Mission Statement

The mission of the Oakland Historical Society is to preserve and help maintain the history of the Borough of Oakland by preserving especially the Van Allen House site, with the Vygeberg Farm Office Building, and by keeping there a museum showing information and relics of Oakland's past.

During the year we try to offer opportunities for people to visit the Van
Allen House to experience how local life was in the 18th Century on a farm settlement in northern New Jersey. The Lenni-Lenape Indians are known to have used the path which followed the Ramapo River Valley north and south, and has now become an interstate roadway, Route 202, which goes from Maine south into Maryland and beyond. The site also has a building from 1902, built by Edward Page, one of the industrialists who settled along Rt. 202 to develop agriculture for the growing cities of Northern New Jersey, such as Paterson. Copies of letters George Washington wrote there are available at the house during open-houses, usually the 4th Sunday afternoon many months during the year. Please check our events page to see when the house will be opened.