Jefferson Township Museum 315 Dover-Milton Road Oak Ridge, NJ 07438

Jefferson Township Museum 315 Dover-Milton Road Oak Ridge, NJ 07438

Jefferson Township Museum

315 Dover-Milton Road

Oak Ridge, NJ 07438

https://www.jeffersontownship.net/476/Township-Museum

Open: Please check their website for special hours

Admission: Free but donations accepted

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46691-d33122250-Reviews-Jefferson_Township_Historical_Society-Oak_Ridge_New_Jersey.html

The front of the Jefferson Township Museum at 315 Dover Milton Road

The Mission Statement for the Museum:

(from the Museum website)

The George Chamberlain House, known as the Jefferson Township Museum is designed as an interpretation of life in the last quarter of the 1800s. Each room reflects how the Chamberlains, the original family might have lived during that period of time.

The historic sign of the George Chamberlain House

The History of the Museum and of the George Chamberlain House:

(from the museum website)

In the 1870s, Amos Chamberlain, a resident of Milton Village built a second house. His son, George, married Ruth Elizabeth Speaker in 1874 and moved into the new house on Dover-Milton Road. Two children, Raymond and Archie were raised in the house and attended school in the Milton Village. The family was in residence until the 1890’s. For many years afterwards, the house was home to various families who rented from the Chamberlain family.

In 1960 the Chamberlain house was purchased by the Friends of the Library. They began the task of refurbishing the building into a library. For the next nineteen years it functioned as the Violet Riker Library. When the new Jefferson Library was built, the township acquired the building and under the supervision of local resident, Emily Panek renovation began.

With a $15,000 grant and $27,000 raised from the township the renovation began in 1982. Much of the labor was donated. Walls were sandblasted and the chestnut floors were repaired. A large hole in the front door was repaired. The windows were all repaired by hand. The rear left liter broke and water came in through the back wall. After two years of work, the building became the Jefferson Township Museum and home to the Jefferson Township Historical Society. It remained as such with little interior or exterior change until 2005.

The front door of the house

The museum sign

The back of the museum by the stream

The house faces a beautiful woods and stream and has the most amazing views. It must be even nicer when everything is in bloom.

The house gardens in the early Spring

The historic home museum front the street

The historic Milton Village sign

The area that surrounds the house is very small and the original village is mostly gone.

The Dress Collection on display at the museum.

The collection of dresses on display

The day of the Pathways tour for Morris County, the house had members in costume walking around the house explaining the history of the house and family. Each room had its own series of decorations and exhibits. There was garment display all around the house with different types of dresses, hats and jewelry. One member displayed his antique camera collection.

The Clothing Collection with a display of jewelry

The Jewelry and Pocket watch collection

The had a wonderful display of antique costumes jewelry and cameos on display in the case.

Collection of Cameras through the past century

One member displayed his extensive set of cameras and antique photography equipment and was on hand to talk to people about it.

Collections of Antique China and textiles at the museum

Collection of Vintage China and Teapots in the Dining Room of the home

The upstairs bedrooms had a collection of textiles and Millinery

The three upstairs bedrooms had the continued collection of dresses and hats on display.

The antique sewing machine in the upstairs bedrooms

The Collections of Textiles upstairs

Collection of weapons in the bedroom

The collection of Costumes and Millenary

The wonderful little museum was packed with all sorts of wonderful things to see. Each of the rooms are decorated with vintage furniture and period decorations on top of the displays of clothing and textiles so there is a lot to see in the house.

The docents could not have been nicer or more welcoming that afternoon. The museum is only open at certain times of the month so you need to watch their social media to see when the museum is open.

One thought on “Jefferson Township Museum 315 Dover-Milton Road Oak Ridge, NJ 07438”

Leave a comment