REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN ELMWOOD PARK, NEW JERSEY

Van Houten-Hillman House
891 River Rd.
Map / Directions to the Van Houten-Hillman House

This house is a private residence.
Please respect the privacy and property of the owners.

British forces landed in New Jersey in late November 1776, causing the American troops in Fort Lee to flee their camp, beginning a retreat across New Jersey. On November 25 and 26, during their pursuit of the retreating American troops, the British raided several farms in this area, including the farmland of John C. Van Houten, which stretched from the Passaic to the Saddle River. A new wagon and set of wagon gears, which belonged to John's son Cornelius J. Van Houten, were taken.

This house was not here at the time of the 1776 raid, but it was built circa 1782, before the Revolutionary War ended. The house remained in the Van Houten family until 1833. The Hillman part of the house's name comes from a later era. A family named Hillman have owned the house since 1888. [1]

Source Notes:

1. ^ Information drawn from:

 • The Bergen County Historical Society sign in front of the house

• Reginald McMahon, History of the Van Houten-Hillman House, 891 River Drive Elmwood Park, N.J. (Bergen County Historical Society, 1979)             Available as a PDF on the National Park Service /National Register of Historic Places website here.

• William Nelson and Charles A. Shriner, History of Paterson and its Environs (The Silk City) Historical - Genealogical - Biographical Volume I (New York & Chicago: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1920) page 215
Available to be read at the Internet Archive here.