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The oldest house in all of New York City sits in the otherwise highly urbanized neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn. The small museum is a window back in Brooklyn's history. The 1652 national landmark first housed an indentured servant Dutch family and later the slaves that tilled their fields. The mission of the museum is twofold—to tell the story of early Dutch and English farming life in the U.S. as well as that of the slave experience. A visit to the house can be humbling: Imagine the Wyckoff parents and their 11 children crowded into a one-room house the size of a Manhattan studio. In this room, the children were home-schooled, cider was pressed, and the family huddled on straw-and-seaweed-stuffed beds. Additional English-style rooms were later added and the house has been renovated to its 1820s appearance. Original slave bills of sale on display from the early 1800s are a striking reminder that the North was also greatly culpable in the slave trade. These days, the house offers free educational programs to the local community. — Chris Fichera

A market stand recreating the sustainable farming methods of the house’s original inhabitants sells organic produce and herbs grown in the Wyckoff's own garden on Sunday afternoons from noon to 4 p.m. from June through October.

Note
Access to the house itself is by guided tour only. Tours begin Tue.—Fri. at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.; Sat.—Sun. at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Groups of six or more must make an appointment for a group visit.