News from the Public
Information Contacts: Linda Van Zandt / Joanne Vuoso / Lisa Krueger 908.231.7020 publicinfo@co.somerset.nj.us
September 24, 2009
Weekend Journey Through the Past: Oct. 10 & 11
Close to Home – Free Admission!
Looking for a unique but inexpensive
family outing? Somerset County’s Weekend Journey through the Past not only offers you and your family
admission to 27 historic sites absolutely free of charge, but all sites are
close to home.
This autumn weekend features
interpreted tours led by costumed docents; special collections and
exhibitions; period military drills and re-enactments; traditional
blacksmithing; 19th-century firefighting wagons and apparatus; a gravestone
carver re-enactor discussing the folk art of gravestone carving and the significance of traditional
motifs; history of golf and the Works
Project Administration initiative to create golf courses in the U.S. during the
Depression; music, arts and crafts;
period dance performances; antiques sales; guidance for genealogical research;
daily chores of 18th-century life; colonial games for children; military
history; demonstrations; local history videos; participatory activities, interesting architecture; and
access to some sites not generally open to the public.
With the money you’ll save on admission
and gasoline, you might consider stopping along the way between site visits for
a leisurely lunch or dinner as you journey through
So, mark your calendar and invite
your children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors to join you on this special
journey back in time.
“This is a wonderful way to explore
Participating sites, listed below,
will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, and noon to 5
p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11. Admission to all sites is free of charge.
Be sure to
enter the wayfarers’ quiz to win one of ten $25 pre-paid gasoline gift
cards. Anyone who visits four or more
participating historic sites on Oct 10 and 11 is eligible for the prize
drawing. Answers to the wayfarers’ quiz
are posted at individual participating sites.
Offered again this year will be a convenient on-line entry form at www.SCHistoryWeekend.com
Printed
guides identifying participating sites, locations and interesting facts about
each will be available at all participating sites during the weekend to guide
your journey. For advance comprehensive
details, along with suggested tours,
travel directions and contest information, visit the official event Web site at
www.SCHistoryWeekend.com.
2009 Weekend Journey Through The Past –
Participating Sites
- Codington Farmstead, Warren
- First Reformed Church of Rocky
Hill
- Gen. John Frelinghuysen
House/Raritan Public Library,
- 1830
- Kennedy-Martin Stelle
Farmstead, Basking Ridge (Bernards)
- Kirch-Ford House, Warren
- Mount
- New Cemetery,
- Old Millstone Forge Blacksmith
Shop & Museum, Millstone
- Old Presbyterian Graveyard,
Bound Brook
- Relief Hose Co. No. 2/Raritan
Firehouse,
- Daniel Robert
Mansion/Somerville Borough Hall, Somerville
- Somerset County Courthouse
Green (two sites), Somerville
-
-
First Dutch Reformed Church
- Abraham Staats House, South
Bound Brook
- Andrew Ten Eyck House,
Branchburg
- Jacobus Vanderveer House,
Bedminster
- Van Horne House,
- Van Veghten House,
- Vermeule-Mundy House, Green
Brook
- Wallace House, Somerville
- Wyckoff-Garretson House,
This
popular annual event, now in its fourth year, is an initiative of the Somerset
County Cultural & Heritage Commission in collaboration with representatives
of many local historical organizations and municipalities, the Somerset County
Board of Freeholders, the Somerset County Business Partnership, artists and
arts organizations and the local tourism industry.
Funding has been made possible, in
part, from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State,
through the State/County Partnership Local