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estival (12-5pm) A Service of the Board of Chosen Freeholders F (10am-5pm) Through History Four 20062006 A Journey eritage H Sunday October 22nd Saturday October 21st Saturday October Union County's Weekend Centuries Visit these sites year-round Union County We're Connected to You! We're in a Recipient of the New Jersey Governor's Heritage Tourism Award Tourism Heritage Governor's Jersey Recipient of the New Four Union County Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202 Centuries 908-558-2550 NJ Relay 711 [email protected] in a Weekend It’s a free Ticket to Union County History! 2006 Heritage Festival Saturday October 21st (10am-5pm) Sunday October 22nd (12-5pm) A service of the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders - We're Connected to You! Alexander Mirabella Bette Jane Kowalski Angel G. Chester Adrian O. Rick Deborah P. Daniel P. Nancy Chairman Vice Chair Estrada Holmes Mapp Proctor Scanlon Sullivan Ward Contents County of Union Board of Chosen Freeholders Welcome 1 How to use this booklet 2 Alexander Mirabella, Chairman Union County - Historical Overview 3 Bette Jane Kowalski, Vice Chair Four Centuries - the Journey 5 Angel G. Estrada Thematic Clusters 6 - 13 Chester Holmes Berkeley Heights Adrian O. Mapp Deserted Village of Feltville-Glenside Park 14 Rick Proctor Littell-Lord Farmstead 15 Deborah P. Scanlon Clark Daniel P. Sullivan Dr. William Robinson Plantation-Museum 16 Cranford Nancy Ward Crane-Phillips House Museum 17 George W. Devanney, County Manager Elizabeth M. Elizabeth Genievich, C.M.C., M.P.A., Boxwood Hall State Historic Site 18 Deputy County Manager / Director of Administrative Services Hillside Evergreen Cemetery 19 Nicole L. DiRado, R.M.C., M.P.A., Clerk of the Board Woodruff House / Eaton Store Museum 20 Kenilworth Cultural & Heritage Programs Oswald J. Nitschke House 21 Advisory Board Mountainside Clara C. Fernandez, Chair; Nancy Piwowar, Vice Chair; Deacon Andrew Hetfield House 22 New Providence Jay Bloom, Secretary; Michel Bitritto, Ph.D.; Phyllis Brociner; Salt Box Museum 23 Barbara-Jude Brady; Robert Cirasa, Ph.D.; Nora Mislan; Plainfield Conrad Person; Vernell V. Wright; Drake House Museum 24 Bette Jane Kowalski, Freeholder Liaison Rahway Department of Economic Development Merchants and Drovers Tavern 25 Alfred J. Faella, Director Roselle Abraham Clark House 26 Division of Cultural and Roselle park Heritage Affairs Roselle Park Museum 27 Susan P. Coen, Director Scotch Plains Barbara A. Fuller, Assistant Director Osborn Cannonball House 28 Ethel Washington, History Programs Coordinator Springfield Kathy Kakaletris, Education Programs Coordinator Cannon Ball House 29 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202 Summit 908-558-2550 NJ Relay 711 Carter House 30 Fax 908-352-3513 Reeves-Reed Arboretum 31 [email protected] Summit Playhouse 32 www.ucnj.org/cultural Twin Maples 33 Union Funded in part by the Caldwell Parsonage 34 New Jersey Historical Commission, Liberty Hall Museum 35 a division of the Department of State Westfield Miller-Cory House Museum 36 Westfield Welcome to 2006 Four Centuries In a Weekend Four Centuries in a Weekend has drawn thousands of people since the museums and sites first opened their doors for a heritage festival in 1994. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or on a return trip, the members of the Board of Chosen Freeholders welcome you to Union County’s treasure trove of historic house museums and sites. This past July Congress designated the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area in New Jersey that will link over 250 Revolutionary War sites 23 Miller-C0ry House Museum 614 Mountain Avenue throughout the state. Federal recognition of New Jersey’s Eighteenth-Century Outbuildings and herb and kitchen gardens help create a colonial atmos- important Revolutionary War phere at the Miller-Cory House, where interactive tours history bolsters the work of advocates of land conservation, engage the imagination of children and adults. Built historic preservation, education and heritage tourism. about 1740, the small and neat, authentically furnished We are pleased that four Union County sites are identified farmhouse stands on its original site along the "road to within the new Heritage Area. They are Liberty Hall in the mountains." Visitors are introduced to colonial skills Union, Cannon Ball House in Springfield, the Watchung and practices as costumed interpreters recreate the daily Reservation and the site of the Battle of the Short Hills. chores and seasonal farm work of rural life in the Westfields circa 1740 - 1820. An education complex While part of the National Park Service, National Heritage houses special exhibits. Areas are locally administered. They are “living landscapes” where individuals, organizations and businesses form Featuring: partnerships with local, state and federal governments to Corn crib, necessary and well house recognize their heritage and conserve and restore Costumed interpreters irreplaceable natural and cultural resources. Musuem shop Development of the Heritage Area will tell the story of New Weekend Highlights: Jersey’s vital role in the founding of our nation. Union Saturday, Beehive Oven Baking Demonstration County is an important part of that story. Sunday, 1-4 pm Various 18th Century Craft Demonstrations We are fortunate that so many fine examples illustrating the Both Days, history of the county have survived over the years. We are 18th century open-hearth cooking grateful to our local historical organizations for their Year-Round Hours: stewardship of these remarkable landmarks. We welcome Sunday 2 - 4 pm (September - June) and by appointment you to the legacy that is Union County’s Four Centuries in a Operated by the Miller-Cory House Musuem Volunteers Weekend 2006. Listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Sincerely Places and a site on the New Jersey Women's Heritage Trail (908) 232-1776 Alexander Mirabella, Chairman website: www.westfieldnj.com Bette Jane Kowalski, Vice Chair Rick Proctor email: [email protected] Angel G. Estrada Deborah P. Scanlon Chester Holmes Daniel P. Sullivan Adrian O. Mapp Nancy Ward 36 1 Union How to Use this Booklet Begin the Journey Begin your Journey! Select a Cluster of sites or mix and match from all Clusters. Keep moving and visit as many places as possible during these two days or set a leisurely pace and continue your tour throughout the year by referring to this booklet for the sites' regular open hours. Liberty Hall Museum Sites are listed alphabetically by municipality and are 22 numbered accordingly. 1003 Morris Avenue Each site has its own page giving background Liberty Hall was built in 1772 by information, features and Weekend Highlights. William Livingston, a prominent New York City lawyer. Note individual site's special Weekend Hours and He was a member of the Continental Congress and a regular hours during the year. signer of the Constititution. In 1776, he was elected the Refer to the section on Clusters to select a theme for first governor of the State of New Jersey and served in your tour. this post until his death in 1790. The first member of the Large laminated maps of Union County are available Kean family to reside at Liberty Hall was Susan at each site. Refer to them as you plan you route. Livingston Kean Niemcewicz. Her descendants would This booklet is a permanent source of information. live at Liberty Hall for the next 200 years. Liberty Hall Use it to plan future visits to these Union County has hosted many prominent visitors over the years includ- historic sites. ing John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Martha Washington, Some sites are accessible by NJ Transit train or bus. Hamilton Fish and Presidents Washington, Grant, Taft, Please call or e-mail the Division to receive the list/ Hoover, Ford and G. H. Bush. Liberty Hall is filled with schedule. over 200 years of family history. Every generation of the family has left an imprint on the house and grounds that Plan to come back during next year's FOUR CENTURIES can still be seen today. IN A WEEKEND, an annual event on the third weekend of Featuring: October, as we celebrate 150 years as a County: 1857-2007. Outstanding 17th to 20th century collections 23 acres of formal gardens and grounds Wednesday Afternoon Tea, school programs and Large print version of this special events (call for calendar) booklet is available upon Weekend Highlight: Newly opened Firehouse request. Year-Round Hours: (908) 558-2550 Wednesday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm Sunday Noon - 4 pm (April - December) NJ Relay 711 Operated by the Liberty Hall Foundation [email protected] Listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places National Historic Landmark (908) 527-0400 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.libertyhallnj.org 2 35 Union UHistoricalnion County Overview Union County, the last in New Jersey to be formed (1857), is the site of the first English settlement 21 Caldwell parsonage in the state. 909 Caldwell Avenue In 1664, Charles II, King of England, gave his emerg- ing empire in the new world to his brother, James, Duke of York. Control of the area was On June 7, 1780, British troops passed the taken from the Dutch when New Amsterdam Presbyterian parsonage at Connecticut Farms (now was surrendered. Union). A shot was fired through a window and Hannah Caldwell, wife of the "Fighting Parson" James Caldwell, At the same time, several Englishmen from fell dead. The event is depicted on the Union County Long Island formed the Elizabethtown seal. The British burned the church and the parsonage, Associates, and purchased land west of which was rebuilt two years later on the old foundation. Newark Bay from the Lenape Indians. The Today, the parsonage is a repository of furniture, cloth- deed, signed by Mattano, Seuakheons and Warinanco, ing, personal effects, archival materials and other arti- granted the Associates the land between the Passaic and facts related to Union Township's history from the 18th Raritan Rivers and the Arthur Kill.