2009 Featured House - The Crawford House - c. 1810

Dennisville is a superbly preserved village with a rich 18th and 19th century maritime history and has excellent examples of houses from the 5 major building periods that span from the early 18th century to the early 20th century. Many of the early settlers were gentleman land owners and merchants evolved in the lumber trade with the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington. By the early 19th century the village had become the residence for many bay/sea captains and ship builders in addition to shop keepers. Ships were built and launched at Dennis Creek Landing until the late 19th century. Cedar shingle mining, a unique and short lived industry, occurred in the nearby swamps. In the late 19th century Independence Hall was re-roofed with shingles mined and cut by two local tradesmen, then shipped from Dennisville to Philadelphia. The first post office in Cape May County was located at Dennis Creek Landing in 1802. In 1848, however, Dennisville lost out to Cape May Court House in its bid to become the County Seat.

The Crawford family presence dates from the late 18th / early 19th century in old northern Cape May County. The Crawford family members owned numerous properties in the area including both vacant land and lots with structures on them. Eleazer Crawford, Sr. bought "this year's feature house" from the Johnson family. The original structure was most likely built by the Johnson family as it traces back to the time when the Johnson family owned the land. Eleazer Crawford, Sr. owned property at the landing-a storefront. His son, Eleazer Crawford, Jr., did not own land but took over the business and became a successful businessman in the area.

In the 19th century it was common for wealthy families to own numerous properties around the village which they rented out to worker families. These families included workers from the shipyards, shops, and farms and sawmills. At their peak in the 1880's, the shipyards employed over 150 people. The Eleazer Crawford Tenant House, or the Crawford Tenant Cottage as it was sometimes called, was one of these houses.

Newspaper accounts of the day included the following references to the Crawford House: "William Treadway has moved from the Parker cottage to the Crawford Tenant cottage" (Star of the Cape - 1879), and "Eleazer Crawford has a new roof put on his tenant house" (CM County Gazette - 1881). And in fact, the name on the 1872 Beers Map is Mrs. Crandall-a tenant at the time.

In the late 1960's Ray and Jane Dixon moved the house from across the street, adjacent to the old 1 bay fire house, to its current location. M. Jones House Movers of Leesburg, N.J. performed the move. M. Jones's son, Marvin and his wife, Connie, currently reside in the Dennisville Historic District in the Mary Dalton House just down the street from the Crawford House. A more modern rancher now sits on the Crawford House's original site. The Crawford House was transformed from a standard I-house configuration with a rear lean-to/shed roofed addition, to a saltbox by the Dixons.

Original site before house move

Current site after house move

Crawford House renovations - c. 1960

Crawford House renovations - c. 1960

Our Dennisville adventure began in 2003. The Crawford House was our "new" old home. Our previous home was from 1743, so we had a "newer" home now.

Work began in the kitchen, family room, and bathroom. Box living became our way of life as we worked on our home. While doing the tearing out, three local historians came to investigate the revealed inner structure. They determined the house should date to 1810. This was detected by using the nails found, structural features and, of course, their expert knowledge.

Next we worked upstairs to make it into our home while having regard to the age of the house. We kept many features such as gunstock corners to keep the house as authentic as possible.

But recently our passion has become gardening. After removing stumps, much bamboo, and putting in a driveway and walking path, we began gardening. People (us), butterflies, and hummingbirds feed here. It has been an amazing learning experience. We are learning to garden in an environmentally sensitive way by using native plants as well as drought resistant plants.

This year we have become a certified Monarch butterfly way station. Please visit with the New Jersey Audubon Society / Cape May Nature Center during the summer months. We have had the privilege of sharing the garden with this group and learning much from our visitors.

We hope you enjoy visiting our home on the 2009 Historic Dennisville Christmas House Tour!