VISIT X ... Naugle House, Fair Lawn, NJ and Easton Tower, Paramus, NJ,

Bill Bogertman, February 8, 2023

With family away to IL and attending a viewing of a co-worker’s Dad at a Funeral Home on Saddle River Road in Fair Lawn, ....

1. Took a walking tour of (fenced) Naugle House, in Fair Lawn. This small brownstone house was built 1740-1750 along the Saddle River in Fair Lawn, NJ, located on Donkerhook Road. The home was built by Naugel's father-in-law, Jacob Vanderbeck Sr., who also built the Jacob Vanderbeck Jr. House next door. It is notable not only for its architecture, but its association with events of the American Revolution. A member of the Naugle family may have been paymaster to the troops commanded by Marquis de Lafayette, a member of George Washington’s inner circle who fought at the Battle of Monmouth, according to the Trenton-based nonprofit Preservation New Jersey. Lafayette was rumored to have stayed there. Located on Donkerhook Road, next door to Saddle River County Park. ("Donckerhoek" or "dark corner" in old Dutch).

2. Took a walking tour of the Easton Tower, farther south along the Saddle River, in Paramus, built in 1900 by Edward Easton to pump water to his “Arcola” estate. Before the Revolutionary War, there was a nearby water-powered mill of Jacob Zabriskie, built 1740, mistakenly called “Red Mill.”

Naugle House, Fair Lawn, NJ

Up Donkerhook Lane to Fair Lawn Avenue, Fair Lawn, NJ

Rear side view

Side view... Saddle River Park in background

Front View

Front view under construction

Before 2018-2019 Construction and Renovations

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey, 1939

Front side view with plaque

The National Park Service Heritage Documentation Programs Historic American Building Survey took photographs and made architectural drawings of the house in 1938, and the National Park Service added the Naugle House to the National Register of Historic Places on January 9, 1983.

Down Donkerhook Lane, towards Saddle River Park

Easton Tower, Paramus, NJ

from the Internet ...

"Red Mill - Site of grist mill built 1745; scene of many raids and encounters during the Revolution. Aaron Burr was entertained here Christmas Eve commemorating his victory over British Raiders in 1776. Washington and his men often passed here. Lafayette stopped here on his return visit to America in 1825. The original Red Mill site is very closeby to Easton Tower... "

Historical Marker Database

Distance from Easton tower to original 1745 Zabriskie Grist Mill

from RevWar New Jersey... Internet...

"This sign marks the area where the "Red Mill" once stood. The mill was built in 1745, and was owned by Jacob Zabriskie at the time of the Revolutionary War. It acquired the "Red Mill" name in the early 1800's when its later owner Albert Westervelt painted it red.
The Red Mill sign describes some events of Revolutionary War significance which occurred in and around Paramus. It states that the area was the "scene of many raids and encounters during the Revolution. Aaron Burr was entertained here Christmas Eve commemorating his victory over British Raiders in 1776. Washington and his men often passed here. Lafayette stopped here on his return visit to America in 1825." General Lafayette was a French General who fought for the American side in the Revolutionary War. He developed close friendships with Washington, Hamilton, and other Revolutionary War figures. Decades after the end of the war, Lafayette made a return visit from France to the United States from August 16, 1824 - September 7, 1825. At that time, the United States consisted of only 24 states, and Lafayette visited all of them. Other historic sites associated with Lafayette's 1824/1825 visit to America can be found in Elizabeth, Hackensack, Morristown, Newark and Woodbridge."

from Internet TripAdvisor... According to the audio tour:

"In 1899 Edward Easton bought 48 acres of land where the Red Mill (a grain mill) once stood. Easton was the founder of the Columbia Phonograph Company (known today as Columbia Records). This parcel of land was just the right distance from New York City for a country retreat for Easton and his family. He created a landscaped park around his home with elaborate gardens and ponds, and he named it Arcola (NOTE: present location of Arcola Golf Club) after a small town in Italy. He later commissioned the construction of the tower, which was used to pump water to several fountains that irrigated and decorated his estate. The park attracted many people, who would stroll around, go for boat rides, and ice skate there in the winter. The park was used as an early setting for silent films when Fort Lee was new center of the film industry at that time. The park and tower appeared on many postcards of the time. When Route 208 was connected with Route 4 in 1931, which gave many people access to the George Washington Bridge, the construction destroyed many sections of the park. The only remaining part of Easton’s estate is the tower, which was bought by the county in 1956. It was placed on state and national registers of historic places after it was restored in 2008 by the county."

from the Internet...

"In the 18th century, this area along the Saddle River and near the heavily used Albany Post Road, was the location of many mills. Jacob Zabriskie, a Bergen County Freeholder during the Revolutionary War had leased the 80 acre mill site around 1766 and in 1771 acquired the mill that had been built in the 1740’s. Revolutionary maps identify it as “Demarest’s and Zabriskie’s Mills.” Over time it was rebuilt or expanded and in the early 1800’s painted red by its owner Albert Westerfelt. It is at this time it acquired the “Red Mill” name often mistakenly applied to Easton Tower. By the 1800’s, the mill had fallen into disrepair and was demolished circa 1894."

Note Naugle House, Easton Tower and next to Easton the Zabriskie "Red Mill" all on Saddle River through Fair Lawn and Paramus, NJ

Restoration of Arcola Tower and Water Wheel On Land Given to the County by the Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation, Inc. And Clyde A. Bogert and his Wife Cornelia H. Bogert
Dedicated October 7, 1967 Bergen County Park Commission
Board of Chosen Freeholders Park Commissioners.

This Tablet is on north side of tower, missed by many visitor because the footpath goes along the south side.

Old Eason Tower Photos...