Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park [NJ]

Description

With its 19th-century bridges, bridgetender houses, past and present locks, cobblestone spillways, and hand-built stone-arched culverts, the canal is a tremendous attraction for history lovers. The upper reach of the feeder canal wanders through New Jersey towns along the Delaware River such as Stockton and Lambertville. The main canal passes the Port Mercer canal house, through the village of Griggstown to Blackwells Mills, ending up in New Brunswick. Most of the old canal system remains intact today and is a reminder of the days when the delivery of freight depended upon a team of mules or steam tugboats. Nearly 36 miles of the main canal and 22 miles of the feeder canal still exist, with many historic structures along the canal.

A second website for the park can be found here.

The park offers tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Camden County Historical Society, Pomona Hall, and Museum [NJ]

Description

The Camden County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Camden County, New Jersey. To this end, the society operates a 20,000 volume library, the circa 1788 Georgian-style Pomona Hall, and a museum. Pomona Hall offers a glimpse of daily life following the Revolutionary War. The museum presents 300 years of area history, including exhibits on weaving, farming, education, blacksmithing, and transportation.

The society offers research library access, a traveling trunk, and school outreach presentations. Pomona Hall offers period rooms, open hearth cooking demonstrations, spinning demonstrations for students, and student tours. The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, and student tours. Payment of a fee is required for non-members to use the research library.

Old Dutch Parsonage and Wallace House [NJ]

Description

The parsonage was built in 1751 and first occupied by Reverend John Frelinghuysen, who came from Amsterdam to serve three congregations of the Dutch Reform church in the upper Raritan Valley. The second occupant of the Parsonage, the Reverend Jacob Hardenbergh, founded Queens College in 1766 while residing in the house. While living at the Dutch Parsonage, Hardenbergh sold 95 acres of land and a small farmhouse to John Wallace, a Philadelphia fabric importer and merchant. Between 1775 and 1776, Wallace purchased an additional 12 acres of land and built an eight-room Georgian style mansion adjoining part of the existing farmhouse. It was the largest house built in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. Naming his estate "Hope Farm," Wallace intended the property to be his country seat and place of retirement.

The site offers tours.

Minisink Valley Historical Society and the Fort Decker Museum of History [NY]

Description

The Minisink Valley Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of the Minisink Valley which stretches across New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. To this end, the society operates the Fort Decker Museum of History. The structure was originally built in 1760 as a defensive center against Native American attack and as a trading post.

The society offers archival access, exhibits, and 50-minute outreach slide presentations. Appointments are required for archival access. Slide presentation topics include author Stephen Crane, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, artist John Newton Howitt, cemetery history, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the bluestone industry. The website offers a small collection of music and historical photographs.

Rockingham [NJ]

Description

Rockingham is believed to be the second oldest house in the Millstone River valley, its original construction dating between 1702 and 1710. Jedidiah Higgins, one of the earliest settlers in the Rocky Hill–Kingston area, is credited with building the house. In 1783, while the Continental Congress was meeting at Nassau Hall in nearby Princeton, Congress rented this house from the widow of Judge John Berrien for use by General George Washington from August 23 to November 10, 1783. Martha Washington joined him at Rockingham.

A second website for the site can be found here.

The site offers tours, exhibits, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Grover Cleveland Birthplace [NJ]

Description

In 1837, Grover Cleveland was born in this house while his father, the Reverend Richard Falley Cleveland, was the minister to the First Presbyterian Church of Caldwell. Most of the first floor rooms portray the house as it was in 1837. Among the artifacts on display from Cleveland's early years are his cradle and original family portraits. The exhibit gallery features a striking display of artifacts that reflect the financial and political success Cleveland achieved during the last quarter of the 19th century. Here, the mud-slinging campaign of 1884, the public's intense interest in his wife and children, and America's political climate throughout his split terms of office are explored.

The site offers tours, exhibits, educational programs, and research library access.

Cumberland County Historical Society and Museums [NJ]

Description

The Cumberland County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Cumberland County, NJ. To this end, the society operates the Gibbon House Museum, John DuBois Maritime Museum, Reba and Warren Lummis Genealogical and Historical Research Library, and Cumberland County Prehistorical Museum. The John DuBois Maritime Museum presents Southern Jersey 19th- and 20th-century maritime history. Collections include caulking tools, rigging apparatus, shipwrights' tools, and builders' models. The Cumberland County Prehistorical Museum presents local ancient history, as well as more recent Native American history. Collections include Native American artifacts and fossils. Native American groups discussed include the Clovis, Lenape, Little Siconese, Sewapose, and Alloway.

The society offers exhibits, group tours, fourth and fifth grade educational programs, student tours, research library access, research assistance, hearthside cooking classes, and monthly continuing education classes. The John DuBois Maritime Museum is open by appointment only. A fee is charged for research assistance. At least two weeks notice is required for all school visits. The website offers pre- and post-visit activity suggestions.

Allamuchy Mountain State Park and Waterloo Village [NJ]

Description

Waterloo Village takes the visitor through time from a 400-year old Lenape (Delaware) Indian village to a bustling port along the once prosperous Morris Canal. This early 19th-century restored village contains a working mill complex with gristmills and sawmills, a general store, blacksmith shop, and several historic houses.

The site offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Liberty Hall Museum [NJ]

Description

The Liberty Hall Museum at Kean University is the former home of New Jersey's first elected governor, William Livingston, who is also notable for being a signer of the US Constitution. The home was originally built as a 14-room Georgian style home, and has since grown into a 50-room Victorian mansion. The site houses extensive collections of antique furniture and historical artifacts owned by the seven generations of Livingston and Kean families who have since owned the home.

The home offers guided tours, special events, and field trip programs. The website offers a history of the home, an events calendar, and visitor information.

Howell Historical Society and Museums [NJ]

Description

The Howell Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Howell Township, New Jersey. To this end, the society operates the Old Ardena Schoolhouse and MacKenzie Museum. The museum and accompanying research library are located within a circa 1807-1855 structure. The schoolhouse dates to circa 1855.

The society offers exhibits, research library access, activities, and tours of the Old Ardena Schoolhouse. The schoolhouse is open to the public the last Sunday of each month.