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Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society Museum-Swedesboro City Hall 1500 Kings Highway Swedesboro, NJ 08085

Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society Museum

Swedesboro City Hall

1500 Kings Highway/ Second Floor

Swedesboro, NJ 08085

(856) 467-0202

https://www.historicswedesboro.com/boards-commissions-departments/swedesboro-woolwich-historical-society/

Open: Sunday: third Sunday of the month 1:00pm-4:00pm Monday- Saturday By Appointment only-please call ahead

Admission: Free but donations are accepted

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46860-d28393747-Reviews-Swedesboro_Woolwich_Historical_Society_And_Museum-Swedesboro_New_Jersey.html

Swedesboro City Hall at 1500 Kings Highway in Swedesboro, NJ

Mission Statement of the Museum:

(from the Museum website)

The mission of the Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society shall be to collect and preserve the architectural, cultural, commercial and farming history of the Borough of Swedesboro and the Township of Woolwich through records, documents, photographs, artifacts, and other means with the purpose to promote and provide access to this history for current and future generations, encourage preservation and restoration of historic landmarks located both in the borough and township and provide educational programs, guided historical tours and exhibitions to a diverse population.

The historic marker in front of City Hall

The front gallery of town artifacts

I recently visited the Swedesboro Historical Society located in a gallery on the second floor of City Hall in Downtown Swedesboro. It is an interesting little museum with several small galleries each dedicated to a different theme of the history of the town.

The gallery of Swedesboro High School memorabilia

The large gallery to the back of the museum houses an extensive collection of artifact on the school system especially to Swedesboro High School. This includes yearbooks, pictures, trophies and other spirit related items that show the rich history of the town’s school system.

Class picture over the last 90 years

Composites from trips to Washington DC from the high school. Some were taken in front of the Capital and some from Mount Vernon. It depended on the year.

The Cantoria Friezes from the old high school

The Cantoria Friezes from the old Swedesboro High School (now the elementary school)

These paster friezes once lined the Swedesboro High School and were taken down during the school’s renovation. The theme was Education and you can see this with each characters look in the pursuit of a higher education. These are the highlight of the High School gallery.

These were original reproductions by artist Pietro Caproni of the ‘Cantoria Friezes’ and are based on masterpieces from museums all over Europe. These friezes were purchased by the school system as part of the furnishings for its opening in 1923. These were cast and housed in his Boston studio (Historical Society website).

The former police department lockers make perfect props for high school artifacts

The museum is housed in what was once the old Swedesboro Police headquarters and the old lockers are the perfect backdrop for the museum’s extensive collection of school artifacts displayed in a classroom setting.

The Swedesboro High School China from the dining room

The Sports Department display

Trophies from the high school spanning 70 years

The next gallery is dedicated to town history and the business district. Many of the businesses have been long closed their memory lives on.

Memories and artifacts on businesses from the past

The museum has a large collection of items from the past from the business district showing how the town has changed and progressed from a farming community to a bedroom community of Philadelphia and New York City.

Pictures of businesses from the past and artifacts from a glass manufacturer whose business was in Swedesboro

Artifacts of businesses from the past

Commemorative plates from churches historic pieces of the town’s past

The back gallery hallway leading to the Swedish Room and the Everything room

Family China from one of the member’s of the Society’s family and era dress

The Indian arrowheads found in town

The town being so close to the water and hunting grounds was a place many local tribes settled in the summer months this there was a large collection of arrowheads and other Native American artifacts. This shows the area influence of the Lenape tribes before the Revolutionary War in this area as a hunting and fishing ground.

The ‘Everything Room’ where everything gets stored which does not have a home or display yet

The next display room was the ‘Swedish Room’ dedicated to the Swedish citizens who settled in the Delaware Bay along with Dutch. Swedish immigrants populated this area along with the Dutch in the late 1600’s and were an influence in the Delaware Bay area. “New Sweden” was established and thrived through the Revolutionary War.

The Swedish Gallery with the theme of “New Sweden” colony

Some of the cultural items from the Swedish population that used to live here including a photo of the Swedish royal family

A recreation of a home of a Swedish family in that time period

Books, maps and artifacts from the Swedish cultural the once dominated this community.

The last small gallery at the museum displayed the town’s Military contributions during the wars and artifacts on the town’s governing body.

The history of the different fraternal orders that were once and still are part of the town of Swedesboro.

More of the awards and accolades of the organizations in town.

The map of the town around the turn of the last century

Members of the Swedesboro community

The Military Gallery with uniforms, pictures and artifacts including medals from the town’s citizens that fought in the wars

What was nice about this gallery is that it shows the contribution of a small town and what they did for the war effort. The collection of uniforms is quite extensive.

The uniform and picture of a soldier from WWI

In the entrance to the museum, there are more displays on the town’s farming past and the people who helped shape this community to what is today.

Artifacts that are part of the town’s agricultural past in farming strawberries

Pictures of the architect and first Mayor of the town that helped shape the town

For such a small museum, the galleries are packed with interesting information of the Town of Swedesboro, its past, its present and its future. The museum tells the story of where the community has been and how it will shape its future.

Take your time to stroll the three galleries and look at the fascinating past of this small New Jersey town. Then head outside and walk its downtown to stroll the present. There are a lot of wonderful stores and restaurant to visit there as well. This is what makes the town of Swedesboro so special.

The History of the Swedesboro Museum:

(from the Museum website)

The Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society provides cultural and educational events throughout the year for area residents. Its goal is to obtain and preserve the history of the Borough and surrounding Woolwich Township. To meet this end, the society collects and archives artifacts, documents, books, photos, family histories and items which help to keep Swedesboro’s rich history alive. To add to our collection, volunteer with exhibits, or to give an oral history, click here to contact the Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society. To become a member, click here to download a membership application.

Visit our booth on Swedesboro-Woolwich Day in September. Learn about local history, purchase books and other items to support the historical society. Civil War re-enactors also attend town events to educate people about Swedesboro’s rich history and memorialize fallen Swedesboro & Woolwich Township soldiers.

In addition to our presence at local events, the Historical Society participates in programs to excite the community about Swedesboro’s rich history. Twice a year, we visit Fourth Grade classrooms within the Swedesboro-Woolwich School District to encourage interest in the history and culture of our community among students and teachers alike. Our meetings, held on the third Wednesday of every month (except July & August) at 7:00 PM and open to the public, also feature special interest speakers, authors, re-enactors, traveling exhibits from the Gloucester County Historical Society, and special programs throughout the year.

To learn more about our organization and local history, please stop by our booth at town events, strike up a conversation with a re-enactor you meet on the street, or join us at our new location (on the second floor of Borough Hall at 1500 Kings Highway in Swedesboro) for a meeting. To support the Historical Society, click here to purchase Historic Swedesboro Merchandise. New publications are researched, written and printed each year!

Video at the Swedesboro Historical Society-A Special Visit

This visit showcases the pictures that I took all over the museum. This gives a more detailed description of all the artifacts in the museum.

Tour of Historic Swedesboro, NJ-A Video tour

Knox Headquarters State Historic Site 289 Old Forge Hill Road Vails Gate, NY 12584

Knox Headquarters State Historic Site

289 Old Forge Hill Road

Vails Gate, NY 12584

(845) 561-5498

https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/5/details.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox%27s_Headquarters_State_Historic_Site

Open: Sunday-Saturday (Seasonal-Please see the website)

Admission: Free but donations are accepted

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48760-d1174661-Reviews-Knox_s_Headquarters_State_Historic_Site-Vails_Gate_New_York.html

The Georgian side of the Elliott home

The Dutch style side of the home

The sign welcoming you

The estate from the road

The historic sign outside the home

The Welcome Center tells the story of both the Ellison family and their war visitors, the Knox family.

The Ellison family history sign

The Knox family history sign

The family history in the Visitor’s Center

The tour of the house was very interesting. The house was built in three stages as the family grew and prospered over the generations. There was the original Dutch house which is the side of the house that faces the current road, the Georgian addition which faces the back of the house, where the original Kings Highway was located and the addition, where the Visitors Center was located.

My tour guide, Tiffany, explained there had been other additions to the home over the years but they had been removed for the historical integrity of the house.

The Georgian addition of the home featured more rooms for socializing

The Georgian addition to the back of the home was built with the family fortunes. This included a spacious formal Parlor, Dining Room both with large window to let in natural light and high ceilings for circulation and to show the families affluence.

The large windows let in the natural light in the warmer months

Much of the furniture in the house was not original to it but was of the period. Here and there though there were pieces donated back to the house and gave it its historical dignity.

The formal dining room was used to impressi visitors with the large fireplace

The Dining Room used for meals and formal entertaining was spacious yet cozy. There was room to move around but it was still intimate for conversation.

The room had built in China cabinets

The wood work contained china cabinets, storage for silver and family serving pieces. The large metal tombstone looking item in the fireplace was a metal slab meant for retaining heat for the room once the fire went down. This is how the room was kept warm in the colder months.

The natural light was perfect for late afternoon supper

Once you left these rooms for the front hallway, this led to the Dutch front portion of the house, once the living quarters and now was were the business office and storage for the family business was attended to during working hours.

The office of Mr. Ellison was in the front part of the original Dutch portion of the house

The rooms in the front section of the original house were separated from the formal part of the current back of the house. This is where Mr. Ellison and his son attended to business calls and stored their goods for shipping.

The storage room was probably a family bedroom for the original house

The trip upstairs was part of the addition of the house and contained two spacious bedrooms with high ceilings and large windows. When the Knox family joined the Ellison family during the encampment, each family had one bedroom for use. The Ellison’s did not have any children and the Knox’s had two small children, a small girl and an infant boy. From what the tour guide explained the Ellison’s welcomed them in the home and relations were very good with both couples, who welcomed the children into their home. It brought extra life to the house.

The formal bedroom of the Ellison’s would be the bigger room and more formal

The Knox family bedroom would have been not less elaborate with a small bed and crib for the children

The Knox’s bedroom for the family during the war years

Mrs. Ellison kept her own office at the top of the stairs and this was reflective in the desk and table in the nook at the top of the stairs. The tour guide explained there had been a wall to provide privacy to Mrs. Ellison which had been removed over the years.

The office of Mrs. Ellison to run the household

The office contained the family heirloom desk and a portrait of Mr. Ellison’s brother who was a General in the war.

The portrait of General Ellison, Mr. Ellison’s brother

Part of the cannon

When I finished the tour of the house, my tour guide and walked around the Visitor Center room and she showed me some of the artifacts in the room including a small cannon the had been found. My tour guide suggested after we were done in the house a tour of the grounds. The King’s Highway had originally run in a different location that passed the front door of the Georgian side of the house. Also down by the stream were the ruins of the old grist mill.

The map of the original King’s Highway when it passed in front of the home

The original front door of the Ellison home where the street was once located

The stone wall is the marker of the original part of the road that passed by the home

The highway path as it passed over the stone bridge

There was not much left of the family mill by the stream but the site did a nice job preserving the path of the highway and up keeping the stone bridge and grounds.

The woods area by the stream where the ruins of the old mill were located

The stream area

The stream area by the old mill

A better view of the old stone bridge

When I returned from the stream area (unfortunately leads to someone’s property on the other side of the stream), I walked the grounds of the home. There was a small smokehouse on the property to the side of the house.

The old smokehouse on the property

What was originally the back side of the house is now the front side of the house on the Dutch side of the home with the addition to the left

The view of the homestead from what is now the front of the street

The view of the house from the entrance when I was leaving

The front of the homestead as you enter an exit from the new direction of the home

I found the tour to be very informative and an interesting look on how two families shaped our history during the Revolutionary War.

*A special note that the house is seasonal and is closed from Labor Day until Memorial Day the next year and is only open for special events at Halloween and Christmas.

The Halloween Event:

I attended the Halloween events at the Knox Headquarters when in the spirit of the 18th Century Gothic Literature, an author took us on a tour of treason and tides turning during New Windsor Cantonment and inside the Knox Headquarters. The ghosts of the past tried to find a traitor in the midst of the war.

Meeting the ghosts of the author and her characters on the site of the Knox family estate

The Knox House lit for the Halloween holidays had a eerie look to it that night

The Ghosts trying to find a traitor in the ranks

The Ghosts of the past trying to find a traitor during the war

Leaving the Continental Army camp after the performance was over that evening

We walked the estate and followed the storyline with the actors. There were people on both sides of the war who thought they were right. It was an interesting Halloween event.

The History of the Ellison/Knox Site:

(from the New York State Parks, Recreation and Historical site)

On several occasions during the Revolutionary War, Major General Henry Knox, Commander of the America artillery, established his military headquarters at John Ellison’s 1754 Georgian-style house in Vails Gate. From October 1782 until the spring of 1783, as 7,000 soldiers and 500 “camp followers” were establishing winter quarters at the New Windsor Cantonment, and General Washington was lodged at Jonathan Hasbrouck’s house in Newburgh, New York, Major General Horatio Gates occupied the elegant home from which he commanded the cantonment. Here the army awaited the end of the Revolutionary War that became effective when Washington issued the cease fire orders on April 19, 1783.

For most of the 18th and into the 19th century, the Ellison family had important commercial dealings in milling and trade. From their mill, flour was shipped down the Hudson River to New York City and the West Indies. At present, remains of the mill, with traces of the underground raceway may be visited. Explore how the Ellison’s and other families of the mid-Hudson Valley lived 200 years ago.

The Christmas Open House event:

I returned to the Knox Headquarters again for their Colonial Christmas Open House in early December and that was a festive event. The snow had just fallen giving the house a very picturesque look to it.

The Knox/Ellison Home the day of the event

The estate looked so picturesque with the snow

When I first arrived to the estate, it was still light out and they had just lit all the torches in front of the house. It really lit the pathways to the house. By the outside fire, a lone soldier stood guard, and he looked like he was freezing.

The torches that lit the paths

The snow gave the woods a festive early Christmas look

The house was decorated for a Colonial Christmas during the war years

The Officers used the Living Room as an office and for entertainment

The hearth was beautifully decorated with garland and dried fruits

The mistress of the house talked and entertained me on my visit

The house had an eerie but festive feel about it that evening

The festive garland decorations in the Living Room

The decorations in both windows

I passed the foyer where garland and misotle decorated the stairs

We were then entertained by visiting officers of the home in Mr. Ellison’s office who told us their stories of General Washington’s visit.

The Officers visit to visit the Generals

The office lit for a late night visit

The holiday decorations in the Office space

Then I took a trip upstairs where we were met by another officer who described the sleeping arrangements of both the Knox and Ellison families of this time of occupation.

The officers conversation with us

The decorations as we walked up the stairs

The bedroom decorated for the visit

The opposite bedroom used by the family

The staircase decorated for the holidays

My last stop on the visit was to the Dining Room, where the last officer on the visit talked of Christmas dinner in the house during the war.

The officer explaining entertainment during the war

The Dining Room decorated for the Christmas holidays

The elaborate decorations in the room in the war years

The creativity of the Dining Room table with the creative table decor

The elaborate holiday desserts

The officer explained entertainments during the war, the use of the elaborate decorations on the table and the foods that would have been eaten at the holidays. Plus, entertainment of a major officer would have been during the war years.

The garland and fruit decorations in the Fining room

The officer finished his talk on the holidays and then I left for the evening

The outside of the house with the torches lit to full extent

The fire outside to warm up

The officer outside looked so cold. Thank God he kept going inside to warm up

The house as I left for the evening

The torches as I left the property

The house from a distance

The glow of the house at the end of the evening

The event was wonderful and the enactment was fun but it got really cold outside at the end of the evening and by 6:00pm it got to be freezing. I left the estate and headed home . The Knox/ Ellison House closed for the season after this night.

Montgomery Village Museum 142 Clinton Street Montgomery, NY 12549

Montgomery Village Museum

142 Clinton Street

Montgomery, NY 12549

(845) 457-7576

https://www.facebook.com/MontgomeryVillageMuseum/

https://www.villageofmontgomery.org/our-community/village-history/523-museum-hours.html

Open: Sunday 3:00pm-6:00pm/Monday-Saturday Closed

Admission: Free but donations are accepted

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g48196-d27005812-r967710754-Montgomery_Village_Museum-Montgomery_New_York.html?m=19905

The Montgomery Village Museum at 142 Clinton Street

The Museum in the front of the museum

The museum sign welcomes you

Village memorabilia on display

The display on the local church’s

The Montgomery Village Museum in Montgomery, NY is a village run museum that tells of story of the town and its development. The museum of filled with wonderful displays of all aspects of the town. The history of the town is displayed in an organized way display by display with plenty of signage and docents to explain things to you if you want more information. You can tour the museum at your own pace.

The front gallery of the museum

The front display of the Veterans and the VFW of the Village of Montgomery, NY

Display of Armed Forces memorabilia

The gallery of Town Council, Downtown merchants and Veterans items

The Downtown Merchant’s display

Some of the local merchants have been in town for over a hundred years

The artifacts on the Town Council and the Chamber

The 100th Anniversary of the Town of Montgomery, NY shows a diagram of the town and its historical past

Some of the items of the rural home past

What I thought was interesting about the museum was the discovery of dinosaur bones in the area. The skull of a Mastodon and other bones were found in digs between here and Newburgh.

The Mastodon skull at the museum

The skull and bones and the site

The Importance of the Mastodon story

The write up on dinosaur bones

The display on the Montgomery Fire Department

The museum has an extensive collection of items from the County Fire department telling its own story of the fire service in this community. The Orange County Firefighters Museum is right across the street with all the larger equipment and gear but here we get to see the pictures of the department over the years and some of the small artifacts.

Display on the Montgomery Fire Department

The display on the Montgomery Coronet Band display

The Textiles industry in Montgomery

The display from Montgomery High School from sports to the marching band

The museum has an extensive collection of memorabilia from Montgomery High School over the past one hundred years that include marching band and sports to the way the school teaches. It is amazing that in many ways it does not change much.

More artifacts from the schools

Displays of the schools and libraries in the county

The Montgomery High School band and sports

A old school house display

The Girl Scout and Boy Scout display

The original fire department display that sits across the street

The Montgomery Grange display

The Picture Display of old photos of the past of the Village of Montgomery, NY

The Toy and Doll Display will delight any young child

The Art display in the back part of the museum

The afternoon I was at the museum, they had an outdoor concert in the garden of the museum. It was warm night so sitting outside enjoying the music was really nice.

The museum’s well tended gardens

The gardens by the side of the museum

The gardens in bloom by the fence

The musical performance of the quartet

The video of the concert:

IMG_0027 Download

The large paintings above the front door as I was leaving that evening.

One last look at all the galleries at the museum gave me a glimpse of the extensive collection of artifacts at the museum and the story they tell of the community of Montgomery, NY.

The back gallery

The front gallery

The side gallery

For such a small museum, the displays really give an interesting look at the county and how it has progressed over the years. What have been new to us in the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s , 80’s and forward has now become the past to newer generations. The Montgomery Village Museum tells that story in detail.

A visit here is a nice way to spend the afternoon. Then take a tour of Historic Montgomery, NY. There is a lot to do and see.

Exploring historic Downtown Montgomery, NY

Exploring historic Downtown Montgomery, NY

Bay Head Historical Society & Museum 1643 Bay Avenue Point Pleasant, NJ 08742

Bay Head Historical Society

1643 Bay Avenue

Point Pleasant, NJ 08742

https://www.bayheadhistoricalsociety.com/

Open: Sunday 1:00pm-4:00pm/Monday-Friday Closed/Saturday 1:00pm-4:00pm/Seasonal

Admission: $5.00 donation

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46744-d10596027-Reviews-Bay_Head_Historical_Society-Point_Pleasant_New_Jersey.html

The Bay Head Historical Society & Museum at 1643 Bay Avenue in Point Pleasant, NJ during the Summer

The Museum was also decorated for the Christmas holidays

The bay at Bay Head, NJ

The lake views near the historical society

I took a detour over the weekend to Bay Head, NJ to visit their wonderful historical Society. What an interesting museum whose collection shows the town’s nautical past and present. The museum has something for everyone. For the kids, the museum has a wonderful dollhouse with interesting furnishings that any kid would want to play with everyday. across from that is a Bottle Collection of old milk and soda bottles found in the town showing its retail past.

The historical doll house on display

The Bottle Collection

The museum delves into the town’s Native American past with a small collection of artifacts found in the area when tribes used the area during the summer season for fishing, hunting and recreation. One of the members of the community contributed her experiences to the museum as well. Several items have been donated on permanent loan from other museums and the museum displays them beautifully.

The Lenape exhibition

The Native American exhibit

The Native American exhibit

The highlight of the museum is its latest exhibition ‘Maps: A Journey Through Time’, which is an extensive collection of old maps of the State of New Jersey. This was fascinating in the the collection starts even before the creation of the state when it was under the control of Lord’s Berkeley and Carteret, two English nobles who according to the Society President never stepped foot in the state but collected money from it.

The sign for “Maps: A Journey Through Time” exhibition

The map collection shows the progression of the State of New Jersey through population growth and development. With the advent of the railroads and then through automobiles, transportation has changed the entire state of where we live and play.

The Historical Map exhibition

The Historical Map exhibition

The pictures of Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret who once split the State of New Jersey East and West

History of the split of the State of New Jersey

Old maps of Bay Head, NJ

The Exhibition during the Holiday season was “Victorian Christmas” where parts of the museum was decorated for the holidays of the late 1800’s in post Civil War America. The museum had their Christmas tree up laden with antique ornaments from all eras decorating the tree.

The “Victorian Tree” decorated with antique ornaments

The museum was also decorated with vintage toys and all sorts of garland and decorations

The furniture in the museum as well as the rest of the museum was decked with all sorts of holiday decorations.

The “Victorian Christmas” display was very nice and created a very festive environment for the museum goers. The Christmas tree was a blast from the past as I saw decorations from my Grandmother’s tree on their tree. It brought a lot of memories from Christmas’s past.

The last part of the tour I had was of the Slade Dale Nautical Cottage, a local boater and fisherman’s collection of items from his dock cottage. Here I saw an extensive collection of nautical tools and boating items including displays of sailing items. The collection shows how important the boating and pleasure sailing industry is with the town.

The museum is a wonderful place to visit on an afternoon out when you tire of the beach and you want to know more about the town of Bay Head. It also on the edge of their quaint downtown filled with interesting stores, restaurants, bakery and parks. The small historic downtown is very nice to walk around in the summer months.

The Bay Head Historic District sign

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Head_Historic_District

https://www.livingplaces.com/NJ/Ocean_County/Bay_Head_Borough/Bay_Head_Historic_District.html#google_vignette

https://www.claytonandclayton.com/blog/best-historic-monuments-in-bay-head-nj.html

Downtown Bay Head, NJ

The canal downtown

It was a bit more gloomy in during the holiday season as the rains came right after Christmas. Still I liked the decorations in this festive and very active downtown.

The church decorated for Christmas on a gloomy Saturday

The downtown businesses decorated for the holidays

The bridge over the canal was beautifully decorated for the holidays

The Bay Head Fire Company One decorated for the holidays

Santa guarding the firehouse in Bayhead, NJ

Bayhead really got into the Christmas spirit during the holiday season. It put me back into the holiday spirit even though it was drizzling the whole time. It must have looked really nice on a sunny afternoon.

The Bay Head Historical Society & Museum information:

(from the Museum website)

This 1867 farm home with outstanding interior woodwork has been restored to its former glory. The museum is home to memorabilia and history of life in this part of the Jersey Shore. An exhibit of turn-of-the-century photographs of the area plus artifacts and heirlooms donated by local residents are on permanent display during the season. The front salon is a gallery for changing displays of local art and special area exhibits. The Victorian garden, the sea grass garden, and the lilac memorial garden are outstanding. Completing the complex is the Dale Cottage, which celebrates the maritime heritage of the area.

The History of the Loveland House (home of museum):

The Loveland Homestead built in 1867, addition in 1887
Slade Dale Cottage 1925:

When members of the Loveland family settled in this area around 1837, the land at the head of Barnegat Bay was sheltered from the sea by high sand dunes covered with sea grasses where bay berries and beach plum bushes grew in abundance. There were cranberry bogs, marshlands and fresh water lakes which provided a habitat for the birds and migratory fowls that later attracted gunners to the region.

The Loveland House

The Loveland Homestead historical plaque

The first purchasers of this land, which later became the hamlet known as Lovelandtown, were Judah Allen, who came here from New England in 1685, and John Hance. At the time this area was part of Shrewsbury Township, County of Monmouth, Province of East Jersey under the reign of King James II of England.

As the Loveland family grew, the family steadily increased its land holdings in the area. The members married into prominent local families from Point Pleasant and Brick and continued to develop their neighborhood throughout the late 1800’s.

Inside the old Homestead of the Loveland family

At the same time in the mid-1800’s three land developers from Princeton, Messrs. Howe, Mount and Harris arrived and bought the land eastward that was to become Bay Head. Developed from the beginning as a resort community for the upper middle class, Bay Head attracted many affluent families from both New York and Philadelphia, thanks to the developers attracting two railroad lines to the town. The Jersey Central arrived from New York in 1882 while Pennsylvania Railroad came across the bay through Trenton and Toms River. Last stop for both was Bay Head.

John W. and Samuel Loveland were the largest landholders in the area. They were joined by other early settlers, notably the Cook family and the Stout family, and were linked to these through marriage. In 1867 the Loveland Homestead, currently the home to The Historical Society Museum, was built by Charles Stout for his daughter Lorah Stout upon her marriage to Charles Cook. By 1887 the family had grown and the back part of the house was added on to accommodate their 7 children.

The Loveland family acquired the house in the early 1900’s and continued to live here until the Bay Head Historical Society purchased the property in 1997. At that time the house had fallen into disrepair and after a two year renovation (mostly exterior), the homestead opened as The Historical Society Museum in 1999. The Dale building was acquired by The Historical Society and moved to the property in 2001.

The Loveland Homestead houses artifacts, memorabilia, photographs, furniture, decoys and other treasures from the early Bay Head/ Mantoloking/Lovelandtown years. Worthy of note are the original Gerald Hardenbergh paintings and the carved Kenneth Loveland and Birdsall decoys. All three off these local artists have gained recognition in many areas outside New Jersey.

The photo collection contributed by William Schoettle is equally noteworthy for its comprehensive look at the area as it was in its heyday (mid-1880’s to about 1940). The collection is part of the museums archives and is exhibited frequently.

The Slade Dale Cottage history:

(from the museum website)

The Slade Dale cottage is, in part, a celebration of the sailors of Barnegat Bay. It is also an homage to the man who, as a young man, was a noted sailor in the area and who continued throughout his life to engage in truly memorable sea voyages and bay races. He built his dream marina, the Dale Yacht Basin, through his foresight of bringing outboard motors to the area. He then promoted boating of all kinds throughout the years from the 1940’s to mid-1960’s. For many of those years he lived in his cottage at the end of the dock at the marina.