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Dennisville Historic Home Owners Association DHHOA P.O. Box 311, Dennisville, N.J. 08214-0311 609-861-1338 The Dennisville Historic Home Owners Association is a non profit corporation organized to study the history of Dennisville and the surrounding area and to encourage the preservation of the historic homes in the village and in the township so that future generations will be able to view them and learn about the history of the area. Originally accounting for 69 structures, the village of Dennisville is included as an historic district on both the national and state registers of historic places. The association meets quarterly throughout the year at the Dennis Township Senior Center in Dennisville or on field trips to sites of historical interest. Each meeting consists of a brief business meeting followed by a guest speaker or the tour of the site being visited. Recent fieldtrips have included: historic barn presentation at the Joseph Falkinburge House, the Sam Azeez Museum of Woodbine Heritage, and the restored Whalers Cottages south of the Cape May Canal. The 2007 upcoming fall field trip will be to the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church. |
 Historic Dennisville Christmas House Tour - December 15, 2007
The annual Historic Dennisville Christmas House Tour is our premier fund raising event. On the 3rd Saturday of December each year a minimum of 10 home owners open their beautifully decorated homes to the tour. Please think about starting your holiday season with a festive glimpse of history in Dennisville at Christmas time! 2007 Date, Time, Ticket & Contact Information:
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| 2007 Featured House - The Eleazer Crawford, Sr. House - Circa 1820 | |
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| From the historical perspective:
This lovely Late Federal Vernacular style home was built around 1820 by Eleazer Crawford, Sr.. The house sits on a portion of property that once belonged to David Johnson who was one of the town fathers. Eleazer Crawford, Sr. was born in Cape May County in 1794, and died at home on December 17, 1873. In 1815 he married Eliza Green, and they had 5 children who grew up and lived in and around the Dennisville area. He was a successful merchant who had a thriving business at Dennis Creek Landing. In 1891, many years after the death of his father, Eleazer Crawford Jr. allowed the house to be the parsonage for a couple of years for the Dennisville United Methodist Church. In the late 1800's Harry W. Fidler took possession of the house. After living in the house for well over 20 years, Fidler paid the mortgage off in 1917 and finally owned the home. In 1900 Fidler moved the old Edwards Store building from Dennis Creek Landing to a site next to the house. As described in the local newspaper at the time the store sold "general merchandise". In 1915 the Post Office was relocated to the store and Harry Fidler was the town Postmaster. Even though Harry died in 1920, his family continued to own and reside in the home until 1985. From the owner's perspective:Twenty plus years in the same old house sure can teach you some things! Patience and perseverance come to mind as character traits developed in someone fortunate enough to endure harsh winters and untimely breakdowns of modern creature comforts. But, a oneness with the home that matures over time far outweighs the frustrations. Every sound speaks, and silence tells the history in conjunction with visual nostalgia. The Eleazer Crawford, Sr. House (circa 1820) in the village of Dennisville, NJ has a lot to say about the years gone by, and reveals a chronology of periods up to the present day. Chuck and Vicki Gargan have spent their years peeling back the layers of practical re-muddling (walls, floors, ceilings, and even the exterior were covered up) to discover clues to dating the structure. Whether it was finding buried treasures in the yard (single-shot flintlock derringer, horseshoes, buttons, etc.), in the walls (original wallpaper, Christmas and Easter cards, etc.), or in the construction itself (vertical pit saw blade markings, mortar work, and plaster), the home has been faithful to relate its secrets. A visit to the yard displays a London Plane Sycamore that long pre-dates the house, and in summer, colonial varieties of perennial flowers that have seen many generations. And of course, the old Johnson's Mill Pond (Dennisville Lake) laps its banks right out back, where the property mark goes a hundred feet into the lake. All said and done, it's a great place to visit for the Christmas House Tour and listen to the accumulated stories, or just imagine yourself having dinner a hundred years ago before machinery noise and technological mind pollution. Please come and enjoy the house and the tour! |
| Illustration By Alice Belanger McGuigan | |
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| Click on image to enlarge | |
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 Email:
Main Office
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Information 571 Petersburg Road, Dennisville, N.J. 08214, Phone: 609-861-9700 |
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