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Now used as a Buddhist center, the River Road building near the banks of the Hackensack River was once owned by John Ackerman, a descendant of one of America’s earliest settlers.
Records show a granddaughter of the original “acre man,” Davd Ackerman, drowned in the river while playing on the grounds centuries ago. David Ackerman himself is said to have died shortly after arriving here.
This afternoon’s blaze, which firefighters had under control in under two hours, doesn’t appear suspicious, Teaneck Fire Capt. Joe Berchtold said.
It caused heavy fire, smoke, heat and water damage to the first and second floors of a wing of the historic Dutch colonial after it broke out just before 1 p.m., the captain said.
“They not going to be able to inhabit the strucutre until they can get some repairs made,” Berchtold told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this afternoon.
All of Teaneck’s fire companies were at the scene, while mutual aid from nearby towns stood on guard. River Road was closed for the duration while they took care of business.
The sandstone wing where the fire occurred was actually the first part of the house, built, in 1734, records show. The much larger section came decades later.
David Ackerman came to the New World from the Dutch Republic with his wife and six children in November 1662, originally settling in what is now lower Manhattan. His descendents owned and farmed the property until the 1920s, records show.
Later owned by Farleigh Dickinson University, the house was sold to the Buddhists several years ago. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
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