Martin Van Buren National Historic Site

{{Short description|Historic site in New York, USA}} {{Redirect|Lindenwald|the Polish village with the German name of Lindenwald|Wąwelno}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Lindenwald<br/>Martin Van Buren National Historic Site | nrhp_type = nhl | nrhp_type2 = nhs | image = Lindenwald2006.jpg | caption = Front of the house facing the Albany Post Road | location = Town of Kinderhook, Columbia County, New York | nearest_city = Hudson, New York | coordinates = {{coord|42|22|10.94|N|73|42|15.14|W|display=inline,title}} | mapframe = yes | mapframe-marker = building | mapframe-zoom = 11 | mapframe-caption = Interactive map showing Lindenwald’s location | area = {{convert|125|acre}}  | built = 1797 | architect = Peter Van Ness, Richard Upjohn | architecture = Federal; Gothic Revival | designated_nrhp_type = July 4, 1961<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=366&ResourceType=Building|title=Martin Van Buren Home (Lindenwald)|date=September 15, 2007|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606135927/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=366&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=June 6, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> | added = October 15, 1966<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref> | designated_nrhp_type2 = October 26, 1974 | increase = July 11, 2012<ref name="2012 boundary increase">{{cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places listings for August 3, 2012|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2012-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|publisher=National Park Service|date=August 3, 2012|access-date=August 4, 2012}}</ref> | increase_refnum = 12000406 | visitation_num = 15,807 | visitation_year = 2025 | visitation_ref = <ref name="visits">{{NPS visitation |accessdate=March 23, 2026}}</ref> | website = [https://www.nps.gov/mava/index.htm Martin Van Buren National Historic Site] | refnum = 66000510 }}

'''Martin Van Buren National Historic Site''' is a unit of the United States National Park Service in Columbia County, New York, {{convert|1|mi}} south of the village of Kinderhook, {{convert|125|mi}} north of New York City and {{convert|20|mi}} south of Albany. The National Historic Site preserves the '''Lindenwald''' estate owned by Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States. Van Buren purchased the 36-room mansion during his presidency in 1839, and it became his home and farm from his leaving office in 1841 until his death in 1862.

==History== Van Buren, a founder of the Democratic Party, purchased the home and approximately {{convert|125|acre}} of land in 1839 for $14,000 (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|14000|1839}}}} today) while he was still president. However, Van Buren did not move into the home until 1841 (after he was defeated for his second term by the Whig candidate William Henry Harrison in 1840). Eventually, his four living sons, Abraham, John, Martin Jr., and Smith, had rooms in the mansion. The home was previously owned by the Van Ness family and was where Washington Irving wrote most of his books ''A History of New York'' and ''Sketch Book''. Irving and Van Buren later became friends.<ref>Jones, Brian Jay. ''Washington Irving: An American Original''. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008: 311. {{ISBN|978-1-55970-836-4}}</ref>

Van Buren ran two United States presidential campaigns from Lindenwald. In 1844, he based his ultimately unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination at the estate. That year, Van Buren lost a hotly contested fight to nominee and eventual President James Knox Polk. In 1848, in opposition to the extension of slavery into territories captured from Mexico as a result of the Mexican–American War, Van Buren ran for president on a third-party ticket (The Free Soil Party), again directing his campaign from Lindenwald. Van Buren's campaign drew enough votes away from the Democratic nominee, Lewis Cass, to allow Whig candidate Zachary Taylor to prevail.

Van Buren named the estate Lindenwald, which is German for "linden forest", after the American Linden (American Basswood or ''Tilia americana'') trees lining the Albany-to-New York Post Road, which is still located in front of the home. The section of the road on the property remains unimproved to this day. Some replanted Linden trees also remain by the side of the road.

Van Buren died at Lindenwald on July 24, 1862. He was 79.

==Recognition== Lindenwald was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv">{{Cite journal|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Lindenwald|url={{NHLS url|id=66000510}} |format=pdf|author=Bronwyn Krog|date=January 31, 1979 |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=66000510|title=Accompanying 31 photos, exterior and interior, various dates.|photos=y}} {{small|(2.79 MiB)}}</ref><ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite report|type=none|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315677 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York NHL Lindenwald|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |author=Bronwyn Krog |date= January 1979| access-date=October 27, 2025 }} ({{NationalArchivesNote}})</ref>

The Martin Van Buren National Historic Site was established on October 26, 1974, and today, Lindenwald is under the care of the National Park Service.

==Today== The site is located on New York State Route 9H, about {{convert|2|mi}} south of Van Buren's hometown of Kinderhook, New York. It includes a visitor center operated by the National Park Service. Access to the Lindenwald mansion is by ranger-guided tour only. The tower cannot be visited due to fire safety codes. The grounds contain educational signs which tell of the history of the estate. During Van Buren's lifetime, the site also contained two gatehouses, a north one and a south one. The north gatehouse was demolished in the 1950s, but today the site is outlined with a stone foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://presidentryan.weebly.com/8-martin-van-buren.html|title=8) Martin Van Buren*|website=Ryan's Presidential Quest}}</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery mode=packed heights=200px > File:Historic American Buildings Survey, Nelson E. Baldwin, Photographer Jan. 16, 1937, View-Southeast Elevation-Lindenwald Home of Martin Van Buren, Kinderhook, N.Y. - Lindenwald, HABS NY,11-KINHO.V,1-1.tif|1937 File:Martin Van Buren, residence in Kinderhook, New York. LOC gsc.5a28121.jpg|1961 File:Lindenwald NY1.jpg|2017 </gallery>

==Further reading== *''Great Houses of the Hudson River'', Michael Middleton Dwyer, editor, with preface by Mark Rockefeller, Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, published in association with Historic Hudson Valley, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8212-2767-X}}.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Lindenwald}} *{{official|https://www.nps.gov/mava/index.htm}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070819110949/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/39vanburen/39vanburen.htm ''Martin Van Buren's "Return to the Soil",'' a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan]  *[http://www.kinderhookconnection.com/history2.htm Kinderhook information] *[http://www.c-span.org/video/?122988-1/life-portrait-martin-van-buren "Life Portrait of Martin Van Buren"], from C-SPAN's ''American Presidents: Life Portraits'', broadcast from the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, May 3, 1999

{{Martin Van Buren}} {{Protected areas of New York}} {{NHLs in NY}}{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}} {{Portal bar|Hudson Valley}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Buren, Martin National Historic Site}} Category:National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) Category:Presidential homes in the United States Category:National Historic Sites in New York (state) Category:Historic house museums in New York (state) Category:Museums in Columbia County, New York Category:Presidential museums in New York (state) Category:Houses in Columbia County, New York Category:National Register of Historic Places in Columbia County, New York Category:Protected areas established in 1974 Category:1974 establishments in New York (state) Category:Martin Van Buren Category:Washington Irving