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Trustee Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of Historic Sites
In November
2000, the National Trust for Historic Preservation presented this
prestigious award to
The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America "for acquiring,
restoring, and interpreting a collection of historic properties that offer
invaluable opportunities to experience the rich variety of America's
heritage."
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NSCDA in New Jersey Museum Properties
The NSCDA in
New Jersey owns two museum properties: Peachfield
Plantation in Westampton and The Old School House in Mount
Holly.
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PEACHFIELD PLANTATION
(1725)
Address:
180 Burrs Road, Westampton, NJ 08060
Telephone:
(609) 267-6996
Open:
By
appointment.
Directions:
From the New Jersey Turnpike, take
Exit 5 on to Route 541 toward Mount Holly. Turn right onto Burrs
Road (jug handle) crossing Route 541 straight to Peachfield Plantation;
approximately two miles from Exit 5.
Website:
http://colonialdamesnj.org/
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Photograph by Erik Kvalsvik
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In 1674, John Skene, a Quaker from
Scotland, bought 300 acres of land in the second tenth of the Province
of West Jersey and named the property "Peachfield."
Henry Burr purchased the property
from Skene's widow in 1695. He and his wife built the east portion
of the house, made with South Jersey bog ironstone, on the present site
in 1725. Their son, John Burr and his wife, Kaziah, built the west
part of the house in 1732.
The date stones can be seen on the
front of the house. The property remained in the Burr family for
200 years.
Following a devastating fire in
1928, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Harker purchased the house and engaged the architect
R. B. Okie to restore the residence to a lovely country home.
Upon her death in 1965, Mrs. Harker
bequeathed the property to The National Society of The Colonial Dames of
America in the State of New Jersey to be used as its State Headquarters.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CERTIFIED NEW JERSEY HISTORIC SITE |
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THE OLD SCHOOL HOUSE
(1759)
Address:
35 Brainerd Street, Mount Holly, NJ 08060
Telephone:
(609)
267-6996
Open:
By
appointment.
Directions:
From the New Jersey Turnpike, take
Exit 5 onto Route 541 toward Mount Holly. Continue into town.
Brainerd Street is on the left. Parking is available at the site.
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Photograph by Erik Kvalsvik |
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In June of 1759, twenty-one citizens
of Mount Holly (nine Quakers, eight Episcopalians, four of unknown religion)
subscribed for twenty-five shares to buy land and build a schoolhouse.
Under one master or another, school was kept for over fifty years.
In 1815, the surviving heirs of the builders deeded the building to the
Female Benevolent Society. These women proposed to teach "in a public
school all the poor children of Mount Holly and its vicinity gratis."
For the next thirty-three years, over a thousand children were taught without
charge. The schoolhouse remained in the possession of the Female
Benevolent Society for 136 years, until 1951, when it was presented to
The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of New
Jersey for preservation and restoration.
The original brick work of the front
and two ends remains. It is laid in flemish bond, with headers alternating
with red stetchers in a familiar South Jersey style. Research established
the great size and location of the fireplace. Original shutters provided
a pattern for new shutters. The arched ceiling follows the original
line of the hand-hewn beams, one of which is still preserved.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
STATE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES |
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