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Stone House by the Stone House Brook

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Coordinates: 40°44′42″N 74°15′13″W / 40.74500°N 74.25361°W / 40.74500; -74.25361
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Stone House by the Stone House Brook
The Old Stone House in 2014
Stone House by the Stone House Brook is located in Essex County, New Jersey
Stone House by the Stone House Brook
Stone House by the Stone House Brook is located in New Jersey
Stone House by the Stone House Brook
Stone House by the Stone House Brook is located in the United States
Stone House by the Stone House Brook
Location219 South Orange Avenue, South Orange, New Jersey
Coordinates40°44′42″N 74°15′13″W / 40.74500°N 74.25361°W / 40.74500; -74.25361
Area0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Builtpre-1680
Architectural styleQueen Anne, Shingle Style
NRHP reference No.87001333[1]
NJRHP No.1364[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 22, 1991
Designated NJRHPOctober 4, 1991

Stone House by the Stone House Brook, also known as Old Stone House, located in South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is one of the oldest extant structures in New Jersey. The house was built prior to 1680 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 22, 1991.

History

The earliest reference to the Stone House by Stone House Brook dates to September 27, 1680, when it was mentioned in the minutes of a Newark town meeting to discuss and distribute land grants[3]. It would have been built sometime after 1660 when the Dutch settled Bergen. A group of Pilgrims settled Newark in 1666 but the English or New England colonial houses of this period were generally built of wood. Dutch (or Flemish) colonial houses were usually built of brick, clay, or stone[4]. The original house was one-and-a-half stories with a foundation of native rubble stone. Three of the original walls are still visible from the exterior of the greatly expanded house and a fourth wall is visible from the interior.

Nathaniel Wheeler is the first owner, circa 1680, for whom records exist. Dr. Bethuel Pierson, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful mill operator, owned the property 1773-1791 and enlarged it in a similar style using rubble stone. The house was purchased by William Augustus Brewer Jr. in 1866 and occupied by his family 1867-1916. Brewer became President of Washington Life Insurance Company in New York City and was influential in the development of the Village of South Orange as an early President of the Board of Trustees for two terms 1877-1880. Brewer greatly enlarged the house and turned it into a Queen Ann shingle-style mansion. Brewer named the house Aldworth[5]. In 1915, the house was sold to Dr. George C. Albee. The house was sold to the Village of South Orange in 1953 and was used as offices for the school district until 1983.[6]

In 1953 the Village of South Orange used the western portion of the property to form the parking lot for the relocated police station. In 1991 the house was added to the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. Also in 1991, much of the remaining land was sold for $1 to the South Mountain B'Nai Brith Federation for development of HUD-approved senior housing. In 2008, stabilization work was done on the Old Stone House. In 2013, the Township of South Orange Village attempted to sell the landmark without success.

Preservation New Jersey included it on the list of New Jersey's Ten Most Endangered Historic Sites for 2020. The South Orange Historical and Preservation Society is fund raising to preserve the landmark for cultural and educational uses.

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Essex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. January 10, 2010. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  3. ^ Records of the Town of Newark, New Jersey (Newark, N.J., 1836, pp. 80-81), September 27, 1680 "First division of land outside the Town of Newark." "Item - Nathaniel Wheeler, Edward Riggs, and Joseph Riggs have a grant to take up land upon the Upper Chestnut Hill by Rahway River near the Stone House; provided they exceed not above fifty acres a piece."
  4. ^ Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson. The Founding of American Civilization: The Middle Colonies, New York and London, 1949, pp. 69-74
  5. ^ Whittemore, Henry. The Founders and Builders of the Oranges. Newark, N.J., 1896, p. 353, 367
  6. ^ "South Orange to sell Old Stone House for preservation, refurbishment". NJ.com. Retrieved 15 November 2010.


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