One of the Last Remaining Farms in Montville by Sandra Minder

 Conklin Farm is located very centrally in Montville. No matter where you go in town, you almost always drive past it. Throughout the year it just seems like a large open field with some corn stalks growing on it  with some old pick up trucks parked around it. As unassuming as it seems, it is actually one of the last remaining farms in Montville. Montville used to be made up almost entirely of farmland, but in recent years it has been taken over by Condominium complexes ( there are 6 in town), schools, buisnesses and homes or all sizes

      

The way that the farm looks in these pictures is the way that it looks most of the year. If you are just passing though town you may never get a chance to see the farm at it's prime time of year! To most people, experiencing this space it would seem plain and like nothing special.  Every fall within these cornstalks pumpkins are growing waiting to be picked!

Thinking of this space in a new way, I thought of two different things. First I thought of a way you could set the mood for young children by reading them pumpkin poems similar to these both when the farm is set up for Halloween and when it isn't so that they know this is where the pumpkins are grown and picked:

Pumpkins

When you see me in the fields, 

My orange glowing in the sun, 

It's time to say goodbye to summer 

and hello to autumn fun!!

Pumpkin Head

We bought a pumpkin big and round

that lived the summer through

without an eye to look at things...

and now it looks through two

It used to be all dark inside

when growing on the vine,

but now it has a toothy smile

and face that's full of shine.

-Aileen Fisher

Another way that I like to think about this space involves one of my favorite topics...FOOD. Pumpkins and fall to me means some of my favorite foods. Here are a few recipes for some of my favorite pumpkin related foods. Reading these recipes before heading to the Pumpkin patch would allow you to see the space in a different way. You would see it as a chef hunting for the perfect pumpkin to turn into something delicious rather then a Pumpkin Carver searching for the perfect 'canvas'.

Baked Stuffed Pumpkin

Ingredients:

2 pounds pumpkin, halved, seeded, top reserved
2 apples, cored and quartered
½ cup walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup pineapple chunks, drained
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Place pumpkin cut side down on a baking pan and bake until soft, 40 to 45 minutes. Using a metal spoon, scrape out the cooked pumpkin, leaving a ¼-inch thick shell.

3. Process the apples in a food processor until chunky. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until just mixed but still chunky.

4. Spoon into reserved pumpkin shell. Cover with top of pumpkin shell and place on baking sheet. Bake until filling is hot and bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool slightly and serve.

 Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie crust
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups pureed cooked pumpkin
1 1/4 cups evaporated milk
3/4 cup egg whites, whipped
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a large bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.

3. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, milk, egg, and vanilla; whisk until smooth. Pour dry mixture into wet mixture and mix until just moistened.

4. Pour into prepared pie crust and bake 50 to 60 minutes, until crust is golden and filling is set in the center when jiggled. Cool and serve.

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound pumpkin, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring.

2. Add pumpkin and cook 3 minutes, until lightly softened.

3. Add stock and paste and stir to mix. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower to a simmer, and cover. Cook 20 minutes, until pumpkin is very tender.

4. Transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth. Add cheese, salt, and pepper; mix and serve warm.

For more information on Conklin Farms, Click here.

Montville Historical Museum by Sandra Minder

      The Montville Historical Museum opened in 1867. It is a one room museum that is only open on Sundays. There are a few visitors every week. The museum is filled with artifacts from Montville's History. When Montville was first established as a town, it was mostly farmland. Since then Montville has changed from a farming town into a bustling suburb full of NYC commuters. The museum is one of the last remaining glimpses into the way Montville once looked and how it began. 

   The Museum is located in the midst of town off of a main road in a very small one room building surrounded by many other larger buildings. It is barely noticed by many people that live in Montville. When I asked some of my students if they had ever been there, some even said "we have a museum?" "I didn't even know that place existed!"

As the picture shows, This was also the first school house in Montville and in the area. The sign tells us that, but it wasn’t until I read this poem that I began to think about this space in a new light.

A One Room Schoolhouse

Fond memories of youth enter your mind,  Thinking of the days when life seemed better. How swiftly time seems to have passed by,  But the dreams and memories will last forever. You see the old familiar haunts of the past,  The one room schoolhouse down the lane,  The trampled lot where you played during recess,  Adjacent to the field where the dandelion reigned. You placed all your trust in one versatile teacher Who taught all the children with the utmost care. A desire to seek knowledge pulled you through,  Proud of a one room schoolhouse without fanfare. Those yesterdays of carefree and happy youth,  Those school days full of curiosity and simple fun Were the stepping stone you generally used - The preparation to challenge the future had begun.  Joseph T. Renaldi

After reading this poem I started to think about this space in a new way. I started thinking about what kinds of memories were made in this space. Also, if the first students in this school house were to come back to it in it’s present state, what would they think? Would they recognize it? What kinds of stories would they have to tell about it?  This got me thinking and I wonder:  What would the first residence of Montville think about what it has become? Would they be pleased, disappointed, surprised?

For more information about the Montville Museum, click here. 

Cemetery at Washington Place School House

Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” published in 1751:

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew tree’s shade, 

Where heaves the turf in many a moldering heap,

Each in his narrow cell forever laid, 

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.

On the property of Washington Place School House, built in the early 1800's, is an abandoned cemetery.

The backdrop for the Cemetery at Washington Place School House is the constant sound of cars whizzing by on a busy street in Livingston, NJ. Invisible to the passersby, overgrown with brush and weeds, is the sacred burial ground of people from an era gone by. 

Who are these people? 

What were their lives like? 

Will we ever know?

Does anyone stop by to pay their respects? 

Does anyone still care?

The graves were established between 1787 and 1896. Of the 22 people laid to rest here, 7 are children under 10 years of age. The youngest was 8 days old and the oldest was 84 years old.

A 4 month old baby...

A 60 year old wife...

The dates and names and tombstones tell the stories of their lives.

CEMETERY AT WASHINGTON PLACE SCHOOL HOUSE, LIVINGSTON TOWNSHIP, ESSEX CO., N.J.

• Robert, son of David & Elizabeth BALDWIN, d. 11 Nov 1787, ae 8 dys
• Enos, son of David & Elizabeth BALDWIN, d. 25 Jun 1789, ae 4 mos, 9 dys
• Phebe, 3d wife of Capt. Enos BALDWIN, d. 25 May 1806, in the 60th year of her age
• Sarah, wife of Enos BALDWIN, d. 4 Nov 1793, in the 71 year of her age
• Capt. Enos BALDWIN d. 21 Dec 1807, ae 84 yrs
• Elizabeth, widow of David BALDWIN, d. 19 Nov 1844, ae 75 yrs, 6 mos
• David BALDWIN d. 12 Dec 1836, ae 71 yrs
• Moses BALDWIN d. 12 Jul 1833, in the 43d year of his age
• Betsey F., wife of Moses BALDWIN, d. 17 Nov 1831, in the 32nd year of her age
• Isaac BALDWIN d. 3 Mar 1832, in the 44th year of his age
• John, son of Samuel & Lucy BALDWIN, d. 9 Sep 1784, ae 14 mos, 1 day
• Samuel BALDWIN d. 14 Jan 1821, ae 60 yrs
• Phebe Clark, daughter of Matthias & Sally SWAIME, d. 7 Apr 1805, ae 6 mos, 2 dys
• Mary, daughter of Matthias & Sally SWAIME, d. 9 Oct 1815, ae 4 yrs, 2 mos, 9 dys
• Lucy BALDWIN d. 6 Feb 1821, ae 57 yrs
• Enos BALDWIN d. 2 Oct 1823, ae 22 yrs
• Isaac, son of Isaac & Mary BALDWIN, d. 14 Aug 1833, in the 9th year of his age
• Jane CAMPFIELD d. 8 Feb 1838, in the 17th year of her age
• Harriet P., wife of Leander TRYON, d. 17 Apr 1842, in the 32 year of her age
• Florie, daughter of Francis & Louisa WRIGHT, d. 10 Jan 1898, ae 17 yrs (5 mos, 10 days handwritten)
• Rosa, daughter of Michael & Emma ECKERT, 26 Feb 1896-3 May 1896 (Emma is daughter of James BROWN whose wife was Catharine Ayres, the daughter of ---- BALDWIN)
• Abigail, wife of John SWAIME & Daniel BREWSTER, d. --- (stone broken) 

A poem by Tala de Sade:

THE DYING GARDEN

 There were valleys lined with withering roses

Sinking into twilight like somber silhouettes

Ode to the moonlight, stilled in nighttime hours

Petals faltering with a calm indifference

Coming into death, wilting into shades of black

Row upon row of memories forlorn

With flowers marking sentiments, souring with age

Once a place where moments seemed sacredly timeless

Now callously defined, worn out by the days

Long and harsh of light, before the darkness, swallowed

With ancient markings etched on weathered stone

Above ruins of the dead and finite dust of hollow bones

Death's opulence has bred these fields of sorrow

The dying garden, bound by nature's law to be reborn

Promises all life the cycle of eternity

Requiem is defined as an act or token of remembrance.

I chose Requiem for a Dream by Clint Mansell to set the tone for these forgotten souls.

Sadly, no records of their lives could be located.

Where are they now…in the heavens??         Do they rest in peace?  

The World's First Drive-In Movie Theater

It ushered in the summer of '33 on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden, NJ: the world's first drive-in movie theater. Invented by local business owner Richard Hollingshead, the drive-in was located on the 2800-2900 blocks near the Pennsauken border. Rosemont Avenue runs through the property now with a Shell Station on one side and Zinman Furs on the other. This is where I stood to capture the images posted above.

I felt like some kind of pop culture archaeologist tracking this site down and was so happy to find it. If it weren't for the fences and threatening signs, I would have gladly poked around the fields to see if I could find some physical traces of the theater's footprints. I have such fond memories of going to drive-in movies in Northern New Jersey when I was a kid. I watched with much sadness as the land underneath them was sold off and they were demolished to make way for more profitable shopping malls and corporate parks.

Above is a photo of the site before they broke ground for the drive-in theater. It's amazing how much it resembles the current, barren state of the property. Below is a newspaper clipping explaining the new drive-in concept to its readers, a video anniversary celebration as noted by The History Channel and some amusing period advertisements.

RCA Building 17, Camden, NJ

This is one of the few buildings remaining from what was once the RCA industrial complex. It is located at 17 Market Street in Camden, NJ. RCA produced phonographs, records, and televisions and was one of several major employers in the area throughout much of the twentieth century. Since its demise, Camden has suffered high rates of unemployment, poverty, crime and high school dropout rates.

Preservationists have restored the building over the past few years and it is quite beautiful. With large stained glass windows in the tower featuring "Nipper", the RCA mascot, the structure rather resembles a cathedral. It is visible from miles around so when I missed my turn I was able to locate it almost immediately.

I thought it was ironic that this building is no longer a manufacturing site although there is a museum devoted to Camden's industrial history on the lower level. The upper floors are apparently luxury condos although I have no idea who could, or would, be living there. I was at the site at about 11:30 on a beautiful Saturday morning and there was virtually no one around. Nothing was open. Where do these condo owners buy groceries or drop off their dry cleaning?

For more information regarding Camden's history and preservation efforts, including an oral history project partnering the Camden County Historical Society with Camden High School history students, check out http://www.cchsnj.com/fall_2010.pdf.

Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center in Chester Township, NJ by Amy Steinbauer

This marker highlights the work of Martha Brookes Hutcheson, one of America’s first female landscape architects.

Martha was a novel landscaper for her use of incorporating water into the landscape designs. 

The area is peaceful and used for the nature trails, and history lessons. A plaque from her novel, Spirit of the Garden, states: "The mere thought of water and it's uses, aesthetic, and utilitarian, suggests impending schemes in one's mind, and many lost opportunities for its use are hard to forgive." 

She transformed the 18^th century working farm into real beauty that celebrated nature. She believed that a good garden would bring about social change. This land is her original farm and land and is about 5 acres. 

Her work in the garden denotes a peaceful feeling that makes it easier to picture the life she may have lived here. The plethora of different species of plants and shrubs create an area that transforms you away from any preconceived notions of New Jersey. Looking around, I recall Monet's paintings from his garden. 

Monet's garden at sunset: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-oscar-monet-water-lilies-setting-sun

Also, Monet's Garden and Bridge: http://www.easyart.com/art-prints/Claude-Monet/Water-Lilies-%26-Japanese-Bridge-1899-11068.html

For more information, please see the official website located here: http://www.morrisparks.net/aspparks/bbrookmain.asp

Frazee Homestead in Scotch Plains, NJ by Amy Steinbauer

This marker signifies a quiet moment in the battle of Short Hills on June 26, 1777, as the British tried to fool George Washignton and his troops and direct them elsewhere. However, when the plan was foiled, British Captain Cornwallis was distracted by the wafting odor of fresh baked bread. He came upon the Frazee Homestead and startled “Aunt Betty” whom had been making bread for Washington’s troops. When he and another officer asked for some bread, Betty responded by saying, “I give you this in fear, not love.” Interestingly, that proved to be an offer that Cornwallis had to resist. He soon left, bread less.

Here is a comic strip that depicts what happened here:
http://www.frazeehouse.org/images/Illustrated-story-of-Betty-Frazee.pdf

Reflecting about this land, I thought to a quote from Henry David Thoreau's Walden
“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.”

The land looks dilapidated. Betty’s words of “…not love” seem to hang in the air. There are attempts at care like garbage bins and chained fences, however there is trash in the grass, and the chains are down. There is a cartoon image of “Aunt Betty” near the front of the house, but it serves as a commercial image instead of the historical significance of what occurred at this house. Her bravery seems lost. The website suggests that the house is in mid-restoration, but does not give dates, hopefully there is more work to be done.

As you approach, it suggests to tune into radio channel 106.9 to hear the history.

http://2.recordertheapp.com/d3bfa2d287ed50154544/ (Hopefully this works-- if so, it will only last for 10 days). 
You will hear some static and what sounds like a choir, there was also a man talking about some history, but this is a direct parallel to the beauty that is lost somewhere amid the debris of the land.

Canfield-Morgan House -- by: Gaby Teixeira

The Canfield-Morgan House, also known as Morgan's Farm, is a famous building located at 903 Pompton Avenue in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. The original house, owned by the Canfield’s, was probably built around 1825.  In 1910, the Morgan’s purchased the farm from the Canfield family. The Morgan’s transformed the farm into an elegant country estate. Inside the house plumbing was installed and electricity was connected.  The architectural style is Mid-19^th Century Revival. The Canfield–Morgan House is currently a museum of the local history and culture of Cedar Grove.

In the farmhouse, artifacts and family heirlooms dating back to the 1800’s are on display, shedding light on a simpler lifestyle. Before World War II, Cedar Grove, a 4.5-square mile township, was covered with farmland. Slowly, the land was developed.

Morgan was known for hiring young people in town to work on his farm and in his apple orchards.  He also grew pumpkins, tomatoes and corn. The farmer would invite the public to use his two tennis courts, one of which was once covered with a bubble in the winter. He also had a mini ski slope that he outfitted with a tow rope hooked up to a diesel-powered motor, so skiers could pull themselves back up the hill. Now the courts are gone, and the slope is mostly used for sledding. The farm no longer exists, but a cemetery with gravestones dating back to the 1700s remains.



Area where the tennis courts used to be



The township owns the land and the farmhouse and barn are leased to the historical society for $1 a year.

Click here for more information about Morgan's Farm.

“As the last farm in Cedar Grove, Morgan’s Farm illustrates a way of life that no longer exists in the area.” Click here to view a brochure that explains in more detail the history of the farm and includes a layout of all the land that belonged to the Canfield-Morgan Family.

I found a video clip on YouTube that portrays the way of life in the 1800's.  It was done as a school project, and I think the students involved did a great job!  Click here to view.