Cortlandt House was built by Frederick van Cortlandt in 1748. The large estate was held continuously by the descendants of Jacobus van Courtlandt, who was born in 1658 and was Mayor of the City in 1719, until it was purchased for a public park in 1889. In 1848 it was placed in the custody of the Colonial Dames of the State of New York, and in 1897 they opened it as a public museum.