Van Vorst Homestead
Northeast corner of Wayne Street and Jersey Avenue

Cornelius Van Vorst, a sixth generation namesake of the 17th century Jersey City patriarch Cornelius Van Vorst and the son of Lt. Colonel Cornelius Van Vorst, most probably built the Van Vorst homestead, which once stood near Wayne Street and Jersey Avenue.

The homestead was located on a farm west of the Paulus Hook tract and south of Newark Avenue that was part of the family inheritance. The date of construction is unknown. Van Vorst, who most likely spent his childhood at the ancestral Van Vorst House adjacent to Harsimus Cove, did not abide in this farmhouse for very long.

His land holdings included property at the present south side of Wayne Street. Here his brother-in-law, Dr. William Barrow, bought the property and built two mansions in the 1830s. Dr. Barrow lived at No. 83 (see Barrow Mansion) and Cornelius Van Vorst lived at No. 89. One may infer that the reason for Van Vorst to relocate from the family homestead to the new residence on Wayne Street was that his wife and Dr. Barrow's wife were sisters. Cornelius Van Vorst died in 1852. His second child, also named Cornelius (born March 7, 1822), was one of eight children and became a mayor of Jersey City (1860-1862).

The house at 89 Wayne Street was razed in the late 1940s or 1950s.

Reference:

Winfield, Charles H. History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey. New York: Kennard
& Hay Printing Company, 1874.