Ferromonte Historical Society of Mine Hill-Bridgit Smith House
124 Randolph Avenue
Mine Hill, NJ 07803
(973) 989-7095
Open: Sunday-Friday Closed/Saturday-Select Saturdays during the Spring and Summer Season-See website
Admission: Free but donations are accepted
My review on TripAdvisor:
The Bridget Smith House from the road
I went to visit the Bridget Smith Homestead Museum run by the local historical society and the house was an interesting step back into time when mines were located all over this region. The original house itself was built around 1855 as housing for people working in the mines and the house was bought by the namesake woman in 1879, when as a widow she moved in with her children. When she died in 1907, the house was rented to Ida and Jesse Mc Connell and Ida ended up living here for 78 years before she died in 1993 at 103. After she passed, descendants from the Smith family donated the home to the town as a historical site (Bridget Smith Home Historical website).
The Bridget Smith House
The house is an early example of mining life in the area. It was practical and cost effective to families. Being a two story/two home structure, the main two rooms were on the first floor with a heating unit on the bottom and a large room on the second floor for sleeping. My tour guide told me at one time, one family lived in one of the sides of the house with six kids. I am not sure how that all worked out.
The historic sign on the property
History of the area:
From the late 1700‘s to the late 1800‘s, New Jersey was one of the major iron producers in America. The northwestern part of the state, known as the “highlands” was an important iron mining area. In the 1840‘s Irish settlers came to America for work. On August 10 1854, an Irish settler named Thomas Malona (later spelled Maloney) purchased a 30×150 lot in the “Irishtown” section of Mine Hill and built a house on it (Bridget Smith House website).
The information sign that welcomes you
Little changes have been made to the structure since the mid 1800‘s. Electricity was added in the 1940‘s and running water was added in the 1980‘s. In 1993 the great grand-children gave the house to Mine Hill for $1 to be preserved as the “Bridget Smith Homestead”. Restoration began soon afterward and work continues to this day (Bridget Smith House website).
The Dickerson family of the Dickerson Mines
The sign on the Dickerson family
The grave of Mahlon Dickerson in the Orchard Street Cemetery
The Dickerson Family plot at the cemetery
The history of the mines in the area
This area of New Jersey was and still is rich in ore and the amount of mines in the area made this a vibrant area for industry. When it was not longer cost effective or the mines ran out of ore that could be reached, the mine was sealed off. As the industry wore off so did the area and people moved on.
Mining and work equipment
Items inside the house and office and some iron ore samples
Miner’s lamp-examples of mining equipment
Paperwork and accolades
Use of horses and donkeys at the mines
The original view of the house and its renovation as a museum
The former residents of the house and their stories
In 1879 the house was sold for $300 to Bridget Smith (1835-1907) a young widow with two children. Smith and her late husband John, who was killed in the mines, lived in Mine Hill since 1860. Bridget Smith lived in the house until her death in 1907. In 1912, the house was rented to a young couple, Jessie and Ida McConnell. Ida McConnell lived in the house for the next 78 years. She died in the late 1990’s at the age of 103 (Bridget Smith House website).
The back room on the other side of the house
Some of the equipment to make cloth
Family life at the house
Family items
An example of a miner’s bedroom
The backyard of the Bridget Smith house with the outhouse
The two seat outhouse in the back of the house
The inside of the outhouse is heated
The entrance to the basement
The entrance to the basement was filled with cobwebs (Don’t go down there)
The house is part of the Women’s Heritage Trail
The house is listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. It is also part of the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail. The museum is operated by the Ferromonte Historical Society (Bridget Smith House website).
The house tour when the site is open in a look into the life of a mining family before and after the Revolutionary War and how the area changed with the ups and downs of the industry. It is also a glimpse into the life of early New Jersey family and watching a community progress into the modern era.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 