Campbell-Christie House
Encyclopedia
The Campbell-Christie House is a historic home that has been relocated to New Bridge Landing
in River Edge
, New Jersey
.
J. Walter Christie
, born here on May 6, 1865, achieved fame as a mechanical genius and inventor. At 16 years of age, he worked on pioneer submarines and developed turret tracks and gun mounts for battleships. He built and raced cars, holding American and world speed records before being severely injured in a crash in 1907. He later invented automotive front-wheel drive, used in the manufacture of fire trucks. but is best known as the “father of the modern tank.” He died at Falls Church, Virginia, in 1944.
The Brookchester Land Company made extensive alterations to the house in 1908. To save it from demolition, the Bergen County Historical Society (non-profit volunteer org) offered the County of Bergen a 50-year ground lease to move the Campbell-Christie House from New Milford onto its lands in River Edge, NJ, in 1977 on condition that the Historical Society not only have occupancy of the structure in keeping with its mission, but also the exclusive right to determine its use and historic restoration; in exchange, the County of Bergen agreed to pay utilities and to maintain the house and its mechanical systems in sound condition. Bergen County Freeholder
D. Bennett Mazur
led efforts to save the Campbell-Christie House, after it had been slated for demolition. With a $150,000 grant, the 200-year-old home was moved two miles from New Milford
to BCHS land in River Edge, the area now known as Historic New Bridge Landing
, in September 1977.
The Bergen County Historical Society furnishes and interprets the Campbell-Christie House as an 18th century tavern. In 1992, a working replica of a Jersey Dutch Out Kitchen was built behind the house. The Bergen County Historical Society regularly opens all the buildings, including the Campbell-Christie House, at Historic New Bridge Landing for special events in cooperation with the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission. The Bergen County Historical Society receives no public funding or grants from any public agency (including the County of Bergen or the State of New Jersey), instead relying on membership and donations.
New Bridge Landing
New Bridge was a prosperous mill hamlet, centered upon a bridge strategically placed at the narrows of the Hackensack River. In the American Revolution New Bridge Landing was the site of a pivotal bridge crossing the Hackensack River, where General George Washington led his troops in retreat from...
in River Edge
River Edge, New Jersey
River Edge is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 11,340.The community was incorporated as the borough of Riverside by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on June 30, 1894, from portions of Midland Township, at the...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
History
Jacob Campbell, a stonemason, constructed a store southeast of the intersection of River Road and the highway leading from Old Bridge to South Church, now Henley Avenue, in New Milford, NJ, about the time of his marriage to Altche Westervelt in 1774. It stood on land owned by his father, William Campbell, who kept a tavern on the north side of the road. Private Jacob Campbell served with the Bergen Militia during the American Revolution. His property was damaged during the war, but tax records for 1780 list him as a merchant. After his father’s death in 1793, Jacob sold to Abraham Brower, whose brother, John, a blacksmith, operated a roadside smithy until his death a year later. Blacksmith John D. Christie purchased the house for £250 in 1795 and operated a tavern. When he died in 1836, he bequeathed his residence to son John J. Christie, a farmer. It next passed to Jacob Brinkerhoff Christie, manager of the Comfort Coal & Lumber Company.J. Walter Christie
J. Walter Christie
John Walter Christie was an American engineer and inventor. He is best known for developing the Christie suspension system used in a number of World War II-era tank designs, most notably the Soviet BT and T-34 series, and the British Covenanter and Crusader Cruiser tanks, as well as the Comet...
, born here on May 6, 1865, achieved fame as a mechanical genius and inventor. At 16 years of age, he worked on pioneer submarines and developed turret tracks and gun mounts for battleships. He built and raced cars, holding American and world speed records before being severely injured in a crash in 1907. He later invented automotive front-wheel drive, used in the manufacture of fire trucks. but is best known as the “father of the modern tank.” He died at Falls Church, Virginia, in 1944.
The Brookchester Land Company made extensive alterations to the house in 1908. To save it from demolition, the Bergen County Historical Society (non-profit volunteer org) offered the County of Bergen a 50-year ground lease to move the Campbell-Christie House from New Milford onto its lands in River Edge, NJ, in 1977 on condition that the Historical Society not only have occupancy of the structure in keeping with its mission, but also the exclusive right to determine its use and historic restoration; in exchange, the County of Bergen agreed to pay utilities and to maintain the house and its mechanical systems in sound condition. Bergen County Freeholder
Board of Chosen Freeholders
In New Jersey, the Boards of Chosen Freeholders are the county legislatures in each of that state's 21 counties.- Origin :New Jersey's system of naming county legislators "freeholders" is unique in the United States...
D. Bennett Mazur
D. Bennett Mazur
David Bennett Mazur was an American Democratic Party politician, who was elected to serve six terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 37th Legislative District from 1982 until he was forced to resign in 1992 following a stroke...
led efforts to save the Campbell-Christie House, after it had been slated for demolition. With a $150,000 grant, the 200-year-old home was moved two miles from New Milford
New Milford, New Jersey
New Milford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 16,341.New Milford was incorporated as a borough on March 11, 1922, from what remained of Palisades Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 18,...
to BCHS land in River Edge, the area now known as Historic New Bridge Landing
New Bridge Landing
New Bridge was a prosperous mill hamlet, centered upon a bridge strategically placed at the narrows of the Hackensack River. In the American Revolution New Bridge Landing was the site of a pivotal bridge crossing the Hackensack River, where General George Washington led his troops in retreat from...
, in September 1977.
The Bergen County Historical Society furnishes and interprets the Campbell-Christie House as an 18th century tavern. In 1992, a working replica of a Jersey Dutch Out Kitchen was built behind the house. The Bergen County Historical Society regularly opens all the buildings, including the Campbell-Christie House, at Historic New Bridge Landing for special events in cooperation with the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission. The Bergen County Historical Society receives no public funding or grants from any public agency (including the County of Bergen or the State of New Jersey), instead relying on membership and donations.