lindenwald" coined by Martin Van Buren for the property is based on the lime tree avenue of the old Poststrasse, which runs right in front of the house. Until his retirement from active politics in the 1850s, Lindenwald was the center of Martin Van Buren's activities. From here he directed his political campaigns for the presidential elections of 1844 and 1848 . During this time Van Buren expanded his total holdings to over 225 acres, of which over 190 acres were agricultural land, the cultivation of which he personally took care of. The property served him mainly for representative purposes, should symbolize the lifestyle he propagated and at the same time generate an appropriate return . Over the years he constantly improved and modernized the agricultural methods used. For his political work, Martin Van Buren used the library, which was unusually extensive for a house in the area.
After Martin Van Buren's death in 1862, his son John Van Buren used the house for a short time, after which it changed hands four times within a decade. In 1874 it came into the possession of the Wagoner family for a long time, who renovated and converted it. The last major changes were made to the building when it was owned by Kenneth Campbell in 1957, who had a very large veranda built on the east side and brought all the building services up to date.
Protection status
Lindenwald was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and a National Historic Site on October 26, 1974 .
Modern condition
The property is located just off New York State Route 9H on the east bank of Kinderhook Creek on approximately 5 acres of park-like property. There is a visitor center that offers various programs for those interested. The main house has been restored and today shows the state in the time of Martin Van Buren. Access to the building itself is only possible as part of guided tours of the National Park Service, the tower is no longer open to the public. Originally there were two “gatehouses” on the site near the two entrances to the site. The southern one was demolished in the 1950s; its location can still be seen from the remains of the foundation. Inside the building, parts of the heating and sanitary facilities from the mid-19th century as well as parts of the interior have been preserved.
Photographs
Main house in 1937
Main house in 1961
Main house 2017
Historical photo of one of the gatehouses
Historical photo of one of the barns
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Martin Van Buren Home (Lindenwald). In: National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service, September 15, 2007; Archived from the original on June 6, 2011 ; accessed on December 4, 2019 .
- ^ Search for "Martin Van Buren" in the database of the National Register of Historic Places . Retrieved December 10, 2019.
- ^ State of the Park Report for Martin Van Buren National Historic Site 2016 . In: US Department of the Interior (Ed.): State of the Park Series . tape 32 , 2016 ( npshistory.com [PDF; accessed December 11, 2019]).
- ^ In William Raymond: Bibliographical sketches of the distinguished men of Columbia County . Weed, Parsons & Co, Albany 1851, p. 32 ( full text in Google Book Search [accessed December 6, 2019]). Peter Van Ness is named as a representative of the influential Van Ness family and as the father of Cornelius P. Van Ness and John Peter Van Ness and uncle of William W. Van Ness .
- ↑ a b c Brief description on historic-structures.com . Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d Information on Martin Van Buren NHS on the National Park Service website. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ Sample images for 19th century building services on historic-structures.com . Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Martin Van Buren's "Return to the Soil", a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan , on the National Park Service website. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ↑ At this point the street is lined with American linden trees.
- ↑ There are rumors to this day that John Van Buren lost the building while gambling . See: Overview of the history of Kinderhook.
- ↑ See photo of the building from 1961.
- ^ A b c Bronwyn Krog et.al .: National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Lindenwald. 1979.
- ↑ Photos of the complex (including the remains of the demolished gatehouse) on Ryan's Presidential Quest website . Retrieved December 4, 2019.
literature
- Michael Middleton Dwyer, Mark Rockefeller: Great Houses of the Hudson River . Little, Brown and Company , Boston, MA 2001, ISBN 0-8212-2767-X , pp. 26-33 .
- William W. Howell: Martin Van Buren National Historic Site . In: US Department of the Interior (Ed.): Historic Structure Report . tape 1 , 1985 ( full text in Google Book Search [accessed December 6, 2019]).
- Bronwyn Krog et al .: National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Lindenwald. With accompanying material. Ed .: US Department of the Interior. 1979 ( archives.gov [accessed December 10, 2019]).
- Leonard L. Richards, Marla R. Miller, Erik Gilg: A return to his native town: Martin Van Buren's Life at Lindenwald, 1839-1862 . Ed .: US Department of the Interior. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4840-4594-7 .
Web links
- Homepage of the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site