Lucy Schmitz

Old Stone House Essay Contest Winners
 

Congratulations  on 1st Place

A Hidden Treasure in South Orange

By Lucy Schmitz

South Orange Middle School

7th Grade

Although it’s just a few hundred feet from bustling South Orange Avenue, the town’s most historic building remains hidden from view. Behind the police station parking lot, obscured by fences and brambles, the Old Stone House is also hidden from public awareness. Few people know that South Orange is home to one of the earliest buildings in New Jersey. Few people know the history of the Old Stone House, or the sad story of what has become of it in recent decades.

As you cross into South Orange, you can see a sign that reads. “South Orange, established 1680.” Looking at the town, it’s hard to imagine that anything remains from over 325 years ago. It is modem and looks like any other suburb, although the gaslights hint at its historic past. So I went to see the Old Stone House myself, to see our heritage up close.

My first impression was that it looked like a burnt-out, abandoned building, with boarded up windows, neglected for years. There were some piles of debris surrounding it, as well as a chain link fence with “Caution! Keep Out!” signs. Nothing welcoming or all that impressive to see, at first glance.

A closer inspection showed me that there were different kinds of building materials in use, from odd-shaped stones, to hand-tooled stones, to more modem looking bricks. There is a lot of wood and some crumbling shingles. The exterior building materials themselves look as if they could tell a story of many generations. Who knows what lies inside the building, or buried within layers of the walls?

In sixth grade, I began doing one-on-one visits with residents at Winchester Gardens, an assisted living community in Maplewood. At first, I was afraid the visits would be awkward. What would we have to talk about? What did we have in common? Soon I discovered the key, I just needed to ask the residents questions about their past. found that everyone has stories and wants to share them.
 

Standing in front of The Old Stone
House as it exists today: a ‘hard
hat area” unsafe for visitors

I believe that buildings have stories to share, too. If the Old Stone House could talk, what would it tell us? In many ways, it could tell you much of the entire history of our state. When people think of New Jersey’s history, most recall that it was one of the original 13 English colonies. Schools spend a lot of time on the English Colonial period. So, few people remember that the first people to live in the area were Native Americans, specifically the Leni Lenape. Fewer still think of our Dutch heritage. The Dutch were actually the first European colonists to settle in this area, as part of the New Netherlands.

The Old Stone House is shown on a registry in Newark as existing in 1680-This makes it the oldest building with an official date in New Jersey. The first recorded owner was Nathaniel Wheeler, a founder of Newark. Wheeler is also the first recorded settler in the area. It was fisted as “he “Stone House at Stone House Brook,” and was a much smaller structure than the one you see today. Originally, it was a one and a half story traditional Dutch home. It was built from local stone, on 60 acres of farmland. It remained a working farm for almost 200 years, although it passed through 20 owners. Some of the owners built large additions to the house, but luckily they built around the stone. 

This historic photograph shows
the Old Stone House in informer glory.

Many of the owners were among the most influential families in this area. They are names you still hear today: Wheeler, Pierson, Vose, Brewer. William Brewer was a prominent businessman who became President of the South Orange Library. as well as a community leader in many other ways. He owned the Old Stone House for 50 years, beginning in 1867. During that time he renovated it to become a three-story, Victorian-style house with a sprawling front porch. Still, much of the original structure remained.
 

This model was created for the South

Orange Historical and Preservation

Society to help imagine what the

restoration could look like.

 In 1953, (he township of South Orange bought the building. For the next three decades it was home to the Board of Education. That makes it especially fitting for the building to offer educational opportunities to students today and in the future. The building has been empty since 1983, and has suffered from a lack of care since that time.

The rubble and debris show me people are not treating our local treasure with the respect it deserves. I have been taught to respect our heritage and to take care of our surroundings. Leaving a wreck where this historic building once stood would be a waste of our past. The first fully recorded settler in the area lived in the Old Stone House. This is a piece of history!

If! had a million dollars to spend on the Old Stone House, the first thing I would do would be to make it safe and protect it from further disrepair. Then I would fly to restore it to its earlier condition.

I would also create a visitor’s center and museum in the space. There, people could look at exhibits, read about South Orange History from the days of the Leni Lenape, through the Dutch and English colonies, to early statehood, to today. It could also host other cultural, educational, and community events. Perhaps a virtual exhibit could be created online, so that people from other towns and states could learn about one of New Jersey’s oldest treasures. I would also like to start an oral history project. There art people who lived there still in the area. I would like to capture their stories before it is too late.

I would like to preserve the Old Stone House before it is too late for it to tell its stories, as well. A small group of people are fighting for the Old Stone House. If it is restored and becomes a cultural and historic center, then respect for South Orange’s hidden treasure will grow. People from our community, state, and country will be able to sham its proud past.