During the Annual Sussex County Heritage Weekend, one of the first stops I made was to the Franklin Heritage Museum in Downtown Franklin, NJ. The museum was the house in one of the offices of the mining company. The museum was a glimpse into community’s mining past and how it shaped this area of the State of New Jersey.
The museum sign out front
The museum building was the old New Jersey Zinc Company ‘Time Office’. This meant that the miners had to punch into their shift at the mine through this building. The old turnstile is to the right of the building.
History of the Franklin Historical Society:
(From the museum pamphlet)
The Franklin Historical Society was organized and incorporated in September 1996 as a non-profit all volunteer education association. It was founded to preserve the heritage of the Franklin Borough to create awareness of both the County and Borough of Franklin and its rich history of culture and ethnic heritage.
The Historical Society’s Museum is located at 95 Main Street in the historic Franklin Mill complex of the former New Jersey Zinc Company.
The Heritage Museum was opened to the public in April 1997 and its displays include:
Iron and Zinc Mining
Railroads
Franklin’s Churches and Schools
Franklin’s Local History
The sign for the old New Jersey Zinc Company ‘Time Office’ historical sign
The history of the Franklin Mine and its place in New Jersey history
The smaller gallery off to the side of the building concentrates on the history of the NJ Mining industry and the many mining areas in Sussex County.
The room contains all sorts of artifacts related to the industry including both pictures and everyday equipment.
The pictures of all the miners at the company
The Mining Gallery
The Mining Gallery with equipment and artifacts for a day of working in the mines
Artifacts from home and work
This gallery was in transition with the volunteers working on the displays. This side of the museum with be on the local NJ Zinc Mine Company and its history.
The main gallery in the old Main Office space
The main gallery of the museum has a mixture of more mining artifacts and town objects that cover the history of the town.
The ‘250th Anniversary exhibition of the town and its mining past
For the ‘250th Celebration’ of our country, the museum created an interesting display of the formation of the community around the mining industry to its growth today.
The Mining and Equipment display
Community artifacts
Pictures of the police and fire department’s in this small mining community
The museum’s main emphasis is on the development of the mining industry both its early development up until when the mines closed in the 1980’s. The display above is on the early mining tools used by the workers.
The Mineral display
What I found interesting was all the minerals that are on display and the glow in the dark components that make these rocks special. When the lights go out, the true magic begins.
The old turnstile to enter the mining compound before the start of the shift
The back of the museum behind the fencing and the weeds, is the entrance to the old mines. Both the entrance building and entrance to the mine has been closed off for years but you can still see behind the fencing. This is the old turnstile off to the side of the building where the miners entered the complex.
Across the street from the museum is the old Hungarian Reformed Church, which is planned to be renovated.
The sign for the church
The old Hungarian church
Down the road from the downtown area where the museum is located is the Franklin Furnace Park, which is a beautiful picturesque park situated around a lake.
All along the highway facing the park and in the park itself was the most beautiful and colorful foliage. Plan to visit the park after the museum for a colorful and relaxing break.
The foliage around the park in early October
The lake view of the park from the highway
The views from every angle of the park are breathtaking.
The view from inside the park and the footbridge to the island
The view of the park from south of the park
A view of the islands in the park
A view of the islands and the foliage
The islands and the foliage in the beginning part of October
The small center pine island
Traveling back down the road back to Route 23 South to continue my tour of museums
The view of the islands to the north in the lake
The view of the lakes from the south
The view of the foliage from the south
For a small town, Franklin offered such an interesting look at this part of New Jersey’s mining past and its transition from a mining industry to tourism based around the mines. The series of museums and cultural sites offers so much for visitors to see and experience.
A start at the Franklin Heritage Museum offers a glimpse into that past and as the museum keeps developing their exhibits will tell that story to visitors.
The Morgan Farmhouse at the Morgan Farm Museum, the headquarters of the Cedar Grove Historical Society
The museum sign just off Route 23 South
The farm property the day of the Fall Pumpkin & Apple sale and Open House
I recently visited the Morgan Farm and Museum one Saturday afternoon in the Fall and was surprised to find that they were hosting their Annual Pumpkin & Apple Sale, which has been a tradition on the property since the last owners of the farm, the Morgan family did this every Fall.
It was a lot of fun. The Society members were selling pumpkins and apples, baked goods like Cider doughnuts and cookies (completely sold out by the time I got there), Apple Cider and clothing products. On the farm land there was a petting zoo, picture taking by the Pumpkin Patch and tours of the house. The tour of the house was very interesting in that their docents to assist you on each floor to explain the family dynamic. It was a wonderful afternoon and a enjoyable family event.
The sign of Route 23 South for the Pumpkin & Apple Sale
The History of the Pumpkin and Apple Sale at the Morgan Farm Museum:
(from the museum pamphlet)
Each year the Cedar Grove Historical Society holds a Pumpkin and Apple Sale in honor of Edith Morgan and her son Courtenay Morgan. In the Fall of each year, the Morgan’s sold pumpkins and apples in the front of the Morgan farmhouse. The pumpkins were grown on the farm but the apples came from northern New Jersey. Mrs. Morgan passed away in 1961 but Courtenay, the last farmer in Cedar Grove, continued the tradition until his death in 1985 at the age of 86. The Historical Society continues that tradition each October.
Courtenay left his property to the Township of Cedar Grove with the stipulations that the Township create a park for passive recreation and that the Historical Society create a museum to preserve the history of Cedar Grove. Our pumpkins and apples are from the Chester area. Today the Historical Society’s home is the Morgan Museum located in the Morgan farmhouse. The Township created the J. Courtenay Morgan Park on the property.
The farm’s old barn now used as a meeting place and gift shop
History of the Morgan’s Farm and Museum:
(from the Museum pamphlet)
The Cedar Grove Historical Society welcomes you to Morgan’s Farm & Museum and the Canfield-Morgan House. The guide explains why Morgan’s Farm is unique and leads you to points of interest that you may want to explore.
The Morgan’s Farm is a fourteen acre site that was farmed continuously from the mid-1800’s until 1985. In 1985, Courtenay Morgan donated the farm to the Township of Cedar Grove. This portion of the farm is a park managed by the Township while the farmhouse and other buildings are operated as a museum and education center by the Cedar Grove Historical Society.
The Cedar Grove Historical Society maintains a wonderful collection of agricultural tools and equipment that reflect farming methods over a period of one hundred years. Items on display in the Canfield-Morgan House includes letters, photographs, clothing, furniture and other objects that show us how people lived during the early 1900’s.
The Family History:
(from the Museum pamphlet)
Benjamin Canfield built the farmhouse sometime around 1845 for his family. The Canfields were typical, hardworking farmers who were respected for the quality of their produce. They grew corn, apples, melons and other crops which they sold in the Newark and Paterson markets. The Canfield family farmed the land until 1910 when James and Edith Morgan bought the property James Morgan was an advertising executive who commuted by rail to New York City.
Mr. Morgan was passionate about farming and he worked hard to learn the latest farming methods. he experimented with the different types of crops until tuberculosis took his life in 1920. After Mr. Morgan died, Edith and her son, Courtenay struggled to keep the farm operating. They were well known locally for the vegetable and fruit stand they operated off the front porch.
Long before the Canfield and Morgan families lived here, the Lenape Indians used the site as temporary camp. Courtenay Morgan found many Native American tools as he plowed the fields. These artifacts are now preserved by the Cedar Grove Historical Society. A portion of the Lenape Trail passes through Morgan’s Farm.
The front parking lot of the farm property and the Pumpkin Patch
The inside Barn gift shop was selling apples, pumpkins, gourds, apple cider and doughnuts. By the time I got there, there was not much left. The Society even sells their own honey.
The barn from across the gardens near the farmhouse
The History of the Barn:
(from the Museum pamphlet)
The barns that you see behind the Canfield-Morgan House today were reconstructed by the Cedar Grove Historical Society in 1994 because they were had badly deteriorated. While the center of the barn is not as high as it once was, it has its original foundation and looks much like it did in 1910. This barn was probably used to house livestock at one time. On the west side of the main barn is a structure that once was a carriage house with a small apartment on the second floor for hired help. At some point, possibly in 1911, the second floor was removed. The shed on the east side was used to shelter livestock and later to store farm machinery.
There was all sorts of fun activities for families and especially the kids with a Pumpkin Patch, games and a Petting Zoo plus tours of the house.
The entrance to the Pumpkin Patch offered kids a chance to take pictures and pick the perfect pumpkin to make a Jack O Lantern
The Pumpkin Patch was perfect for picture taking
The pumpkin decorations in the Pumpkin Patch
The were plenty of places where the kids could take pictures with all sorts of characters of ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night
Halloween is on its way
I loved the small Petting Zoo that they had set up. There was a baby cow, a baby pig, ducks and chickens.
The Petting Zoo
The baby cow was really friendly
The ducks were walking around their pen
The baby pig ran around his pen as well
The highlight of the afternoon was touring the old Morgan Farmhouse, which was furnished with family antiques and heirlooms, plus artifacts from the community of Cedar Grove, NJ.
The back of the house facing the barn
The History of the House and Barn:
The Canfield-Morgan House looks much like it did after Benjamin Canfield finished building it in the mid-1800’s. The modern kitchen and the accessible porch and bathroom are the most visible changes. The size and character of the house are typical of a traditional farmhouse. The features of the French windows in the front parlor and a wide entrance hall suggest that the Canfield’s were interested in current fashion and design of homes. A cistern under the kitchen floor stored water that was collected in gutters and piped into the cistern.
The gardens have many flowers such as daylilies, akebia, peonies, roses and quince that were planted by Edith Morgan and continued to bloom in the garden. The Morgan family added pergolas to the garden in 1911 and grew honeysuckle to cover them.
The fields of the farm is a variety of crops were planted in fields east of the park and south of the farmhouse. Crops included everything from tomatoes to pumpkins and apples. The Canfield family grew corn on what is now the front lawn. While these crops are no longer grown on Morgan’s Farm, the fields remain open space.
The Cedar Grove Historical Society sign on entering the house
The entrance to the house through the main hallway. The original part of the house was built in the 1700’s with an addition which added these rooms in the mid 1800’s. This is the newer side of the house.
The tour of the house was on my own but there were plenty of docents from the Society to explain each room. There were all sorts family furnishings and heirlooms of the Morgan family that were donated when this became a museum. The Society keeps the home in immaculate shape and its looks like the family still lives here and off for the day, letting us see a glimpse into their home.
The Living Room/Music Room
The corner of the Living Room and Music Room
Mr. Morgan’s desk in the home
The antique musical instruments in the collection
The Cedar Grove Music Association in 1900
The Morgan family photos from the family’s private collection, now part of the museum
The Morgan family portrait
Gail Morgan Chandler as a young girl
The Reception and Recreation Room next to the Living Room
Some of the family decorative pieces on display
Across the hall from the Living Room is the Dining Room that displays the home’s baking and serving pieces and some of the family China.
The Dining Room of the farmhouse
You can also see how the fireplace served as not just conversation but as the heat source as being part of the original section of the home.
The Morgan Dining Room
The formally set Dining Room table
The fireplace was the source of heat on the original 1700’s section of the home
Family baking and cooking equipment on display in the Dining Room
Family China and serving pieces on display in the Dining Room
Along the stairs on the way to the seconds floor is lined with all sorts of family and community artifacts.
The stairs to the second floor
The library in the house and a display of hats at the staircase landing
The second floor contained these rooms bedrooms and the museum offices , which were located in the old bedroom loft of the original 1700’s house.
Mr. and Mrs. Morgan’s bedroom at the end of the hall
Mrs. Morgan’s bedroom vanity with some personal items from the Morgan family
Mrs. Morgan’s desk
A small doll by the bed
Mr. James W. Morgan
Mrs. Edith Louise Potter-Morgan
The Morgan children when they were young
The second bedroom was being used as a gallery for local artifacts either found or donated from Cedar Grove. This included old pictures of buildings and homes in the community, Native American artifacts, clothing and uniforms and everyday items.
The second floor Artifact Gallery
The display of local artifacts
The Native American display
Display of local artifacts
Artwork by local artists
The pictures of local hospitals and medical centers
The pictures of local historical houses
When I was through touring the house, I went back outside to join the rest of the visitors, who were picking out pumpkins on the lawn.
The back part of the estate
What I like about the Morgan Farm Museum is that it is not just about walking around an old house, it is about experiencing someone’s life story.
I also got to see how the community of Cedar Grove grew from the farming community it once was to the bedroom community of New York City it is today.
The Morgan family dealt with quite a blow with the death of Mr. Morgan but is son took control and built the farm up to what the museum it is today. A living breathing example of turn of the last century ingenuity and determination and created a successful business that we can all share in today.
The front of the Vineland Historical Society Museum at 108 South Seventh Street in Downtown Vineland, NJ
On my off time from the Firemen’s Convention after voting, I decided to visit a group of small museums in Cumberland and Glouster Counties in New Jersey. Most of the small ones were closed or had changed their hours online but the Vineland Historical Society was open for touring and was having a speaker that day. I had been invited to come by the President of their Board of Directors about a year earlier so I was glad that I was able to visit this weekend where the schedules matched up.
What an interesting museum with its focus not just on the history of the Town of Vineland but of the surrounding communities and the impact that Vineland had and has on Urban Design, Farming, Manufacturing and Inventions that contribute to the whole country.
The museum had been designed as a Historical Museum for community leaders who wanted to share their love of historical objects and the past history of the community. This is what built the collection over the years. Each section of the museum tells a different part of Vineland’s history from the community events like its “100th Anniversary” of the town, the history of the Police, Fire and Veterans of Foreign Wars, members of the community who contributed to Women’s Suffrage and to the number of everyday products we use like Grape Juice and Marshmallow Fluff that were invented here. Each section of the museum tells an interesting story.
About the Museum:
The museum is a stop on the Woman’s Suffrage Tour
The Mission of the Museum:
The Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society is the oldest local historical society in New Jersey and its museum is the oldest purpose-built museum in the State of New Jersey. The Society is dedicated to collecting and preserving artifacts and records related to Vineland and the South Jersey region, and to sharing that material with visitors through exhibits, programs and other appropriate venues. Vineland has a rich, culturally-diverse past that is reflected through our collections. To learn more, please contact us or make an appointment to visit.
The Rain Garden outside the museum
The Rain Water Garden sign
The Rain Water Garden outside the museum was in full bloom at the Summer and you could see that the garden was trying to attract butterflies and other insects that would help pollinize the garden. It must be very colorful during the Spring.
The first floor of the museum is the lecture room, the library and the gift shop along with local artifacts and the Glass Manufactured Gallery
The main gallery was set for a lecture later that afternoon. On all sides of the museum tell the story and the timeline of Vineland and the surrounding communities. There is the City of Vineland and Vineland Borough and Landis Township in 1952. So you see the artifacts of the farming communities and those of the developing City (Wiki).
The early views of the museum with the original heating unit and turn of the century shell art
Historical community information
The First floor collection of artifacts
The bust of Charles K. Landis, who founded the town
The display of the early Women’s Suffrage Movement in town, which helped women earn the right to vote. New Jersey was an early pioneer in the Movement.
The photo of Portia Kellogg Chase, an early leader in the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Vineland, NJ
Made in Vineland: A Celebration of Local Inventors and Their Creations:
The exhibition highlights the remarkable people and ideas born right here in Vineland. From everyday household items to groundbreaking innovations in transportation, food, tools, and telecommunications, this special 2026 exhibit tells the stories of local inventors whose creations shaped daily life far beyond our city. Visitors are invited to explore these inventions and the fascinating individuals behind them during our Open House held every third Saturday of the month.
The ‘Made in Vineland’ exhibition:
The inventions of the Flower vase, the Woodruff Train Car and the Self Adjusted Plane
The inventions of Angel Food Cake Marshmallow fluff
The inventions of the Grape Juice industry and Skee-ball game
The post office desk from the turn of the last century
Just off the side of the main room is the Blown Glass Room. The area is known for special sand that is used for glass making. This made the State of New Jersey one of the leading manufacturers of glass in the country at the time.
Each of the cases displays glass for different purposes and for different industries made by different companies. The museum has a very extensive collection of glass.
The Blown Glass Room
The Blown Glass Room
The Blown Glass Room
The Grape Juice industry glass and advertising display
The Empire State Railway Museum is housed in the historic, restored Phoenicia Railway Station, which was built in 1899 and example of the stations built by the Ulster & Delaware Railroad.
From the 1800’s through the 1940’s, the steam locomotives of the Ulster & Delaware climbed the mountain grades bound for the grand hotels and boarding houses of the Catskills. The trains carried thousands of passengers over the years. This transportation system was instrumental in the region becoming famous. All the trains stopped at the Phoenicia Station. Beside the passenger trains, there were many freight trains carrying lumber, blue stone, dairy and agricultural products bound for New York City and beyond.
The History of the Museum:
(From the museum website)
Founded in 1960 and then moved to Phoenicia in 1983. The historic Phoenicia Station, built in 1899, allow visitors to view the three interior rooms of the building. Enjoy the unique architecture of the Waiting Room with its framed artwork, photographs and artifacts on display. Step into the Agent’s Office and view the diorama with the HO-scaled layout of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad as it was in the early 1900s, plus several other dioramas and antique telegraph equipment (The Empire State Railway Museum website).
The front of the museum station
The welcoming sign to the Museum in the Summer of 2026
The Mission of the Museum:
The Empire State Railway Museum’s mission is to preserve the history of the Catskill Mountain and surrounding railroads and their impact on our culture, society, economy and communities through education, interpretation, restoration and preservation of not only railroad records, photographs, equipment, cars and locomotives, but also that of the personal histories and recollections of those involved with and affected by the railroads (Empire State Railway Museum website).
The Rail Explorers Building
When I visited the museum for the first time, I started with a tour of the grounds where the tracks are still being used for recreation purposes by the bike business that runs on the tracks next to the museum.
The railway on the museum’s grounds
I then toured the caboose that has been restored and displayed outside where the trains used arrive from the City. The museum did a nice job with the restoration showing was life was like on the train lines back at the turn of the last century.
The caboose car at the museum
The caboose car was acquired recently is from the Leigh Valley, PA line and is from the 1940’s (Museum pamphlet).
The inside of the caboose
The view from the back of the caboose
The cooking area of the caboose
The views from the caboose of the railways
I then toured the barn where train cars were being restored. This was fascinating. The volunteers are restoring all these train pieces back to their original glory with a small staff of volunteers.
The barn where the train cars are being restored and renovated
The cars being renovated
The front of the locomotive
Fixing the locomotive equipment
The sides of the cars being restored
It was fascinating to see how these train cars were being cared for by a small army of people and for the many hours it takes to care for these train pieces.
The inside of the museum and the building once served as the train station bringing people from the City to the Hudson River Valley for recreation and tourism to the Grand Hotels. The original waiting room has a rustic opened ended look about it and still looks like it is ready to welcome people from the early 1900’s.
The inside of the old train station that serves as the gallery
I love how elaborate the main Waiting Room was with the dark woods and rustic appearance, which must have fascinated visitors to the hotels when they arrived.
The history of the train station
The hallway that leads to waiting rooms and the old offices
The artifacts from railways
The sides of the museum displayed all sorts of artifacts that would have been used on the lines for maintenance and construction. There is all sorts of lanterns and lights on the tables and shelves.
The train artifacts
Lanterns, spikes and oil cans used on the rail lines
The lanterns used on the rail lines by workers at the station
The signal lights used on the train lines
All around the museum, the history of the area is told in pictures from the turn of the last century. People arriving to the area, the construction of the rail lines, the development of the Grand Resorts and the functions of the trains. It was an interesting history of the affects of the railroads on rural areas.
The development on three rail industry in the area
The construction of the Ashoken Reservoir
The Grand Hotels that brought tourism to the area
The area once boast the Grand Hotels of the Catskills long before air travel. Once upon a time, this was only accessible to the wealthy by carriage but with the coming of the railroads, opened these resorts up to a larger clientele. The famous Mountain House Hotel and others are featured in this display.
A video discussions on the tools to repair the rails
Rail and tourism artifacts from the era
In the center of the museum, there was a display case of many artifacts used in the rail service. All sorts of tools of the trade, functions of the rails and memoribilia are displayed in these cases.
The museum artifacts in the displays cases
The display of the rail cars and movements
Servicing the railroad
The deeds and business of the railroad
The workings of the railroads
The old Brake Stand of the rail yard on display
Off to the side of the old Waiting Room was the Conductor’s old office, which was now another gallery of model trains. The displays showcased the old railroads and have all sorts of artifacts on the Conductor’s old office and life at the station.
The Conductor’s old office now the Model Train Room
The model of the old railways
The Conductor’s old desk
A picture of the old station
The pot belly stove that kept him warm in the colder months
At the end of the tour is a small gift shop and information area of other cultural sites to visit. There is all sorts of information about the area and other cultural sites in the area.
The Gift Shop
The information area
The museum is an interesting look at travel after the Civil War until after WWII when the area opened up to automobiles. Jet travel in the 1960’s changed the area again as families left these grand hotels and traveled to places like Florida and the Caribbean.
It is an interesting peek at the past and the volunteers really showcase all their restoration work.
