Two Township Historic Homes Added To County’s ‘Journey Through The Past’

Two historic homes in the township have been added to this year’s “Weekend Journey Through the Past,” a Somerset-County wide celebration of county history.

Sponsored by the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, the event is set for Oct. 14 and 15 at various locations in the county.

This year, the Van Liew-Suydam House at 280 South Middlebush Rd. and the Griggstown Bridgetender’s House at 2 Griggstown Causeway have been added to the weekend’s schedule of tours.

Tour hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 14 and noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 15.

Among the highlights of the weekend, according to a press release from the commission: Tours led by costumed interpreters and actors portraying historical figures; old-time silent movies with live organ music in an old vaudeville theater; authentic, traditional blacksmithing; 19th-century firefighting wagons and apparatus; sights and sounds of 18th-century living; open-hearth cooking by reenactors; one-room schoolhouses; original Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows; craftspeople demonstrating period crafts; live theater and music; a talking tour of Rocky Hill, a National Historic Site; an annual period antiques fair and community flea market; a live organ recital, including a stirring rendition of “The Battle of Trenton” by James Hewitt; access to local genealogical resources to aid in tracing your local family’s roots; SNAG golf and a scavenger hunt for children at the U.S. Golf Association Museum and a guided tour of the USGA equipment standard lab, both on Saturday.

Adults visiting four or more participating historic sites during this weekend event will qualify for a free drawing to win one of several $25 prepaid gasoline gift cards, according to the release. Visit www.SCHistoryWeekend.com for details.

The sites included in the weekend tours are:

1. Blawenburg Reformed Church, Blawenburg (Montgomery)
2. Boudinot-Southard-Ross Estate, Basking Ridge
3. The Brick Academy, Basking Ridge
4. The Brook Arts Center / Historic Brook Theater, Bound Brook
5. Codington Farmstead, Warren Twp
6. Gen. John Frelinghuysen House / Raritan Public Library, Raritan
7. Amy Garret House, Rocky Hill
8. Griggstown Bridgetender’s House, Princeton
9. Griggstown School House, Princeton Township
10. Historic 1860 Schoolhouse / Millstone Borough Hall, Millstone
11. Kirch-Ford-Terrill House, Warren Twp
12. Mount Bethel Meeting House, Warren Twp
13. Old Millstone Forge Blacksmith Shop & Museum, Millstone
14. Old Presbyterian Graveyard, Bound Brook
15. The Presbyterian Church at Bound Book
16. Relief Hose Company No. 2 Engine House, Raritan
17. Daniel Robert Mansion, / Somerville Borough Hall, Somerville
18. Somerville Fire Museum, Somerville
19. South Branch School House, Branchburg
20. Abraham Staats House, South Bound Brook
21. Andrew Ten Eyck House, Branchburg
22. Texier House Museum, Watchung
23. USGA Golf Museum, Far Hills
24. Philip Van Horne House, Bridgewater
25. Van Liew-Suydam House, Franklin Township
26. Van Veghten House, Bridgewater
27. Dr. John Vermeule House, Green Brook
28. Wallace House State Historic Site, Somerville
29. Washington Rock State Park, Green Brook

“This popular fall event has something for all ages,” Freeholder Brian D. Levine, commission liaison, said in the release. “This year there will be 29 historic sites countywide open free of charge.”

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