Princeton, Clark landmarks among NJ's 10 most endangered historic places in 2024

Jenna Intersimone, MyCentralJersey.com

Two Central Jersey landmarks are on Preservation New Jersey's annual list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey.

Several challenges face properties on this year’s endangered sites list, including neglect and deferred maintenance, threats from redevelopment and new construction, difficulties in raising preservation funding, and the need for creative adaptive reuse proposals.

The list, generated from nominations by the public, are based on three criteria:

  • historic significance and architectural integrity

  • the critical nature of the threat

  • the likelihood that inclusion on the list will have a positive impact on efforts to protect the resource.

Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge enslaved quarters, Clark

Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge is now home to Oak Ridge Park, Ash Brook Reservation, and Ash Brook Golf Course.
Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge is now home to Oak Ridge Park, Ash Brook Reservation, and Ash Brook Golf Course.

Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge, which was called Ash Swamp during the Revolution, was once part of a 208-acre site. Today, little of it remains.

The area is home to Oak Ridge Park, Ash Brook Reservation, and Ash Brook Golf Course, and neighborhoods in Clark, Scotch Plains and Edison.

The remaining historic site includes enslaved quarters, which are one of the few examples of free-standing enslaved dwellings left in the state.

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The first section of the main plantation home was built between 1720 and 1740, partly with the proceeds from the sale of an enslaved woman named Phebe in 1717.

Although the Union County-owned site has been researched by the Clark Historic Society since 1995 — culminating in stories that include connections with the Underground Railroad — preservation efforts have stalled.

Union County is said to have plans to add new park amenities, which could impact the plantation and its significance to Black history.

According to a release, Preservation New Jersey supports the mission of the Friends of the Oak Ridge/Ash Brook Historic Sites in encouraging Union County to consider impacts to the Homestead Plantation.

Joseph Hornor House, Princeton

The brick, two-story Joseph Hornor House at 344 Nassau St. was built in the 1760s by the grandson of one of Princeton's Quaker founders.

An anchor to the Jugtown Historic District, the house occupies the northeast corner of the crossroads of Nassau and Harrison Streets.

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However, an affordable housing project is proposed that would include adding a four-story structure to the rear that would amass and surround the historic structure.

Preservation New Jersey, the release said, supports and encourages the development to comply with preservation standards and guidelines as it will set the precedent for other new development in the Jugtown Historic District, as well as other historic Princeton neighborhoods.

The rest of the 2024 list includes St. Paul's Abbey in Newton; the Anderson Farm and House, Bayville; the Garden State Gate House, Cherry Hill; Palace Amusements artifacts, Asbury Park; Orange Memorial Hospital, Orange; the MLK House, Camden; Urban Historic Districts, statewide; state owned and managed historic properties, statewide.

Staff Reporter Jenna Intersimone: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Princeton, Clark sites among NJ's 10 most endangered historic places

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