Cranford Historical Preservation Advisory Board
Encyclopedia
Cranford Historical Preservation Advisory Board was established on December 28, 1993 by the Township of Cranford
, New Jersey
, USA
to identify and preserve buildings of historic significance.
, New Jersey
is home to a diverse number of historic architectural styles, historically significant buildings, and landmarks. Structures dating from 1740 through the present can be found in a relatively small area of the township.
The purpose of the Historic Preservation Advisory Board is to identify, record and maintain a system for survey and inventory of all building sites, places and landmarks and structures of historical or architectural significance based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. The powers and duties of the Cranford Historical Preservation Advisory Board are available by accessing the Code of the Township of Cranford (Chapter 6-40.19). The Cranford Historical Preservation Advisory Board meets on the last Thursday of every month where submissions for inclusion as inventory of Cranford's historic places are reviewed at that time.
cottage in the architectural style of Andrew Jackson Downing
, the first American architect. The Crane-Phillips House, now a museum offers visitors a rare glimpse of what life was like for a modest family in the Victorian era
of opulence. It illustrates the late 19th century as the era of invention and highlights inventions that changed everyday life for the average person by way of the house's second owners, the Phillips family. Henry Phillips was one of the first inventors of the modern kitchen range hood and his brother, Dr. Charles H. Phillips, was the inventor of Phillips Milk of Magnesia.
"The Little House on the Rahway", as the Crane-Phillips House is known, was first built about 1840 by Josiah Crane as a honeymoon cottage for his son, Josiah Jr. The Crane's were the first settlers to come to the area in the early 18th century (1715), build mills on the river and establish a farm on the west side of the Rahway River
. Josiah Crane Jr. sold the property in 1867 to Henry and Cecelia Phillips, who lived there until Henry's death in 1911. It was Mr. and Mrs. Phillips who built most of the cottage in the Downing style.
The Cranford Historical Society has been in the middle of a major restoration project to restore the museum to much the way it looked in the late 19th century, modernize and upgrade, and create new and better permanent exhibits including an authentic late 19th century kitchen. The project's completion will transform the "Little House" into a living history museum where costumed docents help bring visitors back in time. The museum will continue to feature permanent and changing exhibits that depict three centuries of local history as it relates to the history of New Jersey and the nation.
The Crane-Phillips House features an outstanding collection of Native American artifacts, American Revolutionary War
and American Civil War
artifacts, other arms and armaments, 19th century tools and farm implements, a charming little Victorian parlor and "Kate's room", a Victorian girl's bedroom circa 1870. Changing exhibits include major displays from the Society's extensive antique clothing collection.
The Crane-Phillips House Museum is on the National and State Register of Historic Places and was named an "American Treasure" by the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation
in 1999.
The Pierson house started life as a 1½ story wood structure, probably not that much different than those we’ve seen so far, but the original has disappeared under generations of renovations. The most recent, in 1929, restored the Pierson house to the correct time period, the middle 18th century, although on a much more grandiose scale. Inside, the original basement walls, some of the beams, and several of the pegged oak floor boards of the 1740 house remain, but on the whole, the Pierson House serves as a quintessential example of one of the unshakable laws of architecture; nothing exists in a vacuum.
The Pierson house today is a private residence, owned and occupied by members of the Crane family. Repairs to the property are underway due to flood damage from Hurricane Irene.
Carried over from England
in the books and works of architects Robert and John Adam in the late 18th century, Federalism takes its cues from buildings of ancient Pompeii
which had just been excavated during the Adams’ time. It is characterized by an imposing rigidity, relieved here and there by curves and a certain airiness not found in earlier high-styled buildings of the Georgian period. The trickling-down effect of any style leads to the term vernacular, so while although the Norris-Oakey House is hardly a triumph of textbook Federalism
, it is a good rendering of what a few 1820 people out in the country, with their ears to the ground could come up with.
Cranford, New Jersey
Cranford is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township population was 22,625.Cranford was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 14, 1871, from portions of the Townships of Clark, Linden,...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to identify and preserve buildings of historic significance.
Purpose
CranfordCranford, New Jersey
Cranford is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township population was 22,625.Cranford was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 14, 1871, from portions of the Townships of Clark, Linden,...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
is home to a diverse number of historic architectural styles, historically significant buildings, and landmarks. Structures dating from 1740 through the present can be found in a relatively small area of the township.
The purpose of the Historic Preservation Advisory Board is to identify, record and maintain a system for survey and inventory of all building sites, places and landmarks and structures of historical or architectural significance based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. The powers and duties of the Cranford Historical Preservation Advisory Board are available by accessing the Code of the Township of Cranford (Chapter 6-40.19). The Cranford Historical Preservation Advisory Board meets on the last Thursday of every month where submissions for inclusion as inventory of Cranford's historic places are reviewed at that time.
The Crane-Phillips House
The Crane-Phillips House is a VictorianVictorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
cottage in the architectural style of Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
, the first American architect. The Crane-Phillips House, now a museum offers visitors a rare glimpse of what life was like for a modest family in the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
of opulence. It illustrates the late 19th century as the era of invention and highlights inventions that changed everyday life for the average person by way of the house's second owners, the Phillips family. Henry Phillips was one of the first inventors of the modern kitchen range hood and his brother, Dr. Charles H. Phillips, was the inventor of Phillips Milk of Magnesia.
"The Little House on the Rahway", as the Crane-Phillips House is known, was first built about 1840 by Josiah Crane as a honeymoon cottage for his son, Josiah Jr. The Crane's were the first settlers to come to the area in the early 18th century (1715), build mills on the river and establish a farm on the west side of the Rahway River
Rahway River
The Rahway River is a river, approximately 24 mi long, in northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The river drains part of the suburban and urbanized area of New Jersey west of New York City. Part of the extended area of New York Harbor, the river empties into the Arthur Kill. In its...
. Josiah Crane Jr. sold the property in 1867 to Henry and Cecelia Phillips, who lived there until Henry's death in 1911. It was Mr. and Mrs. Phillips who built most of the cottage in the Downing style.
The Cranford Historical Society has been in the middle of a major restoration project to restore the museum to much the way it looked in the late 19th century, modernize and upgrade, and create new and better permanent exhibits including an authentic late 19th century kitchen. The project's completion will transform the "Little House" into a living history museum where costumed docents help bring visitors back in time. The museum will continue to feature permanent and changing exhibits that depict three centuries of local history as it relates to the history of New Jersey and the nation.
The Crane-Phillips House features an outstanding collection of Native American artifacts, American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
and American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
artifacts, other arms and armaments, 19th century tools and farm implements, a charming little Victorian parlor and "Kate's room", a Victorian girl's bedroom circa 1870. Changing exhibits include major displays from the Society's extensive antique clothing collection.
The Crane-Phillips House Museum is on the National and State Register of Historic Places and was named an "American Treasure" by the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
in 1999.
The Pierson House
The Pierson House, also known as the Crane House at 420 Riverside Drive. It is one of the best known houses in Cranford. Here the major clue is probably the house’s proximity (like the Klein House to the Old York Road) to a major artery of colonial travel. In this case, the artery is Crane’s Ford, a shallow and thus important stretch of the Rahway River. It was easily traversable on horseback during colonial days, and the Pierson House, built circa 1740, was probably put there to keep an eye on it.The Pierson house started life as a 1½ story wood structure, probably not that much different than those we’ve seen so far, but the original has disappeared under generations of renovations. The most recent, in 1929, restored the Pierson house to the correct time period, the middle 18th century, although on a much more grandiose scale. Inside, the original basement walls, some of the beams, and several of the pegged oak floor boards of the 1740 house remain, but on the whole, the Pierson House serves as a quintessential example of one of the unshakable laws of architecture; nothing exists in a vacuum.
The Pierson house today is a private residence, owned and occupied by members of the Crane family. Repairs to the property are underway due to flood damage from Hurricane Irene.
Norris Oakley House
The Norris-Oakey House at 1119 Orange Avenue. First built in 1750, and then in 1820 single-handedly transformed into the best surviving example of Cranford’s first definitive architecture, the Federal style. The windows tell the story here. These are the smaller, squatter ones of the left hand side which remain from the original East Jersey Cottage. Imagine the far right-hand one is the door. When the house was enlarged, the old door became a window and a new door, probably like this one, complete with a row of federal-style ornamental sidelights, was added. The taller, more elegant windows, here on the 1820 addition, begin to look like ones on fashionable houses being built in the larger cities and towns of the new republic. So to keep up with what of the Federal style has trickled down to this predominately rural area, the old side gets another full story and a half, as shown by the knee windows under the eaves. Speaking of eaves, they are a Federal trait as are the ornamentations underneath called dentils, although these here are reproductions. The overall effect is a bit more sophisticated, a bit more classical, than the humble cottages and farmhouses in the area.Carried over from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the books and works of architects Robert and John Adam in the late 18th century, Federalism takes its cues from buildings of ancient Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
which had just been excavated during the Adams’ time. It is characterized by an imposing rigidity, relieved here and there by curves and a certain airiness not found in earlier high-styled buildings of the Georgian period. The trickling-down effect of any style leads to the term vernacular, so while although the Norris-Oakey House is hardly a triumph of textbook Federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
, it is a good rendering of what a few 1820 people out in the country, with their ears to the ground could come up with.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Union County, New Jersey
- List of the oldest buildings in New Jersey
- Droeschers MillDroeschers MillThe Droeschers Mill, is located in Cranford, New Jersey. The mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 8, 1974. It is the oldest continuously operated commerical building in New Jersey....