Morning Flowers
Greene County Historical Society, Coxsackie, Greene County
The original, single room Bronck House was constructed in 1663 by Pieter Bronck, a Swedish immigrant and former tavern and brewery owner in what is now Albany. The house was later enlarged in 1685 and 1738 to accommodate the growing family and fortunes. The house was the center of the Bronck working farm which consisted of several thousand acres. Remarkably, the house and the surrounding property and barns remained in the Bronck family for eight generations, or 276 years, until 1939, when it was acquired by the Greene County Historical Society. The Bronck House is the second oldest house in New York State and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as “an outstanding example of . . . typical Dutch Colonial dwelling of the Hudson Valley.” Visit the Bronck Museum website at www.gchistory.org for more information.
As an interesting tangent, the Bronx River and the New York City borough of the Bronx are named for Jonas Bronck, Pieter’s father (some sources say Jonas was Pieter’s brother, nephew or cousin). In 1639 after immigrating to what was then New Netherland, Jonas had established his family on a 500 acre farm near the Harlem River and Bronx River in what is today known as Mott Haven. Given his status as a prominent citizen and as the first white settler in the area, the river that ran through the farm would become known as the Bronck’s River and the general area would become known as “Bronck’s Land”, then “Bronck’s” and finally the Bronx. After his father Jonas died in 1643 Pieter moved with his mother to Albany and then with his own family to Coxsackie.