Why are so many streets named after "Van Houten" in the North Jersey/Rockland county? (Jersey City: houses, farms)

[GiantRutgersfan]

Van Houten Ave Clifton
Van Houten Ave Wyckoff
Van Houten Ave Franklin Lakes
Van Houten St, Nyack NY
Van Houten St Paterson
Van Houten Farms in Pearl River
Van Houten Place Belleville
Van Houten Ave Jersey City


I am curious if anyone can share some historical info? I assume they must have been one of the first families in the area.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by GiantRutgersfan

Van Houten Ave Clifton
Van Houten Ave Wyckoff
Van Houten Ave Franklin Lakes
Van Houten St, Nyack NY
Van Houten St Paterson
Van Houten Farms in Pearl River
Van Houten Place Belleville
Van Houten Ave Jersey City


I am curious if anyone can share some historical info? I assume they must have been one of the first families in the area.

There is a Van Houten family cemetery in Franklin Lakes.

Van Houten Cemetery - Bergen County, New Jersey

It appears from a quick Google search that families of that name were in Bergen and Passaic Counties in the 1700's.

[EBWick]

'Cause the Dutch settled north Jersey. Midland Park/Wyckoff used to have a lot of Dutch names - Van ___.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by EBWick

'Cause the Dutch settled north Jersey. Midland Park/Wyckoff used to have a lot of Dutch names - Van ___.

Still do, although there are fewer these days. (I'm fifth generation Midland Park Dutch.)

Other Dutch names end in -stra or -sma.

Still others came from The Netherlands but had gotten there from some other origin first. The name Zabriskie is all over Bergen County, and they came from Holland, but they were originally Polish.

Next fall, plant tulips!

[haricot]

Gilliam Van Houten was KIA at the battle of Chancellorville in the Civil War . He was the Commander of the 21st NJ volunteers. His surviving soldiers formed a post of the GAR in Jersey City which became the largest of four in the City. The post has a burial plot in NY bay cemetery. His loss was evidently felt by many and accounts for the street in Jersey City. Other family members or influence might account for the rest of the streets

[adamfast]

I really confuse when i saw so may street in same name its really getting head ache

[njkate]

Originally Posted by haricot

Gilliam Van Houten was KIA at the battle of Chancellorville in the Civil War . He was the Commander of the 21st NJ volunteers. His surviving soldiers formed a post of the GAR in Jersey City which became the largest of four in the City. The post has a burial plot in NY bay cemetery. His loss was evidently felt by many and accounts for the street in Jersey City. Other family members or influence might account for the rest of the streets

Yes, same group my great grandfather was in and the GAR as well

[NJGOAT]

You have to remember...."even New York was once New Amsterdam".

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by NJGOAT

You have to remember...."even New York was once New Amsterdam".

And it spread beyond what we now know as New York City, out to NJ and up the Hudson. Albany is having its Tulip Festival this week in honor of its Dutch heritage. Most of Bergen County and the lower counties of New York were settled by Dutch farmers. Paramus still has I don't know how many old Dutch sandstone houses scattered around, and that's not the only town where they exist. They were there long before the Revolution, and there even developed a dialect called Jersey Dutch.

Also interesting to remember is that the slave who eventually became the abolitionist called Sojourner Truth, born in Ulster County, NY, only spoke Dutch until she was sold at the age of 9 to an English-speaking family in Kingston.

[Togii]

Hello,
The reason for all the Van Houten names on roads etc. is because of my ancestors, the Van Houten family that were one of the early Dutch families that settled in the area prior to the revolution. Roeloff Cornelissen Van Houten arrived and was part of an early Dutch settlement in the area called Rensselaerswyck.
Hope this helps!
-Ben T.