NJ Weekend Historical Happenings: 2/22/20 - 2/23/20

 New Jersey Weekend Historical Happenings

A Weekly Feature on www.thehistorygirl.com

Want to submit an event? Use our event submission form.

Saturday, February 22 - Franklin Township, Somerset County
George Washington's Birthday

Come celebrate George Washington's 288th birthday at Rockingham on Saturday. While Washington will be present only in spirit (and in the form of a wonderful life-sized mannequin in an exactingly recreated uniform), visitors who tour his last wartime headquarters will learn about his life and times, before, during and after his careers as commander of the Continental Army and first president of the United States.

Visitors can listen to fiddle music, courtesy of James Kurzenberger, and perhaps dance a step or two; participate in a mini scavenger hunt and count the Washington (George and Martha) tchotchkes; pick up a child’s activity pamphlet to go. After the tour, enjoy cake and punch in Rockingham's kitchen.

Tours will be offered from 1:00 - 4:00 pm on the hour and, possibly, half-hour if needed. (The last tour will be at 3:00 or 3:30 pm, accordingly). Because the size of tours will be limited, reservations will be necessary to guarantee admittance. Please call 609-683-7132 for reservations. A donation of $5 is suggested.

Please note that the regular history of the house will not be emphasized during these special tours, but visitors are always welcome to visit the house on another day for a normal tour. Washington, commander in chief for the Continental Army during the American Revolution, stayed at Rockingham from late August to early November in 1783. It became his final wartime headquarters when the Treaty of Paris was formally signed while he resided there.

Rockingham is located on Rte. 603 (Laurel Ave./Kingston-Rocky Hill Rd.), one mile north of Route 27 in Kingston and one mile south of Route 518 in Rocky Hill.  For more information, call 609-683-7132 or visit www.rockingham.net.

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Saturday, February 22 and 29 - Hopewell Township, Mercer County
Maple Sugaring
Children Friendly Event

Sugaring time arrives in late winter at Howell Farm and operations are in full swing. Visitors are invited to join the work and fun with sap collection, firewood cutting, syrup making, butter making, flour milling and pancake eating.

The trees are tapped beginning in early February. School groups, visitors and farm staff collect and boil down sap for several weeks. The sugar maple tree stores starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Freezing nights and thawing days make for heavy sap flow. The trees are tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap beginning in early February. The sap is then processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.

Sap gathering will take place at 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm. Tree tapping demonstrations will be held at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 3:00 pm.

Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit www.howellfarm.org.

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Saturday, February 22 - Holmdel, Monmouth County
Stitches in Time
Ages 7+

On Saturday, join the staff at Historic Longstreet Farm in Holmdel for an informal session on hand-sewing basics - learn five simple stitches for quick repairs, or bring a project with you to work on as we converse. You can borrow our sundries or bring your own. This is a great chance to start a new hobby or get started on those mending projects in a no-pressure environment. Open to ages 7 and up. This free events run from 12:30 - 2:30 pm.

Historic Longstreet Farm is located at 44 Longstreet Road, Holmdel, NJ. For more information, call 732-946-3758 or visit www.monmouthcountyparks.com.

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Saturday, February 22 - Cape May, Cape May County
Emlen Physick Estate Tour
Family Friendly Tour

Take a guided tour of Cape May's Emlen Physick Estate, the magnificent Stick Style mansion attributed to renowned Victorian architect Frank Furness. A tour of the 15 beautifully restored rooms gives you a glimpse into the lifestyle of this Victorian-era Cape May family. Physick Estate Tours take approximately 45 minutes and end with a visit to the 1876 Carriage House where you can see the current exhibit in the Carroll Gallery. Tours will be at 12:30 and 1:45 pm on Saturday. Admission is $15 for adults, $8 for children (ages 3-12). Tickets can be purchased at the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington Street, Cape May, NJ. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information and to reserve tickets, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Saturday, February 22 - Lower Township, Cape May County
Climb the Cape May Lighthouse
Family Friendly Site

The Cape May Lighthouse is an 1859 structure with 199 steps to the watch gallery for a panoramic view of the Jersey Cape and Atlantic Ocean. For those who choose not to climb, the Oil House contains a fully-accessible Visitors' Orientation Center and a Museum Shop stocked with maritime accessories and lighthouse memorabilia. Open 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm on Saturday. Cape May Point State Park is located in Lower Township, NJ. Admission to the Visitors' Orientation Center and the ground floor of the lighthouse is free. Tower admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children (ages 3-12). Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Saturday - Sunday, February 22 - 23 - Cape May, Cape May County
Cape May Historic District Trolley Tour

Enjoy a 45 minute guided tour with entertaining and enlightening stories about the nation's oldest seaside resort and how it survived. Accessible trolley available with advance notification. Tours begin and end at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth.

Adults $15 and children (ages 3-12) $8. Tours on Saturday at 11:45 am and 1:00 pm and Sunday at 1:00 pm. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information and to reserve tickets, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Saturday - Sunday, February 22 - 23 - Cape May, Cape May County
Physick Estate Scavenger Hunt
Family Friendly


Have an adventure the whole family will enjoy at the 1879 Emlen Physick Estate! Use our map to explore the grounds and find the answers to questions about the Physick family and life in Victorian times on this educational scavenger hunt. Turn in your answer sheet at the Carriage House Museum Shop and receive a prize!

Free; donations accepted. Maps and clues available at the Hill House office or the Carriage House Visitors Center at the Emlen Physick Estate. The Emlem Physick Estate is located at 1048 Washington Street, Cape May, NJ. Sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). For more information and to reserve tickets, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.

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Sunday, February 23 - Princeton, Mercer County
Historic Princeton Walking Tour
Children Friendly Tour

Enjoy a 1.9 mile, two-hour walk around downtown Princeton and the University campus as you learn about historic sites in the area, including Bainbridge House, Nassau Hall, the University Chapel, and Palmer Square. The early history of Princeton, the founding of the University, and the American Revolution are just some of the stories from Princeton’s history that you will learn on your tour.

Admission: $7 per adult; $4 children ages 6 to 12; free for children age 5 and under. Tours begin in front of the Bainbridge House, 158 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ. Tour begins at 2:00 pm and ends at 4:00 pm. Walk up ticket sales are cash only; guides cannot provide change. Space is limited. For more information and to reserve tickets, call 609-921-6748 or visit www.princetonhistory.org.

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Sunday, February 23 - Maplewood, Essex County
"Dirty Rivers and the New Jersey Water Crisis of 1876"

New Jersey has long depended on rivers and reservoirs for much of its drinking water. By 1876 when northern New Jersey, such as the City of Newark, was heavily industrialized and densely populated, the water supply had become a crisis. 

Although people had known for centuries that there was a link between pure water and good health, a clear link between contaminated wells and a specific disease outbreak was not demonstrated until London's cholera outbreaks of 1854 and 1857. Louis Pasteur would not publish his own pioneering work, Germ Theory and Its Applications to Medicine and Surgery until 1878. There was at the time, however, a growing body of evidence that illnesses could be caused by “organized and living organic matter.” Many scientists were convinced that water was the medium through which diseases were spread. 

In the summer of 1876, a committee of the desperate northern New Jersey mayors asked the State Geologist to help find new water sources. Many cities such as Newark relied on the Passaic River which, by 1874, could not supply potable water anywhere below the city of Paterson. The search for new supplies of pure water was hampered because the germ theory of disease was far from complete and the science of public health was still in its infancy.

The Geological Survey recommended the upper Passaic River basin as the new source of domestic water. Their recommendations lead directly to the construction of reservoirs in northern New Jersey. Today there are 13 major reservoirs in with a combined storage capacity of 76.2 billion gallons.

This fascinating talk “Dirty Rivers and the New Jersey Water Crisis of 1876” on Sunday at 2:00 pm by Kevin Olsen, chemist for Montclair University’s Passaic River Institute, focuses on how this decision was made despite an incomplete understanding of water chemistry and only a vague understanding of water-borne bacteria. As an historian, Olsen has published a number of papers related to chemical history and New Jersey’s maritime history. He is the author of A Great Conveniency, Maritime History of the Hackensack River, Passaic River, and Newark Bay.

This is also the final opportunity to see the popular exhibit, Exploring Golf Island.

Check out our Country Store’s historic-themed treasures: early American games, books, and toys; facsimile documents; quill pens and ink; historic cookbooks; cookie molds; tin lanterns; and reproductive decorative items and ceramics. There is local honey and the Original 1910 Chocolate Fudge Sauce. You’ll also discover the hard-to-find original Doors of Maplewood poster, Smile, the history of Olympic Park, and the new acid-free reproduction of the charming 1931 map of Maplewood.

Durand-Hedden House is dedicated to telling the history of the development of Maplewood, New Jersey and the surrounding area in new and engaging ways. It is located in Grasmere Park at 523 Ridgewood Road in Maplewood, New Jersey. For more information, call 973-763-7712 or visit www.durandhedden.org.

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Sunday, February 23 - Chatham, Morris County
John and Abigail Adams: A Love Story

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Sunday, February 23 - Greenwich, Cumberland County
Tidal Wave

Join the Cumberland County Historical Society on Sunday from 2:00 - 4:00 pm as Drew Tomlin, discussed his book Tidal Wave. This is the little-known story from November 25, 1950, a day that the New Jersey Bayshore residents have never forgotten. On that fateful day, storm conditions resulted in a devastating tidal wave that destroyed communities and took lives. Fifteen people along the Delaware Bayshore died that day and approximately 2,500 people were displaced. Homes were destroyed, boats and vehicles floated away, and property damage was devastating. Residents carried their memories of this event with them as time went on, and many still share their stories with one another, their families and friends. As years passed the events of this day became the best-known secret of the Bayshore area. Now, firsthand accounts of the Tidal Wave serve as a cautionary tale concerning disaster preparedness, poor housing practices and environmental injustice. The program will be held at the Warren and Reba Lummis Genealogical and Historical Library located at 981 Ye Greate Street in Greenwich, NJ. For more information, visit www.cchistsoc.org.

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Sunday, February 23 - East Brunswick, Middlesex County
"The History of East Brunswick"

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Sunday, February 23 - Fieldsboro, Burlington County
Tours of White Hill Mansion

Over the years plenty of people have lived their lives at the White Hill Mansion. Some of them may still be here.  On Sunday, learn about the people who lived and died in this 300 year old estate from 1:00 - 3:00 pm with the Friends of the White Hill Mansion. Tours are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors/veterans, and FREE for members, Active Military (and their families), Fieldsboro residents, and children under 14. The tours last approximately 45-60 minutes. White Hill Mansion is located at 217 4th Street, Fieldsboro, NJ. For more information, e-mail whitehillinfo@yahoo.com or visit www.whitehillmansion.com.

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Sunday, February 23 - River Edge, Bergen County
Washington's Birthday

Dance mistress Denise Piccino and the Tricorne Dancers will give two one hour public performances in the Steuben House at 1:30 and 3:00 pm on Sunday. The one-hour program will tell the story of General Washington’s life through song and dance.  Ridley & Anne Enslow will provide musical accompaniment on fiddle and hammered dulcimer. In between performances meet the General and Martha Washington portrayed by Rodger Yaden and Sue Braisted.

Also, in the Steuben House will be an exhibit featuring the society’s Washington Centennial Quilt. All three 18th century Jersey Dutch sandstone houses are open for tours throughout the day. The Black Horse Inn will also be open where visitors may purchase refreshments and visit the gift shop.

The society’s authentic Jersey Dutch out-kitchen will be open with interpreters demonstrating open hearth cooking featuring meal items that General Washington might have eaten during his stay at New Bridge in 1780 and recipes from Martha’s cookbook. Re-enactors from the 3 rd New Jersey Regiment will be on site demonstrating military life. Children’s activities include making a tri-corner hat and a scavenger hunt.

So celebrate the 288th anniversary of Washington’s Birthday at Historic New Bridge Landing, where General George Washington made his headquarters in September 1780, when Continental troops encamped between Van Saun Park in River Edge and Soldier Hill Road in Oradell. A tiger-stripe maple bedstead, reputedly used in a local home where George Washington stayed during the 1780 Steenrapie Encampment, is displayed in the Demarest House. The room in the Steuben House where Washington stayed for ten days during the Steenrapie Encampment is also open for viewing.

Historic New Bridge Landing is an American Revolutionary War Battleground including 3 Jersey-Dutch sandstone houses, exhibits, tavern, gift shop and outkitchen (Barn closed in cold weather). Admission: $12 adults, $7 students, BCHS members free. Dogs are permitted on the grounds but not in houses. Parking can be found in parking area at the corner of Main Street and Hackensack Avenue, River Edge. An ADA compliant stonedust path connects the three houses and parking area! No parking will be available at the Steuben House. Historic New Bridge Landing is located at 1201 Main Street, River Edge, NJ. For more information, call 201-343-9492 or visit www.bergencountyhistory.org.

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Sunday, February 23 - Hopewell Township, Mercer County
Kickoff Event to Celebrate Hopewell Township's 320th Anniversary

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Through Tuesday, March 3, 2020 -  Morristown, Morris County
Keeping Warm in the 19th Century

During the last half of the 19th century, the northeastern U.S. was pounded by massive blizzards that dropped four to five feet of snow in many parts of the country and temperatures so frigid that the East River froze over more than a dozen times. To cope with these weather extremes, our Victorian ancestors had only a fireplace or their clothing to shield them from the cold.

Morris County Historical Society’s new exhibit, “Warmest Winter Fashions, 1860-1900,” highlights nearly two dozen cold weather garments worn by adults and children, including coats, muffs, and capes.

Designed to complement the 30 garments already on display, “Warmest Winter Fashions” will be available from through Tuesday, March 3.

Before visiting Acorn Hall, check Groupon for discounted tickets with an optional MCHS Family Membership. The membership is a perfect gift or to keep for yourself. Acorn Hall is now open for tours, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

Acorn Hall is located at 68 Morris Avenue, Morristown, NJ. Admission, which includes the exhibits, is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for students, and is free for children under 12 and MCHS members. For more information, call 973-267-3465 or visit www.MorrisCountyHistory.org.

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Through Saturday, March 28, 2020 -  Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County
100 Years of Women's Suffrage

The Lebanon Township Museum is pleased to announce a two-month celebration of 100 Years of Women's Suffrage with a multi-faceted exhibit and a number of exciting and informative events. Below is a list of the line-up for both February and March. Please mark your calendars and join us in honoring this historic centennial!

100 YEARS OF SUFFRAGE: A Celebration in Quilts created by The Courthouse Quilters on display from February 1 through March 28. The Courthouse Quilters are a non-profit 501(c)(3) whose purpose includes preserving and promoting the history of quilting and supporting charitable activities.

Opening Reception with special guest Rielly Karsh of Moms Running on Saturday, February 1 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Light refreshments served.

Rightfully Hers: American Women and Vote Pop-Up Exhibit on loan from the National Archives & Record Administration from February 1 through February 27.

Sash Making Parties -- All skill levels are invited to sew their own Suffragist Sashes while enjoying a presentation entitled When Women Gather: "Women's Work" and Activism on Thursday, February 20 from 6:30 - 8:00 pm and Saturday February 22 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. There will be a small fee to cover costs, email, or visit www.lebanontownship.net/services/museum.aspx for more information.

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Through Saturday, March 28, 2020 -  Paterson, Passaic County
"Thus Shall They Upward, Onward Press:" An Exploration of the History of African Americans in Paterson from 1600-Present

The Paterson Museum is excited to announce the opening of its newest changing exhibit, “Thus Shall They Upward, Onward Press:” An Exploration of the History of African Americans in Paterson from 1600-Present. Installed in honor of Black History Month, the exhibit is a survey of the accomplishments of many of Paterson’s African American citizens. The exhibit will feature some familiar citizens, such as Larry Doby, but visitors will also learn some individuals like Dr. Norman Cotton, Minerva Miller and Henry Otis Harris who also made an impact on our community. The exhibit will be in place from Wednesday February 5th through Saturday March 28th in the Hannah Memorial Gallery.

Please join us at the Museum on Saturday, February 8, 2020 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm for the opening reception. The program will be led by Paterson Free Public Library Director Corey Fleming and will feature a reading by Talena Lachelle Queen, Poet Laureate of Paterson of Paterson.

The exhibit will be on display at the Paterson Museum, located at 2 Market Street (on the corner of Market and Spruce Streets) in the heart of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. For more information about this event, or to learn more about the Paterson Museum, visit https://patersonmuseum.com.

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Through June 28, 2020 - Trenton, Mercer County
Preserving the Pinelands: Albert Horner’s Portraits of a National Treasure

The New Jersey State Museum is hosting  Preserving the Pinelands: Albert Horner’s Portraits of a National Treasure from through June 28, 2020 in the 1st floor East Gallery. The exhibit features images which capture the quiet beauty and intimate landscapes of New Jersey’s Pinelands National Reserve by photographer Albert Horner, and artifacts from the NJ State Museum’s collections which tell just some of the stories of the land, animals, people, and industries that make the Reserve a state and national treasure. Horner, a self-taught photographer from Medford Lakes, brings curiosity, reverence and a practiced eye to his craft, recording the forests, cedar swamps, meandering waterways and native wildflowers that make the Pinelands unique. In addition to being home to rare plant and animal species, the Reserve also contains archaeological sites and a vibrant cultural history of craftspeople, industry and agriculture.

The museum is open Tuesday - Sunday from 9:00 am to 4:45 pm. It is closed Mondays and on state holidays. The New Jersey State Museum is located at 205 West State Street, Trenton, NJ. For more information, 609-292-6300 or visit www.state.nj.us/state/museum/index.html.

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Through June 28, 2020 -  Piscataway, Middlesex County
Mid-Century New Jersey Exhibit

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Through 2020 - Ocean Township, Monmouth County

"Votes for Women: The Story of Suffrage"

When the Founders crafted the U.S. Constitution, they gave the authority to decide who could vote to the states. All but one decided it would be men—white, property-owning men, 21 years old and older.

The one exception was New Jersey. For the first few decades of our new nation, property-owning women in New Jersey could vote. But in 1807, state legislators took a step backward and rescinded the right. New Jersey women joined their sisters across the country who were shut off from the ballot.

The new exhibit, “Votes for Women: The Story of Suffrage” opening in the Woolley House, Sunday, tells of the remarkable campaign waged by women across the country to gain (and for New Jersey women, to regain) the vote.

The Start of a Movement
Most historians mark the start of the American suffrage movement from the 1848 Women’s Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Both women had discovered their political voice fighting for the abolition of slavery. Both had felt the sting of being shut out by male-dominated leadership. They were outraged, frustrated, and ready to take on the status quo. 

The status quo at the time was a sorry mess for women. Not only were they barred from public speaking and leadership positions, but married women could not own property, keep their own wages, or enter into any legal contract. Women were shut out of most professions. Divorce was near impossible, even in cases of abuse. A woman’s place was in the home—often an inherited home whose title had been ceded to her husband.

In 1851, three years after the Seneca Falls conference, Elizabeth Cady Stanton met Susan B. Anthony. Though strikingly unlike in appearance and temperament, they became lifelong friends. Together, they made a formidable team that reigned for more than 50 years as the iconic leaders of the suffrage movement.

Anthony and Stanton travelled the country making speeches and gathering support. When Stanton, mother of seven, cut back on travel, she stayed hard a work—writing Anthony’s speeches, organizing supporters, even rewriting the Bible from a feminist perspective.

Both women were bitterly disappointed when Congress refused, following the Civil War, to expand the language of the 15th Amendment to bar discrimination in voting based on both race and sex. Their outrage generated harsh statements from these former abolitionists that created a lasting racial rift among suffragists.

Anthony and Stanton did not give up. In 1878, they pushed for a 16th Amendment to guarantee women the right to vote. The “Susan B. Anthony Amendment,” as it became known, failed in this first attempt and was introduced anew to each session of Congress for the next 42 years! The (by then) 19th Amendment, granting women’s suffrage, was finally ratified in 1920.

They Didn’t Live to see It
Neither Stanton nor Anthony lived to see passage. Their efforts fell short of their goals. But the inroads they gained, the organizations they created, and the national awareness they built set the stage for the next generation—the early 20th century activists who carried the campaign for women’s suffrage to victory.

The Second Wave
Among this second wave of suffragists were the daughters of Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott—and newcomers, including Carrie Chapman Catt and New Jersey native Alice Paul. Catt and Paul were rivals. Their strategies and styles were at odds. Catt favored local campaigns to change state voting laws. She thought militant demonstration unpatriotic after the U.S. entered World War I in 1917.

In contrast, Paul took the fight for a U.S. Constitutional amendment to President Wilson’s doorstep. She lead an 18-month long picketing campaign at the gates to the White House. She welcomed arrest and used the mistreatment of imprisioned suffragists to build public sympathy. Faced with a public relations nightmare, Wilson gave in and threw his support in favor of the federal amendment.

Passage of the Anthony Amendment was “the greatest expansion of democracy on a single day the world had ever seen” (Eleanor Clift, Founding Sisters).

The Township of Ocean Historical Museum, founded in 1984, is a member-supported, non-profit organization. Its headquarters, the Eden Woolley House, is one of the few 18th century structures still in existence in the Township and is open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (1:00 - 4:00 pm), Thursday evenings (7:00 - 9:00 pm - March 15 through December 15 each year) and the first and second Sundays of each month (1:00 - 4:00 pm). The Museum also maintains a library and archive, which houses manuscripts, books, and photographs of historical and genealogical interest. For more information, call 732-531-2136 or visit www.OceanMuseum.org.

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Through September 13, 2020 - Trenton, Mercer County
Fine Feathered Friends: Birds as Mainstay and Muse

Birds are everywhere. They occupy our forests, farms, parks, beaches, backyards, and even our homes. It’s no wonder that they have achieved substantial cultural and historical significance.

Through nearly 200 rarely seen objects from the State Museum’s Cultural History and Natural History collections, Fine Feathered Friends explores the wild, wonderful world of birds and their impact on the New Jersey decorative arts. Three bodies of material culture inspired by birds illustrate the premise—needlework samplers, hand-carved duck and shorebird decoys, and the porcelain birds of Trenton ceramist Edward Marshall Boehm.

Birds also inspired New Jersey’s notable decoy-carving tradition, which was also influenced by the state’s location on a key flyway for migrating ducks and shorebirds. A coastal carving tradition centered on Barnegat Bay. A Delaware River tradition developed in river towns near Trenton. What began as a hunting tool evolved into a folk art tradition. Carvers taught their children, who then taught their own children.

In addition to samplers and decoys, the exhibit also explores the magnificent work of Edward Marshall Boehm. Boehm loved birds so much that he built huge aviaries on the grounds of his Titusville, New Jersey home. This allowed him to study the anatomy and habits of his fine feathered friends. At his studio in Trenton, Boehm replicated the avian world in hard-paste porcelain. Boehm’s birds are exhibited side by side with scientific taxidermy mounts and study skins of the same species

The New Jersey State Museum is located at 205 West State Street, Trenton, NJ. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:00 am - 4:45 pm; closed Mondays and all state holidays. Admission is FREE, but donations are always encouraged. For more information, call 609-292-6300 or visit www.state.nj.us/state/museum.

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Through Late November/Early December 2020 - Salem, Salem County

“Hidden History: Unique and Rare Stories of Salem County”

The Salem County Historical Society is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibit entitled, “Hidden History: Unique and Rare Stories of Salem County.” Throughout the history of our region, the diversity of our residents along with their creativity, knowledge, and skills has prompted the development, manufacture and composition of many unique and rare objects and records. Over all these years, whether on a trek to settle here or leaving here for an adventure in the world at large, Salem County residents have traveled thousands of miles. When they traveled, our predecessors would bring to Salem County an object or a story that has become a part of our collective history.

Since the founding of the Salem County Historical Society in 1884, residents, families and friends have donated hundreds of these uncommon and irreplaceable objects to the Society collections. 

Our current exhibit offers a look at some of the most unique and rare items and the stories behind the objects. This eclectic exhibit includes artifacts that have not been displayed to the public for many years and are on display with newly researched backstories that provide further insight into the unique and rare history of Salem County. Concurrently, a new exhibit memorializing our Old Salem Oak Tree will open to the public. This exhibit is in a dedicated room displaying numerous Salem Oak objects, including; old and new artwork, objects made from wood of the oak tree, and past and recent photographs.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12;00 noon - 4:00 pm. Admission is $5 per person for non-members. The Salem County Historical Society is located at 83 Market Street, Salem, NJ. For more information, call 856-935-5004 or visit www.salemcountyhistoricalsociety.com.

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Some event listings courtesy of the League of Historical Societies of New Jersey