Community Corner

Four Centuries Tour Comes To Summit

See historic sites including the Summit Playhouse, Twin Maples, Reeves-reed Aboretum and the Carter House.

 

If you want to get a glimpse of some 17th Century architecture, 18th Century cuisine, 19th Century art and 20th Century theater all in one weekend, Union County is the place to be Saturday and Sunday.

Four Centuries in a Weekend will take you on an edifying trip through time, as you journey through the evolution of Union County.

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The County, as we know it today, was initially part of Elizabethtown, founded in 1664 as the first English settlement in New Jersey.

By the 1750’s and later during the American Revolution, as prominent political figures began to inhabit the area, Elizabethtown grew in name and numbers. And by 1857, as new types of transportation flooded the region, the area incorporated as Union County, the last county in New Jersey. Now, half a million people and 21 municipalities occupy Union County.

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This weekend, 25 of the County’s historic structures which lived this story, will be open for extended hours to the public.

The sites, which include mansions, farmhouses and some business establishments, tell stories from different time periods throughout the four centuries, from the initial settlements and transportation waterways, to the lifestyles and culture of the area’s inhabitants. The structures house historical documents, furniture, tools, toys and other slices of history from this area.

Four Centuries in a Weekend started in 1994, according to Barbara Fuller, administrator of the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs. It became an annual event in 1997.

 Typically, “many of the sites are not open at the same time,” said Fuller. “So the idea of the tour was to get all of the sites open” together. The event has grown from 16 sites included the first year, to 25 this year.

“It’s very popular,” said Fuller. “About 3,000 people come every year.”

“You put all of these sites together and they do tell the story of the county,” said Fuller. She said in the Four Centuries in a Weekend booklet, available at each historic location, the sites are divided into clusters which relate to a particular era. The booklet states: “By learning the history of the Clusters and by looking at them collectively, the Four Centuries visitor will understand and appreciate life in Union County today.” Maps are also available at each site on the tour.

Fuller said some visitors see several sites, while others visit one or two local ones. She said the wide range of exhibits throughout the County appeal to families, seniors, history buffs and schools. “We’ve even had English as a second language classes come to practice their English and learn about their new home," she said.

 “What we did early on was to sit with teachers and develop a lesson plan packet,” she said. “It gives various activities to do with the kids.” Fuller said parents, teachers and scout leaders all use the educational packet.

 This year, “Time Travelers Sweepstakes” give kids added incentive to visit the sites. Young visitors will get a coloring book at each site, and an activity sheet with questions to answer during the tour. They can then enter a contest to win tickets to live shows within the County, including New Jersey Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty, The Theater Project’s It’s A Wonderful Life and Cranford Dramatic Club’s Alice in Wonderland.

 “If the kids go to one site and mail the entry form, they have one chance,” said Fuller. “If they go to four, it increases their chances of winning.” She said kids will also get a Time Traveler’s certificate.

 All children are also invited to attend the free Young People’s Concert given by the NJ Intergenerational Orchestra on Dec. 5 at Oak Knoll School.

 “Very few of the sites have paid staff. We really have to acknowledge the wonderful job that the volunteers do,” said Fuller. “It’s a partnership between the sites and the County for this weekend.”

Extended hours for most sites this weekend are Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. While some sites do special events, others are just open extended hours to the public.

Four Century events in Summit include:

Carter House, 90 Butler Parkway (908)277-1747:

 As described in the Four Centuries Booklet, The Carter House is Summit’s oldest house and was built by Benjamin Carter in the 1740’s near the Passaic River. In 1986 it was moved to its current site on Butler Parkway. “The house is also the archival center of the Summit Historical Society.”

During tours this weekend, visitors can see, according to the booklet, “furnished rooms and special exhibits,” “collection of period kitchen implements” and a “local history library.”

Carter House will be open extended hours, Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 5 p.m. Some special Four Centuries programs may be added to the schedule.

Reeves-Reed Arboretum, 165 Hobart Avenue (908)273-8787:

 Spanning 13 ½ acres, the site, according to the Four Centuries booklet, “was developed as a country estate when New Yorker John H. Wisner built his Colonial Revival house in 1889 for his family.” “The Richard Reeves family bought the property in 1918,” hiring “leading architects to expand and formalize the gardens.”

 “The Charles L. Reed Jr. family purchased the property in 1968 and created an herb garden and woodland trails.”

 Highlights at the Arboretum this weekend are: a video documentary of the gardens, a tour of the restored 1889 Historic Wisner House, historic photographs and artifacts on display and an archival display.

There is also a seasonal photo exhibit called “Seasonal Snaps,” featuring photos of the gardens taken by the Arboretum’s seasonal gardener.

 Arboretum hours this weekend are Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

 Summit Playhouse, 10 New England Avenue (908)273-2192: 

 The Playhouse will offer architectural tours during extended hours both Saturday and Sunday, according to John Bauer, former Development Officer.

 The Playhouse was founded in 1918 as the Dramatic Club and later incorporated as The Playhouse Association, according to the Four Centuries booklet. Bauer said it is “the oldest, continually operating community theater in New Jersey.”. The site of the Summit Playhouse was originally a library.

 The booklet states that  “in 1960, Playhouse co-founder and benefactor, Marjorie Cranstoun Jefferson, donated funds that added a 120-seat auditorium to the original building.” That addition is now handicap accessible.

 The Playhouse has been completely renovated and Bauer said visitors will be “pleasantly surprised.”

 The site, according to Bauer, is on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and an application has been submitted for a national designation.

 Said Bauer, “we have tremendous archives that will be available to people next year” which include programs and pictures of performances dating back to 1918.  

 The next production of the Summit Playhouse will be The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Jay Presson Allen, adapted from the novel by Muriel Spark from Nov. 6 to Nov. 21.  They are currently in rehearsal.

 Twin Maples, 214 Springfield Avenue (908)273-0301:

 The Four Centuries booklet describes Twin Maples as “a textbook example of a neoclassical house.”  The mansion was “built for Karoline Davis and James Foley, who lived there until his death in 1916. The house was sold in 1918 to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Collins. In 1949, Mrs. Collins sold the property to the Fortnightly Club, which was founded in 1893 by Mary Burlington Wilcox, wife of Summit’s first Mayor.”

 Fuller likened the site to a “mini White House.”

 Vice President of the Fortnightly club, Lorraine Bowyer, said the site is open extended hours this weekend for visitors to tour the house. “Typically our site is a very popular site,” she said, noting that on Sundays they usually get many visitors.

 There are currently about 100 members of the Fortnightly club, according to Bowyer. She said in the past the site has had re-enactors for Four Centuries in a Weekend, but this year it is open for tours and visitors will receive stickers.

 Please contact the sites individually for further information.

 For more information on For Centuries in a Weekend, go to www.ucnj.org/cultural.


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