By Stephanie Loder
Plans are underway for a more than 100-year-old unused firehouse in Port Republic to get a new life as the city’s Heritage Hall and Museum thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers who are raising funds to refurbish the building.
The old firehouse on Blakes Lane was the city’s first firehouse, which closed in the 1960s, said Jim Schroeder, vice president of the Port Republic Heritage Society.
The building is located on Blakes Lane next to the current Port Republic Volunteer Fire Company station.
President of the Port Republic Heritage Society Donna Riegel organized the society two years ago after the previous historical society disbanded. She said many of the city’s historical artifacts have been stored in a resident’s home because there is nowhere else to put them.
Riegel’s group convinced the city to sell them the old firehouse for one dollar, with the promise that the society would raise money to renovate it.
“We had been trying for 13 years to get the building. City Council finally decided to sell it to us for a dollar, but we have to do all of the repairs,” said Riegel, who is also a member of City Council.
“It won’t cost taxpayers a dime. We are trying to do a lot of fundraising. The building needs an extensive amount of work, but we have a lot of craftsmen and workmen in town we hope will step up,” she said.
Riegel estimated the cost of the repairs to be between $150,000 and $200,000.
She envisions the renovation creating not only a museum for artifacts but a place where local children can learn about the city’s past.
“We want it to encompass all ages,” she said.
The Port Republic Heritage Society is a nonprofit with about 25 members.
“Port has a great history. A lot of people in this city have recorded their family history to preserve the information,” said Schroeder, a former city councilman who was an Egg Harbor Township history teacher from 1970-1985.
Schoeder’s wife, Beverly Bowen Schroeder, traces her family’s history back to her grandfather, Harry Bowen, who was a sea captain.
The society plans to use its Second Annual Heritage Day celebration on Oct. 5 to rally people who might be interested in volunteering. Schroeder said they also need people to help with renovation work, carpentry and most importantly, to help raise money.
“It’s a pretty ambitious project. There’s a whole lot that has to be done,” Schroeder said. “The building needs new windows and there have been some masonry problems that developed over the years.”
A new roof and upgrades to the building’s electrical and plumbing are needed, he said. The old firehouse overhead doors that opened for the fire engine need to be replaced too.
“The cost for rehab is going to be significant, but not insurmountable, and donations are most appreciated,” Schroeder said. “There’s so much history here.”
During the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Chestnut Neck was fought on Oct. 6, 1778 near Port Republic. A 50-foot monument erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1910 commemorates the colonial militiamen who died in the battle.
With the British holding Philadelphia and New York during the winter of 1777–78, Gen. George Washington at Valley Forge was cut off from his source of provisions.
Supplies were brought into Little Egg Harbor, unloaded at Chestnut Neck, taken up the river in flat-bottomed boats to Burlington, across the Delaware River and then over the land to Valley Forge.
Many British cargoes intended for Sir Henry Clinton in New York were seized by American privateers and reached Gen. Washington via Chestnut Neck and the described route.
Schroeder said Sir Henry Clinton became so upset at the loss of his ship, that he decided to “clean out the nest of Rebel Pirates.”
The heritage society will present narrated tours of three cemeteries – Boling Cemetery, Clarks Mills Burial Grounds, and Blackman Cemetery. Visitors are asked to gather at 2 p.m. Oct. 5 at City Hall, 143 Main St., Port Republic.
There will be refreshments, pumpkins for children, ghost stories, and hayrides.
The guided cemetery visits are at 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. and hayrides begin around 4:30 p.m.
Donations can be made to the Port Republic Heritage Society, c/o City Hall, 143 Main Street, Port 08241.
Stephanie is a freelance writer with 40 years experience covering NJ news for The Asbury Park Press, The Courier Post, The Catholic Star Herald and The Press of AC. Email her at stephanieloder59@hotmail.com
