Documenting Cultural Landscapes: The French Influence in New Jersey

Abstract

Preservation of the historic landscape may not always be appropriate economically or relevant to society's needs today. Designed landscapes are commonly altered to conform to new styles and uses; or, if left untended, they change very quickly. During the process of change and alteration, documentation of the evolving landscape is essential. Where no evidence remains, the past can be recreated to a certain degree through careful research. Like most of the eastern United States, the dominant landscape heritage of New Jersey was shaped by the English and the Dutch. There were, however, French émigrés who also brought their traditions and landscape values to this area. The powerful influence of seventeenth-century France on the style and taste of Europe was certainly felt in Colonial America and continued into the nineteenth century. This paper surveys that influence and its mark on the New Jersey landscape; furthermore, the need to document important cultural landscapes in greater detail is emphasized.