INWOOD, Manhattan — Nestled among apartment houses, corner stores, and the bustle of uptown streets, a rare piece of New York history remains standing in Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood after nearly 250 years of transformation.
That landmark is the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, which museum Executive Director Melissa Kiewiet described as the last remaining farmhouse on Manhattan. Located in Inwood, the home is also considered the island’s oldest farmhouse, dating back to the 1700s.
While the structure seen today was constructed after the Revolutionary War, the Dyckman family’s connection to the area began long before that period.
Board Member Don Rice said the Dyckmans settled there in the 1600s and made their living as farmers. According to Rice, the family worked the land for roughly a century before the outbreak of the American Revolution.
When British troops advanced on New York in 1776, the once-rural landscape around present-day Inwood took on major military significance.
Rice said British forces were determined to seize Manhattan and gain control of the harbor, which was seen as a crucial asset for trade and other strategic purposes.
British forces gradually tightened their grip on the region, moving from Brooklyn northward and transforming upper Manhattan into a military stronghold.
“You can see an increasing pressure surrounding the island of Manhattan and forcing it to turn into the British stronghold,” Rice said.
The occupation created difficult choices for local families.
“The British who occupied this neighborhood needed a lot of food. They needed wood. They needed supplies, they needed meat,” Rice said. “So there was a moral dilemma that the Dyckmans had there.”
One of the family’s sons initially pledged loyalty to the British Crown in order to continue selling supplies to occupying forces, but later changed course and joined a militia to fight.
The area around today’s museum became deeply intertwined with one of the Revolution’s most significant battles: the Battle of Fort Washington.
Historians say soldiers marched directly through what is now the museum grounds as British troops advanced south toward the fort.
An eyewitness to that history may still exist on paper.
British artillery officer Thomas Davies sketched scenes from the battle in November 1776, capturing lines of soldiers moving through the landscape that would eventually become modern-day Inwood.
When the war ended, the Dyckman family returned home to devastation.
“The neighborhood was destroyed. Their orchards were gone,” Rice explained.
The family rebuilt – constructing the farmhouse that still stands.
Now surrounded by city life, the home remains an unexpected reminder of Manhattan’s rural roots and Revolutionary War history.
