Tag: Historical Sites

Clayton Historical Museum 29 East Avenue Clayton, NJ 08312

Clayton Historical Museum 29 East Avenue Clayton, NJ 08312

Clayton Historical Museum

29 East Avenue

Clayton, NJ 08312

(856) 881-3039

https://claytonhistoric.org

https://www.facebook.com/ClaytonHistoric

Open: Sunday-Friday Closed/Saturday 11:00am-1:00pm (every third Saturday)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/mediabatch/14542111?m=19905

The Clayton Historical Museum at 29 East Avenue

The sign welcoming you to the museum

The Clayton Historical Museum is the perfect example of a community recording and preserving its past and showing the direction of its future through historical timeline of this town. From its place in glass manufacturing the the cheer of its high school, the museum displays the community pride of Clayton, NJ.

It shows how small towns all over New Jersey can preserve their past while still being part of the community at large. Each of the rooms in the museum displays a part of the community and its progression through time.

The first small gallery is dedicated to the uniformed forces that help protect this small community, the majority of the second gallery is dedicated to the glassworks business that once dominated the area and the back gallery displays its community with schools, the business district and the continuation of the glassworks.

The docents and volunteers give you the freedom to walk around but time is limited because the museum is only open for two hours a month plus special events happening in the town.

The History of the Museum:

(From the Museum website)

Clayton Historic Preservation collects personal papers, local business and organization records, photographs, early maps, genealogies, church histories, family Bibles, historic books, newspapers, artifacts and so much more.

The Veteran’s Exhibition in the middle of the museum

Our museum’s archives showcases the heritage and culture of Clayton, allowing visitors to explore and appreciate the town’s fascinating journey. Clayton Historic Museum is a guardian of the borough’s rich heritage, offering visitors a journey through its exhibits and displays (Clayton Historical Society pamphlet).

The entrance hall to the museum

The church artifacts in the first entrance gallery

The Clayton Historic Museum fosters a sense of pride and appreciation for Clayton’s past by preserving artifacts, documenting stories and engaging the community. CHP invites residents and visitors to explore, learn and connect with the borough’s history.

As a testament to the borough’s commitment to preserving its unique identity, CHP is creating an enduring legacy for future generations(Clayton Historical Society pamphlet).

The front gallery dedicated to the town’s First Responders:

The front gallery of Clayton Fire and EMS displays

The Clayton Police and Fire Department displays

The Clayton Police display

The middle gallery is dedicated to the glassworks businesses:

The middle gallery

The glass making industry was a majority of the work force at the turn of the last century and shows New Jersey’s craftsmanship over the years.

The glass milk bottles showing the areas both dairy and glass bottle industries of the past

The back gallery contained a lot of Clayton’s manufacturing and retail history

The glassworks history in the community run deep

The Clayton Glass Works factory at the turn of the last century

Decorative glass was one of its specialties

Creative glass works are part of the extensive collection at the museum

The everyday decorative items were made right here in New Jersey

The main part of the gallery discusses and displays how important the glass industry was to the community and the creativity of the artisans.

The display of the glass blowers chair and the time and effort once part of this craft

The glass blowers chair on display

The museum’s exhibits offer an overview of Clayton’s history, covering various aspects such as industry, agriculture, transportation and daily life.

Collections from The local Clayton High School

The Clayton, NJ local business district businesses

Through an assortment of photgraphs and documents, visitors can explore the Borough’s development.

The beautiful decorative glass on display

The Clayton High School display showing small town pride

The progression of the telephone

The antique Victrola got its start in the Edison labs here in New Jersey

The exhibits provide a deeper understanding of Clayton’s past, fostering an appreciation for the borough’s heritage.

A clipping from the Salem Oak in Salem, NJ is in the yard behind the museum

The Mission Statement of the Museum:

(From the Museum website)

• Acquire and preserve documents, records and relics of the Borough of Clayton, Gloucester County and the State of New Jersey

• Encourage the protection and preservation of the historical landmarks and points of interest

Furnish historical information and documentation to the Borough

• Partner with Clayton Special Events and neighboring Preservation Associations to exchange and display historical related information, documents and artifacts

The middle gallery of the museum’s extensive glassworks collection

Remember that the museum is only open from 11:00am-1:00pm the third Saturday of the month so plan your trip to museum accordingly.

Old Schoolhouse and Firehouse Museum 6 Passaic Avenue Ogdensburg, NJ 07439

Old Schoolhouse and Firehouse Museum 6 Passaic Avenue Ogdensburg, NJ 07439

Old Schoolhouse and Firehouse Museum

6 Passaic Avenue

Ogdensburg, NJ 07439

https://www.sussex.nj.us/561/Old-Schoolhouse-Fire-Museum

https://www.facebook.com/oburghistoricalsocietypage

Ogdensburg Historical Society

Open: Sunday 1:00pm-4:00pm (Only on the forth Sunday of the Month) Monday-Saturday Closed-Check the website for seasonality.

Admission: Free but a donation is appreciated

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/mediabatch/14495681?m=19905

The front of the museum

I recently visited the Ogdensburg Old Schoolhouse and Firehouse Museum at 6 Passaic Avenue in Downtown Ogdensburg and discovered the community’s rich history of farming and mining in its past and its current destination as a weekend vacation spot and a up and coming bedroom community of New York City.

The County still has some farming and agriculture going on as the County continues to be built up with expats from the City, and Bergen and Morris Counties. The first floor is dedicated to the history of the Ogdensburg Fire Department with an old Engine and Ladders trucks, artifacts from the Sterling Mine just up the road and township property such as an old voting booth. You can read about the history of the Ogdensburg family as you head to the outside gallery.

The second floor has displays of various town departments including the Rescue, the Police Department and Fire Department. There are various displays of the town’s school system and various clubs in town. There are displays on the town’s mining and agricultural past with items such as farm advertising and mining equipment and minerals. Each display plays a role in the development of the community and how it progressed from farming to mining to manufacturing to the bedroom community it is today.

History of the Building:

“Built in 1910 as Ogdensburg’s fifth public school, it was adapted for re-use in 1930 as the Borough’s first firehouse replacing the one built in 1872. In 1984, with the aid of two state grants, the Ogdensburg Historical Society adapted it for re-use and dedicated it as the Old Schoolhouse and Firehouse Museum in 1987.

After 97 years, the Museum continues to serve the Borough of Ogdensburg as an historical learning and preservation center, and as a meeting hall.  On June 10, 2006 it was dedicated as an Ogdensburg Historic Site.”

The historic sign of the museum

The Borough of Ogdensburg is the host of this marker commemorating the rich history provided by this building.  This building has been maintained with much thought and care and remains as a museum and meeting place for the residents of the town. The marker is located in front of the building on Passaic Avenue just off Main Street by the Ogdensburg Elementary School.  This marker was part of the 2008 placement (Museum website).

The outside of the museum which served as a school and a firehouse

The first floor of the building has the fire trucks, the history of the fire department and Ogdensburg’s 250th Anniversary of the United States on display.

The museum artifacts from the 250th celebration of the Country

The museum is on the heart of mining country of Sussex County, NJ and the museum has an interesting mineral collection along with their collection of mining artifacts.

The Mineral and Mining Collection

The museum being home to the Ogdensburg Fire Department contains the history of the local fire department along with vehicles and artifacts from the department.

https://www.facebook.com/oburgfd

Fire Department

The history of the Ogdensburg Fire Department

One of the early Ladder Trucks

The history of the department

One of the early Engine Trucks

The history of the department

One of the early pull hose beds pulled by men and then by horses

The first floor also contains the history of the Ogden family in the region.

The history of the Ogden family in the community

The town voting booth and a turn of the last century phone

The second floor gallery used to serve as offices and living space of the fire department.

The main gallery on the second floor

The gallery case lines are filled with memorabilia from different aspects of the community telling the story of the growth of the community that included Mining and Farming. It explains the growth into the modern suburbs of today. This includes the Fire and Police and Rescue Departments, the School System and cultural events in the community.

The main gallery on the second floor of the museum

The main gallery on the second floor

The display case of Ogdensburg departments including school, fire and police departments

The display of the Ogdensburg Police Department

https://www.facebook.com/people/Ogdensburg-NJ-Police-Department/61590226020577

Police Department

The display of the Ogdensburg First Aid Squad

Blanket with historical sites and artifacts of the town of Ogdensburg, NJ

The businesses including schools and the domestic and farming industries

Each of the display cases represented different aspects of the town and has a variety of pictures and memorabilia from a variety of eras. The case lines show how the community changed over time from a mining community to the changes of a bedroom community of Newark and New York City.

The school system with classes and sports teams

https://www.obboe.org/apps/events

Household, town and business artifacts

Military and early Native American artifacts

The Glenbrook Farm Milk Bucket

The Domestic home display

The Entertainment display of recorders, phonographs, radios and early record players

The influence that Thomas Edison had on the community with new technology. Several pieces of Thomas A. Edison memorabilia are on exhibit to honor the ten years Edison spent mining iron ore at the old Edison Ore Milling Company on Sparta Mountain. Several of his phonographic inventions were created here (Ogdensburg Historical Society website).

Close up view of record players and Victrola’s

The Ogdensburg School system display

The Ogdensburg Presbyterian Church display of artifacts from inside the church

The NJ Zinc Mine display with minerals and equipment

The NJ Zinc Mine and Mineral display is a small s as molding of the museum down the street and the importance of the mining industry at the turn of the last century.

A closer look at the minerals display

A replica of a working mine operation. The machine shows how workers descending and brought up rock from the mines.

The Dedication to Mr. Waco Hadowantez, the town historian

The last display as you leave the museum is dedicated to the man who founded the historical society, Waco Hadowantez.

The museum tells an interesting story of the history of Ogdensburg and the surrounding area. It shows the importance of the Mining Community at the turn of the last century and how the community is pivoting towards tourism to tell its story.

Please contact the museum directly for seasonal hours and tours.

Lewes Life Saving Station & Museum 2 Shipcarpenter Street Lewes, DE 19958

Lewes Life Saving Station & Museum 2 Shipcarpenter Street Lewes, DE 19958

Lewes Life Saving Station & Museum

2 Shipcarpenter Street

Lewes, DE. 19958

(302) 645-7670

U.S. Life-Saving Service Boat House
Exploring the History of Life Saving Stations in Lewes

Open: Sunday-Tuesday Closed/Wednesday-Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm (In Season April 1st-October 11th-closed the rest of the year)

Admission: Free but a $5.00 donation is appreciated

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34028-d17640480-r1060547919-Lewes_Life_Saving_Station_Museum-Lewes_Delaware.html?m=19905

The back of the Lewes Lifeguard Station Museum

The description sign up front

I recently visited Lewes, DE for ‘Maritime Day’ by the harbor and there were a lot of interesting booths on the watersheds, environmental agencies that discussed their purpose with harbor issues and what the town of Lewes does for the environment.

The historic Blizzard from 1888

History of the Lewes Life Saving Station & Museum:

(From Historic Lewes.com)

It was also a busy station, guarding both the mouth of Delaware Bay and the protected waters created by the massive breakwaters of the National Harbor of Refuge. Its string of Keepers and their six- or seven-man crews of Surfmen enacted scores of rescues through the years and in particular won great praise for their tireless heroics during the Great White Hurricane of 1888, when they pulled scores of sailors from the frigid waters and iced-over hulks of wrecked vessels to safety.

The front of the museum

The History of the Lewes Lifeguard Museum:

(From the Historic Lewes.com)

The United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS) protected the American coast and saved lives in peril at sea from 1871 until 1915, when it became a part of the new United States Coast Guard (USCG). This incredible humanitarian mission came to Lewes in 1884, making it the fourth of six stations to be established in Delaware. Lewes was among the most desirable stations for the Keepers and Surfmen who manned it, with its original location on the site of the present-day Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal placing it not far from town and therefore civilization.

The view of the harbor which has changed over the years

I spent my time touring the Lewes Lifeguard Museum, which is an interesting little museum on the history of life saving along the Delaware coast. The museum’s artifacts show some of the earliest and innovative forms of rescue equipment from before the Civil War. This was the precursor to the United States Coast Guard.

The inside of the museum

The lower part of the museum contained most of the equipment, items like rescue ropes, wenches, rescue apparatus, lanterns and uniforms like jackets and boots.

Pulled and equipment used to rescue stranded people

History of the Lewes Historical Museum:

(Historic Lewes.com)

The United States Coast Guard maintained the Station Lewes from 1915 until 1969, when it was closed, declared surplus, and sold. The original main station building was relocated numerous times and still stands today, heavily modified, as the Rehoboth Beach VFW. The Boat House preserved by Historic Lewes, a unique 1884 addition to the USLSS station intended to launch lifeboats on a marine railway directly into the harbor, was acquired from the Pilots’ Association of the Bay & River Delaware in 1979 and moved to its present home at Canalfront Park. It stands proudly beside the Lightship OVERFALLS (LV-118), together commemorating the nation’s and community’s efforts to preserve life on hazardous waters.

The bullies and wenches used by the men

Information in the Lewes Life Saving Station

Biography of the men who worked there

Information on the Boat House

Some of the ropes and wenches used in the rescue procedures

On the other side of the building was the rescue boat the ‘Life Car’, a rudimentary form of rescue boat that the docents said was effective but clunky and hard to use. It shows how we have progressed in life saving.

The Life Car rescue unit

Information on the ‘Life Car’

The ‘Life Car’

The ores and other rescue equipment used

The small rope cannon

The ores

The rope equipment

The story of the ‘Great White Hurricane of March 1888’

The Men’s Dining area in the front of the building

There was no living area in the facility but a place to gather the team, eat and socialize when manning the station.

History of Lewes Lifeguard Museum:

(From the Lewes Lifeguard.com)

Guests visiting the USLSS Boat House today will find it furnished just as Keeper John Clampitt and his courageous Surfmen left it on March 12, 1888, as they pushed out into the roaring gale and whipping snow for their finest hours. It also features a display of early life-saving equipment, including the rope-and-pulley Breeches Buoy rescue system, a steel life-car, and a rare 1887 Long Branch, New Jersey-style surfboat under restoration.

The dining area and the schedule

The dining room table

The Lewes Life Saving Station & Museum is an example of early beach and shipping rescue at the East Coast Shore. It also shows the daily life of these brave men and how lonely and dangerous this job could be. It shows how times have progressed and how they have stayed the same. To save people and property.

Sturr Family Cemetery 375 Pulis Avenue Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

Sturr Family Cemetery 375 Pulis Avenue Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

Sturr Family Cemetery

375 Pulis Avenue

Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2227047/sturr-family-cemetery

https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/STURR

My review on TripAdvisor:

The Sturr Family Cemetery sits on a bend of the driveway of the Chabad Jewish Center of Northwest Bergen County and is a small cemetery that once sat on the edge of the J.H, Sturr farm.

The Sturr Family Cemetery

The farmhouse of the Sturr Family sits on the lot across the street from the cemetery property. This is located on a small buff on what was the edge of the farm.

The Sturr Family cemetery tombstones

The tombstones of the Courter and Carlouch family members

The grave of William Courter

The only visible tombstones that are left in the cemetery are an Ackerman family member, Anny Ackerman and members of the Courter and the Carlouch family’s (who must have married into the family).

The Ackerman family tombstones (the one to the right was unreadable)

The other tombstones are broken and no one is sure who is buried where in the cemetery.

The History of the Cemetery:

(From Find a Grave website)

The cemetery is located in Franklin Township, Bergen County, New Jersey, on what was once the family farm of J.H. Sturr. As of October 1991 only 6 markers were still remaining.

The Sturr Family Cemetery in full view

History of the House:

(From the Franklin Lakes Municipal Website)

H. Sturr House or Blue Meadow Farm
Built 1860
378 Pulis Avenue, Block 1510, Lot 8
Franklin Lakes, New Jersey 07417 

The Sturr House – also known as Blue Meadow Farm -is a handsome and little altered example of mid 19th century vernacular architecture which incorporates several stylistic elements such as gable returns and frieze area of the early 19th century Greek Revival style. The Borough of Franklin Lakes lists the erection year of the house as 1860. 

The façade of this 2 ½ story house consists of clapboard. The front porch has five bays with square posts and a rectangular entrance door with rectangular sidelights. Two tall 1st story windows are on one side of the porch. A single hitching post with iron rings sits in front of the porch stairs. The building has a frieze area with linear design. Semi-circular headed louvered vents are in all gable ends. The rear of the house has a one story wing.  There is a detached garage to the west side of the house as well as a round frame well. Further west of the house is a stable which has been extensively remodeled and converted into a residence in recent times. The house combined with associated structures is a significant remnant of the large farmsteads which ones dotted the Borough’s landscape prior to the recent suburban housing boom.

History of the Family:

(From the Franklin Lakes Municipal website)

This Sturr house and the nearby more altered house at 402 Pulis Avenue were duplicate structures and were probably built around the same time by members of the Sturr family. The 19th century Sturr family was descended from Conraedt Sturr who purchased 190 acres of land in this area with John Coeter from Robert Livingston in 1793.

The non-extant homestead and mill was located at present-day 930 Old Mill Road. It is known that Henry Sturr, the son of Conraedt, had a fanning mill at this location in 1850. In a will dated 1852 he bequeathed his property and mill to his grandsons John, Henry, and Daniel (Maria Braun – 1976 page 26 & 27).

The property along Pulis Avenue upon which these houses are situated was probably included in this will since the homes were built around the mid-19th century. Future deed research is recommended to identify the original builder and the construction date of the house (1861: H. Sturr, 1876 Estate of H.M. Sturr). Presently the house is privately owned and occupied.