The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1970, for its significance in architecture and military history.

[7] The Steuben Estate Complex, a 6-acre (2.4 ha) national historic district, was listed on December 9, 1980, for its significance in architecture, exploration/settlement, and invention.

At a place known originally as Aschatking (where the river narrows), about ten miles (16 km) above the head of Newark Bay, a Swedish land-clearer named Cornelius Mattyse acquired 420 acres (1.7 km2) at the juncture of Tantaqua's Creek (Cole's Brook) and the Hackensack River, in 1682.

This mill got its power from an artificial pond: the high tide was trapped in the mouth of Cole's Brook by a dam with a special drop-gate, suspended from a horizontal timber.

The Jersey Dutch also adopted the gambrel roof to span the depth of a house that was one-and-a-half to two rooms deep.

Iron made in stone furnaces along the Ramapo Mountains was carried in ox-carts to New Bridge Landing where it was loaded onto sloops, some as large as 50 ton, for shipment to market.

This location had an added advantage: because of the wide Hackensack Meadowlands downstream, New Bridge remained the nearest river crossing to Newark Bay until 1790.

Overland traffic including farm wagons and stage coaches, going to and from New York City, crossed the river at this spot on their way into the interior parts of the country.

While a constant arena for conflict, the following significant Revolutionary War events are associated with Historic New Bridge Landing: The State of New Jersey confiscated the stone mansion from Jan Zabriskie, a Loyalist, in 1781.

His aide-de-camp, Captain Benjamin Walker, resided there, operating the mill and river dock in partnership with Jan Zabriskie.

The Bergen County Historical Society continued stewardship of the site by purchase of land between the Steuben House and the encroaching autoparts yard in 1944.

Three additional buildings were moved onto the adjacent property of the Bergen County Historical Society, a private non-profit volunteer organization.