Named after Moses and Lucinda Van Slyke who built the farmhouse in 1860, The Van Slyke House exhibits distinctive features of the Greek Revival style of the upright and wing type and retains numerous period historic features.
In November 2021, the Van Slyke House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its Greek Revival Architecture
The Van Slyke House, located in the Town of German Flatts, Herkimer County, New York, has been noted as an excellent example of simple Greek Revival architecture. The farmhouse is an approximate 1470 square feet, one-and-a-half-story, upright and wing, wood clapboard structure with a metal roof. A one-story wing extends to the east with a full-length porch. To the east of the wing is an enclosed porch built in 1900. When the house was moved in 1953, it was built into a hill and the foundation includes a full basement and garage under the enclosed porch.
Known and distinguished as Lot 43 of the German Flatts (Burnetsfield) Patent
The Van Slyke House is situated on a 57-acre site of wooded land on the ancestral lands of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk people). The lot is long from north to south with the house at an elevation of 482 ft in the approximate center of the lot’s width just south of the northern border. The length of the lot goes up in elevation to approximately 1082 ft. The northern border of the parcel is along State Route 5S while the east, west, and southern boundaries are consistent with the Burnetsfield Patent borders established in the patent.
The Kanienʼkehá꞉ka homeland included the north eastern region of present day New York State extending into Canada and Vermont. Known as the “Keepers of the Eastern Door” The Kanienʼkehá꞉ka lived throughout today’s Mohawk Valley. Many area towns, villages, rivers and land formations have names that originated with the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka.
We acknowledge that the Van Slyke House is located on the ancestral lands of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka. We honor all Hodinöhsö:ni’ through our stewardship of the land. We value the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka connection to this valley and offer our respect to Hodinöhsö:ni’ ancestors, past and present.
The Burnetsfield, or German Flatts Patent as it is also known, contained a 9,400 acre parcel of land originally purchased from Kanienʼkehá꞉ka members of the Ongweh’onweh Hodinöhsö:ni’ with the deed dated July 9, 1722. That the British Board of Trade and advised Governor Burnet to “grant to each of the said persons, man, woman and child, as are desirous to settle within the limits of the said tract of land the quantity of 100 acres.”
In 1725, Lot 43 was approximately 102 acres, extending from its present southern boundary to the south bank of the Mohawk River. The flat portion of the land was extremely fertile and ideal for farming and dairy.