About 1710, David Ackerman built the New Bridge gristmill, and in 1752 Annetje Acerman and Jan Zabriskie built the Zabriskie-Steuben House. Located at the narrows of the Hackensack River north of the meadowlands, New Bridge was the first bridge above Newark Bay, making the crossing important for commerce and strategic in the American Revolution. Sloops of 40 tons burden traveled to city markets with flour and farm produce from local farms, iron from as far away as Long Pond was shipped out, and goods were brought back to sell in the trading post. The Zabriskies became wealthy in trade and enlarged their house in 1767. By 1768, Andrew Van Buskirk had a stage coach traveling from New Bridge to Weehawen and Paulus Hook. The mill pond and dam trapped the rising river twice a day, and when released, the falling water turned the waterwheel so gears could turn the millstones and grind wheat, corn, or rye seed into flour. The 1889 Pratt-style swing bridge replaced earlier wooden bridges and could be rotated to let masted vessels pass by. Closed to automobile traffic in 1956, it is now open to pedestrians.

Photo: Bill Coughlin

Photo: Bill Coughlin