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Lewes History Museum 101 Adams Avenue Lewes, DE 19958

Lewes History Museum 101 Adams Avenue Lewes, DE 19958

Lewes History Museum

101 Adams Avenue

Lewes, DE 19958

(302) 645-7670

Homepage

Open: Sunday Closed/Monday-Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm

Admission: $5.00 plus entrance to the Cannonball House Museum in addition

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34028-d17640472-Reviews-Lewes_History_Museum-Lewes_Delaware.html

Lewes Historical Society:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34028-d552705-Reviews-Lewes_Historical_Society-Lewes_Delaware.html

The Lewes History Museum at 101 Adams Street

A video on “Historic Lewes, DE”

When I was visiting Rehoboth Beach, DE recently the museum I had wanted to visit in Rehoboth was closed for the day, so I remembered that there were a few museums in Lewes, DE, a small town right down the highway so I headed there and found the Lewes History Museum at 101 Adams Avenue. The museum was the old library which has since moved across the street.

The entrance to the museum

The museum is very interesting and well set up. The museum is one big room that is broken down in different sections which helps explain the history of the town. Each display moves you through the museum in a chorological order of how the town developed.

The museum starts with a display on early Native American history which then moves to the colonization of the Dutch and British in the area. There are all sorts of interesting artifacts that tell the story of the Revolutionary War by way of the residents.

There are displays on the way homes were designed and decorated as well as the role that Lewes played during the war. There have been a lot of soldiers who had died in the war with their stories being told by the museum. There are also discussions about the interaction between the Native population with the colonists. The Native American collections featured the lives of the tribes that lived in the area of Lewes. They had found this canoe when dredging the area.

The Lewes History Museum’s displays are informative

Life in the Dutch colony was featured after the Native American display as the next group took over this area from the Native Americans. Delaware had been part of the original Dutch colony. When we were taking a tour and the guide said that technically Delaware was part of Maryland but the Dutch stood strong against the British at that time, the area stayed independent but not for long.

The Dutch Colony

The Revolutionary War came to Delaware but it never saw the fighting that the other colonies saw. Still the state had to be on guard at all times and there were British War ships off the coast of Lewes that did do some damage.

Revolutionary War display

The displays held some interesting artifacts including a ‘toasting glass’ from the evening in Fraunces Tavern where George Washington said farewell to his troops. The docent said that he had kept the glass all those years and it was passed down from generation to generation until it made its way to the museum as a donation.

The Farming and Dairy industries played a role in Delaware’s history but because of the type of soil that Lewes had it was not meant for many crops. Wheat, some vegetables and the dairy industry played a role in the business of Lewes.

The Dairy and Agriculture industries of Lewes

There is a section on the development of businesses and Lewes as a resort town. The section on Lewes developing as a resort town was interesting with the advent of ocean swimming, boating and beach recreation. There is also a section on 19th and 20th century business in Lewes that kept up with the times.

20th Century Business

19th Century Business

There was an interesting display on Victorian furniture and decorating for the home. The decorative arts section showed how Victorian families set up their homes and how status symbols like fine furniture and family portraits played an important role in society.

Display on Decorative Arts of the Home

There was a detailed display on the Beebe family and the growth of their well-known hospital. The family started with three beds in a home to the giant hospital that it is today. You can read about the family members contributions both to the hospital and the community.

The history of the Beebe Hospital Family and the growth of the hospital

The area developed and entered the modern era with displays on Public Service, The shipping industry and the growth of the railroads in the area that helped open Lewes up as a resort. As the modes of transportation changed so did Lewes with each step.

The Shipping Industry

The presentation plate as part of the railroad display

Public Service and a sense of community

Zippy

The museum will take about an hour to comfortably walk through. It is a interesting and fun way to know the history of Lewes, De. The detail and interesting artifacts makes it a very engaging museum. The docents are really nice and helpful in explaining the displays.

The History of the Lewes History Museum:

(From the Museum website):

The Lewes History Museum is located in the Margarat H. Rollins Community Center at 101 Adams Avenue in Lewes, DE. For 54 years, The Lewes Historical Society has collected and preserved tens of thousands of historic artifacts, artwork, documents, maps and photos. Now it the support from the City of Lewes, a gift of $500,000 from the Ma-Ran Foundation and generous donations, this incredible collection is on continuous display at the Lewes History Museum.

The museum serves as the primary source of information about Lewes for visitors, researchers, students and residents. Enjoy ongoing exhibits featuring Lewe’ maritime history, decorative arts and artists, famous families of Lewes and how our region is seen through environmental change. The museum provides ongoing seminars, symposia and presentations along with a wing for community non-profit gatherings.

The popular Children’s Discovery Center is house inside the museum and is currently closed at this time. The Discovery Center offers an interactive, fun and educational experience for children of all ages. At the Center, children can experience 19th century Delaware by interacting in a replica general store and post office, playing around a scaled model of Cape Henlopen Lighthouse with a Morse code station, foghorn and reflecting lights. The Center also houses a Delaware River Pilots’ simulation module, a electronic table-top boat-building area and a lighthouse “keepers cottage”.

The community center is the centerpiece of the cultural campus in Lewes, including 18 miles of trails, a concert stage, parks, a children’s garden and the Lewes Public Library.

The Lewes History Museum Gift Shop

Hanover Heritage Association/Whippany Burying Yard 325 Route 10 East Whippany, NJ 07054

Hanover Heritage Association/Whippany Burying Yard 325 Route 10 East Whippany, NJ 07054

Hanover Heritage Association/Whippany Burying Yard

325 Route 10 East

Whippany, NJ 07054

https://www.hanovertownship.com/1396/Whippany-Burying-Yard

https://whippany.net/whippany-burying-yard

(973) 539-5355

Open: Check the website/Cemetery Hours

Admission: Check the website

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46925-d23534409-Reviews-The_Whippany_Burying_Yard-Whippany_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html

The burial ground from a distance

On my last stop of touring Historic Morris County for the “Pathways for History ” event, I visited the Whippany Burial Yard at 325 Route 10 in Whippany.

The entrance to the burial grounds

The old cemetery is steeped in history as one of the oldest cemeteries in New Jersey and home to many Revolutionary and Civil War veterans. As we learned on the tour later on, the only people that can be buried there now are former Mayors of the Town of Whippany who have died.

The sign of the historical burials

The historical marker

The town historical plaque

Two of the founding families of the town have many family members buried here, the Tuttle’s who still have relatives living in the area and the Kitchel’s. The guide for the afternoon took us on an hour tour of the cemetery, pointing out prominent members of the war years including Timothy Tuttle (died 1754), a founding judge of Morris County, Keturah Tuttle Platt (died 1850), who was a Charter member of the First Presbyterian Church, Captain Timothy Tuttle (II of III-died in 1816), who was a member of George Washington’s First Regiment in the Continental Army, Samuel Tuttle (died in 1762) and Colonel Joseph Tuttle, a blacksmith and Deacon at the Presbyterian Church who served in the French & Indian War.

Joseph Tuttle’s gravesite

Joseph Tuttle’s grave

The historic marker

Joseph Tuttle Jr.’s gravesite

The Tuttle family plot from before and after the Revolutionary War

The Tuttle family plot after the Revolutionary War

The Kitchel family was prominently represented as well with Abraham Kitchel (died in 1741), who was one of the six original judges of Morris County and his wife Sarah, whose family was claimed to date back to Charlemagne, Emperor of France, Abigal Kitchel (died in 1768), Uzal Kitchel (died in 1813), a Militiaman in the American Revolution and his wife, Anna (died in 1815). Many of these people as well as their ancestors made major contributions to the growth of the surrounding community.

The graves by the old entrance

We were also given a lesson in the construction and care of the old tombstones, some of which were beyond repair. Some of the original grave sites were made from sandstone, marble and granite with granite becoming the popular choice later on. Here and there some of the tombstones were decorated with winged skulls or cherubs. These show morality images of the dead (Whippany Burial Yard pamphlet).

The Post family plot

We were also walking by the river that the graveyard sits on and were told that current erosion is affecting some of the grave sites. These might have to be moved in the future and the tour guide was not sure if any have been lost over the years. The old Presbyterian Church that sat on the site (built in 1718 and removed in 1755) has since disappeared and there is no trace of it now.

The Whippany Burial Yard has many different types of tombstones. This part of the cemetery faces the old Tuttle homestead

At the end of the tour, the guide explained to us that the old Tuttle House, dating back from the late 18th Century was just left to the town by its last owner to be preserved as a museum for the community. The Tuttle house will need a lot of work in the future.

The back of the cemetery facing the Tuttle Homestead

I ended my tour of the cemetery here as the graveyard was closing for the evening but planned on coming back in the future. There are more interesting things to see amongst the tombstones.

The Tuttle Homestead on Route 10 will be a museum in the future

The Tuttle House historical marker

History of the Whippany Burying Yard:

(From the Township of Whippany website/The Township of Hanover Landmark Commission):

The Brokaw Family tablet for care to this cemetery

The Whippany Burying Yard is the oldest graveyard in North Central New Jersey. It contains the oldest dated colonial artifacts in Morris County. It was established in 1718 before the United States was conceived before New Jersey was a state and before Morris County was founded. Two of Morris County’s first governing judges and many Revolutionary War soldiers are buried here.

The Tuttle family homestead

The three and a half acres of land was donated by John Richards for a “meeting house, schoolhouse, burying ground, training field and for public use. Mr. Richards was the first one buried here when he died in 1718. His grave is the oldest in Morris County, NJ.

The Mary Sheldron historical burial site

For the next 200 years, the burying yard was maintained by the members of the Presbyterian Church with which it was closely associated. In 1914, the Presbyterian Church elected trustees for a group that would be known as The Whippany Cemetery Association. They maintained the yard for the next sixty-one years.

The burial ground marker in the cemetery

The graveyard is legally, publicly owned but no particular entity or institution in named in the deed. The grantee is interpreted to be the “Christian friends and neighbors in Whippanong”. It was formally maintained and administered by the Whippany Cemetery Association until its maintenance and administration was transferred to the Township of Hanover in 1976 as an historical site. The Township gave the responsibility for the Burying Yard to its Landmark Commission, where it remains.

The back part of the Whippany Cemetery

The Burying Yard holds about 450 graves that include 11 veterans of the American Revolution, nine Civil War veterans. In 2011, the Burying Yard was listed on both the State and the National Register of Historic Places. When visiting the Yard, you can see that the gravestones are made out of three different materials: sandstone, marble and granite. Visitors can see a 300-year time span of various commemorative styles. The Burying Yard is also home to two prominent families in the area: The Tuttle’s and the Kitchel’s.

The family plots at the Whippany Cemetery

Some of the prominent members buried here are John Richards who was the schoolmaster who donated this land for public use, Abraham Kitchel who was an early settler from Newark, NJ and one of the six original judges of Morris County. Joseph Tuttle Sr., who was a blacksmith, had served as a Colonel of Morris County militia in the French and Indian War and Timothy Tuttle who was a Sergeant of the First Company under Captain Joseph Morris in Lord Sterling’s First Battalion of New Jersey’s First Regiment in Washington’s Continental Army.

The Tuttle House at 341 Route 10:

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=91152

The Tuttle House will be the future museum for Whippany, NJ

This 1796 National Register site is the house of Samuel Tuttle, the grandson of Joseph Tuttle, a Colonel in the Morris Militia. The Tuttle’s were among the first to setting in Hanover and they played an important role in its development.

The historic marker for the Tuttle Homestead

Whippany Railway Museum 1 Railroad Plaza Whippany, NJ 07981

Whippany Railway Museum 1 Railroad Plaza Whippany, NJ 07981

Whippany Railway Museum

1 Railroad Plaza

Whippany, NJ 07981

(973) 887-8177

Front Page

https://www.facebook.com/WhippanyRailwayMuseum/

Open: Sunday 12:00pm-4:00pm/Monday-Saturday Closed/Seasonal

Admission: Please check the website for seasonality

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46925-d3395271-Reviews-Whippany_Railway_Museum-Whippany_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html

The Whippany Railway Museum

I have to say that I was very impressed by the Whippany Railway Museum. It was not one of those usual train museums with bric-a-brac and posters and a uniform here and there. The museum building itself is a highly organized history of the rail system not just in New Jersey but all over the country. It showcases how New Jersey played a big role in the growth of the rail system and how transportation has changed over the last 100 years.

The museum welcoming you to the museum

The museum displays were highly organized and well documented with all sorts of equipment of how a train functions, lighting equipment for the outdoors, and indoor dining, menus and manners for a time when rail was a form of luxury travel. It shows the progression from just transportation for the movement of product to a sleek way to travel from destination to destination.

The Whippany Railway Museum at 1 Railroad Plaza

There are all sorts of everyday items that show how maintenance of the trains have changed over the years and the modernization of the railcars. They have a display on lighting that has changed over the years and the way that communication was done between the trains and the staff. Even the uniforms have not really changed too much over the years.

Race is touched on with the advancement of Blacks in the Pullman coaches as porters and later supervisors. There was even a discussion on the strikes for better pay and working conditions. I thought it was interesting about the discussion of being called a “George”, which was a term for George Pullman, the owner and developer of the luxury cars. It might have been meant as a compliment but came off as a slur. It showed a progression in the field that in some ways has not changed.

The historic railyard with all the cars you can visit

The museum also showed that rail life could be lonely and not the best in working conditions for anyone which is why the unions became so powerful in later years. It also showed the ingenuity of how the rails conquered the West and opened the country up for development. With each stop, towns developed, and populations have changed. You see how this has been affected even today as rail is not as popular as it once was, and these small towns are dying off.

The entrance to the museum

Where the museum really shines and where I saw the most pride is in the rail cars that have come to the yard over the years and have been carefully restored. The Southern Railway No. 385 built in 1907 for faster freight service, the Texaco Fireless Cooker No. 7240 built in 1937 for industrial switching duty and one of the newest steam locomotives still surviving, the U.S. Army No. 4039 built in 1942 for WWII service are just some of the cars on display (Whippany Railway Museum pamphlet).

The inside of the luxury car

The railcar that most impressed me was the Lackawanna Railroad Subscription Club Car No. 2454 that was once known as the “Millionaires Express” (Whippany Railway Museum). The mahogany paneled car carried businessmen from New York City through towns in the middle of New Jersey. What I thought was interesting was the people who rode it (Christie Todd Whitman’s father was a member) and the fact that you had to ‘buy’ the seat, which meant that no one could ever sit in ‘your chair’ if you were not there. This car ran for 72 years finally retiring out in 1984 (probably due to the recession and changing times).

The inside of the museum

I ended up spending about three hours at the museum due to a very detailed tour by one of the volunteers named Mike. He gave the most interesting hour-long tour of each car and how they were renovating it and carefully restoring each one to its historical integrity. He was so detailed and when the other volunteers chimed in with their stories as well, made it a fascinating tour of the whole yard.

When you are visiting the museum, allow time to take this every intensive and detailed tour of the museum grounds and just don’t concentrate on what’s inside the building. The museum spreads out all over the yards and take the time to explore each car and learn its history. It is an educating and fascinating way to spend the afternoon.

The museum modernizes:

The Whippany Museum under new directions

The History of the Whippany Museum:

(From the museum website)

The story of the Whippany Railway Museum began many years ago when the Morris County Central Railroad (MCC) first opened to the public on May 9th, 1965, at Whippany, NJ. On that exciting day a half-century ago, former Southern Railway steam locomotive No. 385 departed Whippany for Morristown, NJ with the MCC’s first trainload of over 400 passengers. At the end of the day over 1,500 people had traveled on a nostalgic trip into railroading’s colorful past. For the next 15 years until it ceased operations in 1980, the MCC would carry on this excellent tradition, leaving memories for untold hundreds of thousands of visitors that would last a lifetime.

The Morris County Central was founded by a New Jersey aerospace technician, the late Earle H. Gil, Sr. of Parsippany. His idea of running steam excursion trains was formed in the late 1950’s when conventional steam railroad operations were fading fast. Gil hoped that a financially successful heritage railroad would justify the great expense involved in keeping one of these magnificent machines alive.

Having acquired No. 385 in 1963 from the 16-mile-long Virginia Blue Ridge Railway (VBR) in rural Piney River, VA, the MCC ran an outstanding operation through the woodlands of suburban New Jersey. In 1966, Gil acquired another VBR steam locomotive, No. 4039 a former US Army 0-6-0 switcher that was soon added to the MCC’s roster of vintage steam-era equipment.

Threatened by development of the property alongside the Whippany Station, the Morris County Central RR saved the Whippany Freight House from demolition in June 1967 by having it moved across four sets of tracks to a site opposite the station building. Originally used by our predecessor organization, Morris County Central Railroad Museum, this classic railroad freight house is now the headquarters of the Whippany Railway Museum.

The Morris County Central was a fine example of what a conscientious group was able to accomplish, with moderate resources and good taste in the preservation of operating steam. It proved that trains, steam locomotives and haunting whistles continue to linger in the minds of the American public.

Fifty years on, the Whippany Railway Museum continues the tradition and proves that it is indeed possible to have a quality operation through much hard work by its dedicated group of volunteers and the tremendous support of the visiting public.

(From the Museum Pamphlet):

Here you can visit the restored, 1904 freight house with its outstanding collection of rail and transportation artifacts and memorabilia. There are dozens of historic railcars and exhibits on view. We are proud to feature the largest collection of American-built standard gauge steam locomotives displayed in New Jersey.

Marvel at one of the oldest steam locomotives in America, the Southern Railway No. 385 built in 1907 for fast freight service, Texaco Fireless Cooker No. 7240, built in 1937 for industrial switching duty and one of the newest stream locomotives still surviving, the U.S. Army No. 4039, built in 1942 for World War II service.

Florham Park Historic Preservation Commission/Little Red Schoolhouse & Hancock Cemetery 203 Ridgedale Avenue Florham Park, NJ 07932

Florham Park Historic Preservation Commission/Little Red Schoolhouse & Hancock Cemetery 203 Ridgedale Avenue Florham Park, NJ 07932

Florham Park Historic Preservation Commission/Little Red Schoolhouse & Hancock Cemetery

203 Ridgedale Avenue

Florham Park, NJ 07932

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community-Organization/Little-Red-Schoolhouse-438800069660078/

The Little Red Schoolhouse – Florham Park’s Pride & Joy
Open: See Website/Seasonal

My review on TripAdvisor:

The Little Red Schoolhouse Museum

I visited the “Little Red Schoolhouse” Museum in Florham Park as part of the Morris County’s “Pathways to History” event that is held every May. This interesting little museum showcases the town’s historical collection of items from the 1800’s and 1900’s dealing with all aspects of town life.

In the back there is a small classroom set up keeping with the theme of the building. This lets students who are visiting the building of their counterpart’s early education with desks, ink wells and chalk boards that have not changed that much over the years.

Not much has changed in the modern classroom over the years

There is early century clothing, farming equipment from the town’s farming past and event Native American objects found in the town and in private collections. Other items included decorative items from the home including dishware, home products and furnishings. Each section of the museum is divided up by lifestyle.

The museum’s historic plaque

The docents that day explained that the items were reflect the town’s past and some came from families that have been in town for years. The museum reflects the community spirit of town’s past. It explains that times have progressed but not changed too much over the years.

The Veteran’s Monument outside the museum

History of the Little Red Schoolhouse Museum:

(From the Museum Website)

By Kat Kurylko, Research Assistant

In 1830, the residents of Columbia, now Florham Park, sought to improve their thriving farming and broom-making community by establishing a public school for the local children. Therefore, a small schoolhouse, Columbia School #5, was built on the corner of Columbia Turnpike and Ridgedale Avenue and dedicated it on February 17th, 1831. Schooling at the “little red frame building” prospered and so by the 1850’s, the building was “in condition of dilapidation rendering it unfit to be occupied” due to overcrowding.

The schoolhouse from the front

On March 1st, 1867, nearly 50 children attended their first class in a new one-room brick schoolhouse. The use of brick added prestige but great expense to the project, accounting for nearly half of the budget. The new building was designed based on principles found in Henry Barnard’s book, “School House Architecture. Much like Thomas Kirkbride’s progressive hospital designs (illustrated locally at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital), Barnard’s method School attendance continued to grow and by 1914, a four-room annex building, which could accommodate 78 students was built on the school’s property and the earlier brick building served as an auditorium. Eventually, the community outgrew both buildings and in 1934, the borough’s current middle school was constructed.

The schoolhouse from the side view

Founded in the 1930’s to preserve the “Little Red Schoolhouse”, the Historical Society of Florham Park now operates the building as a museum. A source of great pride for the local community, the building stands in nearly the same location on the corner of Columbia Turnpike and Ridgedale Avenue, although moved back to accommodate the expansion of Columbia Turnpike. Listed on the NJ and National Registers of Historic Places since the early 1970’s, today the building serves as a reminder of the community’s rural roots.

The “Little Red Schoolhouse” Museum historic plaques

(From the Morris County site):

The Little Red Schoolhouse & Museum:

Florham’s Park’s iconic Little Red Schoolhouse was built in 1866 at a cost $2,250. Its open belfry and gable-end entrance instantly identify it as a typical 19th century one-room schoolhouse. The Italianate one-story narrow red brick masonry building is an architectural marvel with its steep roof, tall windows and elaborate arches.

Inside, part of the museum is set up as a 19th century classroom, where small groups can enjoy a lecture. The museum has a variety of artifacts from the 1800’s and 1900’s, vintage school desks and broom-making equipment. Its location at the historic crossroads of Florham Park has remained a key reminder of the borough’s rural origins. The schoolhouse is a stop each fall on the free “Pathways of History” event (which I was on that day I visited).

Of Special Note:

*In 1978, the schoolhouse was moved back several yards to accommodate the expanded Columbia Turnpike.

*The schoolhouse is also known as Columbia School District Number 5 Schoolhouse.

*The schoolhouse is the borough’s icon, appearing on the town flag, letter head, website and public works and first responder vehicles.