Category: Exploring Dover, NJ

Dover Area Historical Society/Dr. Condict House 55 West Blackwell Street Dover, NJ 07801

Dover Area Historical Society/Dr. Condict House 55 West Blackwell Street Dover, NJ 07801

Dover Area Historical Society/Dr. Condict House

55 West Blackwell Street

Dover, NJ 07801

(973) 361-3525

https://www.dovernjhistory.org/

https://www.facebook.com/p/Dover-Area-Historical-Society-100064333946339/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46397-d27043890-Reviews-Dover_Area_Historical_Society-Dover_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html

The Dover Area Historical Society at 55 West Blackwell Street

I visited the museum on a private tour during Memorial Day and got to see all three floors of the former doctor’s home, Dr. Condict, whose practice was once on the first floor of the home.

Several rooms in the house on the second and third floors of the old home were going through renovations when I was visiting or exhibitions were going to be remounted, so the museum was in transition when I visited.

The first floor of the museum was dedicated to the town history with exhibitions of the Army/Navy members of the community for Memorial Day.

There was an exhibit of the historical buildings that line the downtown area and the neighborhood surrounding the downtown.

There were pictures of local leaders of the past and an exhibition by local painter, Bea Cook

Artist Bea Cook’s biography

The collection of the art from the artist on what Dover, NJ looked like during the early part of the last century. She gives a creative look at the day to day life of people whose lives started to change after the opening of the Morris Canal and affluence started to take hold in this former farming community.

A painting of Downtown Dover in the 1800’s

Local leaders and the former Mayor of Dover

The former foyer by the front door of the house held a local uniform and pictures lines the walls of what the downtown looked like in the late 1800’s to the 1920’s.

The display for Memorial Day Weekend in May 2025

The Grandfather clock in the foyer with its beautiful celestial details.

The foyer and the stairs leading to the second floor are lined with photos of Dover through the last 100 years.

Photos of former businesses that once lined the downtown area

The upstairs galleries are lined with pictures on the growth of the town with the opening of the Morris Canal and the moving of crops and consumer goods from the rural areas to the cities like New York City and Newark.

The main gallery on the second floor of the history of the growth of the community is organized with pictures and artifacts of the era.

The growth of the community with the coming of the canal

The second floor galleries are filled with items displaying the rapidly changing community. As the more products were being sold to the cities, that affluence translated living in this area of the state.

The changes of the town with the opening of the canal and immigration to the area.

The second floor Library of town records and community information was being organized when I visited.

The history of the Dover Fire Department was on display on the second floor

https://www.dover.nj.us/cn/webpage.cfm?tpid=3460

The history of the Dover Police Department was also on display

https://www.dover.nj.us/cn/webpage.cfm?tpid=2386

Local organizations artifacts on display on the second floor

The second floor also displayed Dr.Condent’s daughter’s room and memorabilia from her life in this house.

Family artifacts on display in Dr. Condict daughter, Dorothy’s old bedroom

The display of Dorothy Condict Rogers bedroom in her former home

https://www.newspapers.com/article/rutland-daily-herald-obituary-for-doroth/42052305/

Family items in the bedroom

On the third floor of the home, there are two rooms under renovation, one of which will be dedicated to the growing Hispanic population of the current community and their contributions to the town.

The other room right now is dedicated to the high school marching band and many artifacts from over the years.

High school history and pictures

History of the area

The Dover Area Historical Society:

As I headed back down, I read the history of the town and of the Dover Area Historical Society.

The history of the Society

More town artifacts on the first floor

The History of the Dover Area Historical Society:

(From the Dover Area Historical Society website)

The Dover Area Historical Society had its origin on May 4, 1966 when Mr. Willy Pederson called a special meeting at town hall for any citizens interested in local history. Fifteen people were at the first meeting and from this nucleus the society was born. The society was incorporated as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization named the Dover Historical Association. The name was changed to the Dover Area Historical Society in 1967.

From the very beginning, a museum location would be a problem. Two different store front locations were tried in the downtown, but abandon a short time later. The Johnson Storage Building on East Blackwell Street, the second oldest building in Dover at the time, dating back to before the Civil War, was being considered when Dover General Hospital offered the Bonnieview Estate located next to the hospital.

The Bonnieview mansion was built in 1876 for Alpheus Beemer and his wife Margaret. Mr. Beemer established a silk mill and Hurd Park and was the founder of the Nation Union Bank of Dover. Upon his death, the widow sold the property to Edwin Ross in 1885, a descendant of Betsy Ross, designer of the American Flag.

In the early part of the 20th century, Bonnieview becamse the popular Pine Terrance Inn, a gracious country retreat visited by such notables as President Grover Cleveland, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and well known personalities of the day. With the onset of Prohibition, the estate was sold to Harry Schwarz who later sold it to Dover General Hospital.

The historical society moved into the mansion house on June 18, 1970 with a 10-year lease with the hospital. Just one year into the lease and after over $30,000 in repairs and renovations, the hospital terminated the agreement and ordered the building be vacated in three months. For the next 27-years, the historical society would remain homeless, hosting its monthly meetings in various churches and meeting halls around town.

In 2004, the First Memorial Presbyterian Church of Dover was trying to decide the fate of the old doctor’s house, known as the “church house” at 55 W. Blackwell Street. Knowing the historical society had been actively seeking a museum, the church offered to site to the organization for a 25-year period provided the group pay for all expenses of operating the house and performed repairs and renovations bringing the house up to town standards.

Today, many of our programs meet at 7:00 pm the museum house the third Tuesday of each month and some programs, including walking tours and other events meet on other days at appropriate times. Our trustees and officers usually hold a business meeting at the museum on the third Wednesday of each month.  The museum house is open to the public for self guided tours from 6:30 to 8:00 pm on the evenings when the monthly business meetings are held. Check our calendar for scheduled meetings and events by clicking on “Calendar” in the black strip under the header on this page and follow the links. Anyone wishing to become a member or wanting further information can call the society at 973-361-3525. Please leave a message and we will return your call.

It was an interesting tour of the Society, with each floor covering a different aspect of the history and growth of the town. You can see how the area changed from a sleepy farming community to a bustling town with the coming of the canal system to even more changes with the automobile, the World Wars and immigration to both the country and to the community. Several displays are being worked on so there will be more to experience and see when you visit in the future.

Walking Downtown Dover, NJ:

After touring the museum, I walked Downtown Dover, NJ and got to see all the wonderful stores and restaurants to visit. It really is a beautiful downtown area.

The current downtown with the historical society in the background to the right.

After I toured the museum and the grounds, I walked Downtown Dover. There are a lot of interesting Colombian and Mexican restaurants that line the Main Street of Dover.

I stopped at Pan Pizza Bakery at 27 East Blackwell Street for some lunch. What a wonderful selection of hot and cold items to choose from.

Pan Pizza Bakery at 27 East Blackwell Street

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pan%20Pizza%20Bakery/111568472216530/#

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g46397-d27154615-Reviews-Pan_Pizza_Bakery-Dover_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html?m=69573

I ordered a Chicken and Potato Empanada, a Mango jelly doughnut and a Papas Rellanes, a Chicken and Potato dumpling. Everything was delicious. There is a wonderful selection of baked items to choose from.

My lunch that afternoon, the Empanada, the Papas Rellanes and the sugary Mango doughnut

The Chicken Empanada

These were really good

The Chicken and Potato Papas Rellenes

These were a meal onto themselves

The Mango doughtnut

The Mango doughnut was sweet and sugary

The selection is excellent and the prices are very fair

After a trip to the Dover Area Historical Society, I highly recommend a trip to the Pan Pizza Bakery for a snack. Then continue your walk around town. There are so many different shops and restaurants to experience in this vibrant and quirky downtown.

Orchard Street Cemetery 44 Chestnut Street Dover, NJ 07801

Orchard Street Cemetery 44 Chestnut Street Dover, NJ 07801

Orchard Street Cemetery

44 Chestnut Street

Dover, NJ 07801

https://www.orchardstreetgatehouse.org/history

https://www.facebook.com/p/Orchard-Street-Cemetery-100057217459315/

Open: Sunday-Saturday Seasonal Check the website for the hours

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46397-d28113226-r964248261-Orchard_Street_Cemetery-Dover_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The entrance of the Orchard Street Cemetery and Gatehouse

The Orchard Street Cemetery in Dover, Morris County,  NJ was originally founded in 1851 when a group of men determined that a cemetery was needed in the Village of Dover, then part of Randolph Township.  One member of the group, William Young, the first baker in Dover who had his store on Dickerson Street traded his “garden plot” at the end of Orchard Street to this new endeavor in return for several building lots on Orchard Street.  The plot transferred from William Young to the Association was approximately one acre in size (Orchard Street Gatehouse Historical Society website).

The Gatehouse

The first thing you notice when you enter the cemetery is the Gatehouse. It needs a lot of work. Also it was not manned. Funny, the building looks like it belongs in a cemetery.

The historic plaque for the cemetery

The historic sign for the cemetery

The Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 3500 men, women, and children from the greater Dover area, primarily Dover, Randolph, Wharton, and Rockaway.  There are over 125 veterans from the War of 1812, the Civil War, The Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam as well as well as peacetime veterans.  There are many of the founders of Dover, Wharton, and Rockaway, civic and industrial leaders, and ordinary citizens of the area.  Unfortunately, many burial records have been lost through the passage of time, fire, etc. so a full accounting of the burials will most likely never be realized as many people were buried without a stone memorial through choice or economic reasons (Orchard Street Gatehouse Historical Society website).

The entrance to the cemetery by the gate

When I visited the Orchard Street Cemetery, I noticed that most of the cemetery was designed into family plots, most gated or sectioned off. In each plot, you can see the generations of family members. There is a distinct change on the tombstones of family member marking the graves. Either is was prosperity of the family or just a sign of the times when people died where you see the changes in the tombstones and what they look like.

At least the families are housed together. Each of the family plots are marked by a gate or just a series of tombstones. Each of these family plots deserve respect and please remember this as you walk around the cemetery to pay your respects. There is a very positive feel to this cemetery.

I noticed the cemetery was broken into family plots separated by fencing

The Munson family plot

The Munson family plot

The Moller family plot

The Moller family plot

The Ford family plot

Deer watching me at the cemetery

The Hoagman Family plot

The Dickerson family plot

I had just come from the Bridget Smith House in Mine Hill and discovered that the Dickerson’s were once a prominent mining family who owned a large mansion just outside of Mine Hill.

The grave of Mahlon Dickerson

I found out from a member of the Cemetery Society that this is not the grave of the former Governor of New Jersey but a distant relative.

The Orchard Street Cemetery from the back of the cemetery

The Gatehouse at the front of the cemetery

The cemetery is an interesting look of how burying our dead has changed over the last 100 years.

The History of the Cemetery:

(this comes from the OrchardStreetCemeteryGatehouse.org website)

The Orchard Street Cemetery

The Orchard Street Cemetery in Dover, Morris County,  NJ was originally founded in 1851 when a group of men determined that a cemetery was needed in the Village of Dover, then part of Randolph Township.  One member of the group, William Young, the first baker in Dover who had his store on Dickerson Street traded his “garden plot” at the end of Orchard Street to this new endeavor in return for several building lots on Orchard Street.  The plot transferred from William Young to the Association was approximately one acre in size.

The inside of the cemetery

On September 11, 1854 following the passage of the “Rural Cemetery Act of 1854 by the New Jersey Legislature, the Dover Cemetery Association was founded during a meeting in the Village of Dover held at School House District No. 1.  The location of this school was to the east of Morris Street and to the south of the railroad tracks.  This puts it on the opposite side of the railroad tracks from the old Stone Academy.  The papers of incorporation were dated September 14, 1859 and duly registered with the County of Morris.

The inside of the cemetery

A deed dated February 22, 1855 was signed by Jabez Mills and his wife Hannah selling approximately 4.5 acres of their property to the Trustees of the Dover Cemetery Association.  This deed was received and recorded on February 27, 1855 by the County of Morris.  The acquisition of this property brought the cemetery to its final boundaries and size of 5.4 acres.  It is believed based on gravestones in the cemetery that the entire property was being used as a cemetery prior to the date of the recording of the deed.  Further, some sections of the cemetery property may have been used prior to 1851 due to gravestones that predate the founding of the cemetery.  It is also known that there was an earlier Dover cemetery, the Morris Street Burying Yard located south of the train tracks along Morris Street. 

The Munson family plot

It is believed that a number of the remains that were interred there were disinterred and moved to the Orchard Street Cemetery.  Many stones in Orchard Street predate the cemetery founding and it can be inferred that either there were burials in the cemetery confines before it was founded or these are reinterments from the Morris Street Burial Yard, or both.  In addition, there was later a small cemetery on Grant Street next to what was the Swedish Methodist Church.  Around the turn of the 1900’s, this cemetery was closed and again, the remains within were disinterred and many were removed to Orchard Street.

The entrance to the historic Orchard Street Cemetery

The old Gate House at the entrance of the cemetery