The Charles E. Van Buren Farmhouse, commonly known as the Van Buren House, is one of Paterson’s oldest surviving residential buildings and one of the few remaining reminders of the city’s agricultural past before the development of Eastside Park. Although it is sometimes dated c. 1855, most preservation documents place its construction in the 1850–1860 period, with many identifying it simply as c. 1850 or the 1860s.
Construction and Early History
The farmhouse was built for Charles E. Van Buren, a lawyer and member of the prominent Dutch-American Van Buren family. During the mid-nineteenth century the property was part of a substantial farm located east of the growing industrial city.
The surrounding land consisted of cultivated fields, orchards, and open pasture stretching toward the Passaic River. At the time, this portion of Paterson remained largely rural despite the rapid expansion of the city’s silk mills and manufacturing districts. City directories from the late 1850s list Charles E. Van Beuren (an alternate spelling then in common use) living on Broadway while other members of the family owned farms along Passaic Avenue.
Architecture
The Van Buren House is an excellent example of a modest Greek Revival farmhouse, a style popular in New Jersey between 1830 and 1865.
Notable features include:
- Two-story wood-frame construction
- Symmetrical five-bay façade
- Side-gabled roof
- Central entrance
- Traditional Greek Revival proportions
- Simple classical detailing
Unlike the elaborate Victorian mansions later constructed along Broadway and Eastside Park, the farmhouse reflects the practical architecture of prosperous nineteenth-century farmers.
Creation of Eastside Park
By the late 1880s Paterson sought to establish a large public park on the city’s east side.
When the City acquired the Van Buren property in 1888, the farmhouse became part of what would soon become Eastside Park, designed by the nationally renowned landscape architects Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot, successors to Frederick Law Olmsted.
Rather than demolish the house, the City incorporated it into the new park. It remains one of the few structures that predate the park itself.
Municipal Uses
Following acquisition by the City, the building served a variety of municipal purposes.
Among its known uses were:
- Residence for the Park Superintendent
- Offices for the Department of Parks and Recreation
- More recently, offices used by the Department of Public Works
Because it remained continuously occupied, the farmhouse escaped the demolition that claimed many other nineteenth-century farmhouses in Paterson.
Eastside Park Historic District
Today the Van Buren House forms part of the Eastside Park Historic District, one of Paterson’s most important historic landscapes.
Other nearby historic structures include:
- The Victorian Bandstand
- The Women’s Comfort Station (Pavilion)
- The Horse Stable
- Various park gateways and landscape features
The farmhouse predates all of these park buildings, making it the district’s oldest surviving structure.
Preservation
The Van Buren House has been recognized as a contributing historic resource through its inclusion within the Eastside Park Historic District. Unlike many of Paterson’s early farmhouses, it survives in relatively good condition due to its continued municipal use.
Historic preservation advocates regard the building as an important reminder that much of modern Paterson—including Eastside Park—was once composed of working farms before urban expansion transformed the landscape.
Historical Significance
The Van Buren House is significant because it:
- Is among Paterson’s oldest surviving wood-frame residences.
- Represents the city’s pre-industrial agricultural heritage.
- Is one of the few farmhouses remaining within Paterson’s city limits.
- Predates the establishment of Eastside Park by several decades.
- Illustrates the transition from rural farmland to one of America’s earliest planned urban parks.
- Continues to serve a public function more than 160 years after its construction.