Katzenjammin’

The Princeton Katzenjammers, Princeton University’s first co-ed a cappella group, performed for the Greenwood Gardens open house on Sunday.

(Princeton is about an hour’s drive one way from here, which is a pretty respectable time commitment for a college student on a Sunday in late April, so— props to them for making it!)

 

Unsurprisingly, they were a talented group of singers, and they consequently attracted a fair crowd.

 

At the end, they put on a cheer for us. I didn’t entirely understand it, and apparently some of them didn’t either (false start!).

 

They got it in the end, though.

Greenwood Gardens

Greenwood Gardens, near Old Short Hills Park, is usually an admission-only space, but they opened it to the public for free today. (Who doesn’t like free things?)

In 1906, Joseph P. Day purchased 80 acres of land in Short Hills and called it “Pleasant Days.” The original house on the property was destroyed by a fire in 1911, so Day built a huge Italianate mansion in its place. By the time the property was purchased by the Blanchards in 1949, the 1911 mansion “had deteriorated significantly,” so it was replaced by the modest Georgian Revival mansion you see here (“modest” my foot).

And, y’know, if you’re gonna purchase a large estate and call it your own, you might as well call it by a name YOU prefer, like “Greenwood Gardens” (because, really, “Pleasant Days?” that’s like so 1910s, OMG, really) so there was THAT.

In 2000, a Blanchard descendent began working with the Garden Conservancy to establish Greenwood Gardens as a nonprofit public garden and conservation organization. They’re in the process of fully restoring everything to its glory, but (in my humble opinion) it looks pretty good now.

 

Reference:
Greenwood Gardens. (n.d.). “Garden Guide and Walking Tour.” (Pamphlet).

Wick House

HISTORY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the Wick House.

It was built by Mr. Henry Wick around 1750 (possibly 1752 exactly), and is currently preserved within the Morristown National Historical Park.

That would be cool in and of itself, but during the Revolutionary War, Continental soldiers loitered around the Wick Farm from 1779-1782, chopping down 600 acres of Mr. Wick’s trees, and made themselves at home IN his home (this house) during the winter encampment of 1779-1780.

…Well, SOME soldiers (officers) hung out in his house. Most soldiers had to make do with makeshift huts.

There’s a lot of talk of Major General Arthur St. Clair using the house as a headquarters during that time. (I’d never heard of him, but maybe you have.)

…And then there’s the Legend of Tempe Wick. According to the story, Tempe (Henry Wick’s daughter) was out riding her horse when some soldiers tried to commandeer it; Tempe was like “screw you,” galloped the horse back home, and stashed her steed inside the main house. The soldiers eventually followed her back to the house, but found themselves stumped because obviously horses aren’t found in houses. And thus the horse was saved.

I must’ve read this next part on a sign board somewhere and neglected to document the sign, so I can’t verify this information—but in recent years, I believe the accuracy of the story is unverified, so they’re not promoting it as hard truth anymore. As such, the former “Tempe Wick House” is now called simply the “Wick House.” Regardless, there’s still a Tempe Wick Road in Morristown.

 

Aaaaaand this is what the building looked like many years ago (specifics unknown, but apparently it’s from an old Water Company brochure):

Oh, and because I put an “architecture” tag on this post: apparently it’s a Cape Cod. There ya go.

 

References:

National Park Service. (n.d.). “Jockey Hollow.” Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey. http://www.nps.gov/morr/historyculture/jockey-hollow.htm.

Rt23.com. (2008?). “Wick House: The Revolutionary War in North Jersey.” http://www.rt23.com/american_revolution/wick_house.shtml.

“The Wick Farm.” Information plaque near Wick House. Morristown, NJ. Documented April 2013.

Williams, J.M. (1996). Images of America: Morristown. Arcadia Publishing: Dover, NH. ISBN 0752402072.

Former hut

So remember those K-RA-ZY exciting soliders’ huts I was talking about yesterday? There are five huts in a tight little arrangement: four in a row, and one (an officers’ hut?) behind the rest, which is the one I showed you yesterday.

…Well, there WERE four in a row, before one burned to a crisp from the inside out.

I don’t know exactly when it happened— there’s no charred smell, so it can’t have been too recent, but there’s still yellow tape all around (tho’ it’s starting to come down). My totally uneducated guess is somewhere between 6 months-2 years ago.

I also don’t know WHAT happened. The hut is clearly burned from the inside out; neighboring huts exhibit wax dribbles (presumably from candles?). Maybe a candlelight Boy Scout outing went awry?

Huts!

In Morristown National Historical Park, there are some replicas of huts that soldiers would’ve stayed in during the Continental Army’s winter encampment of 1779-1780 (oddly enough, called, on the map, “soldiers’ huts”).

Each log-cabin hut has a 14′x16′ floor (roughly) and would’ve housed 12 soldiers.

They were pretty cramped. It was a lousy winter, by all accounts.

 

P.S. Here’s where Morristown National Historical Park is (link to a Google map):

Also here are links to trail maps (it’s connected to the Lewis Morris Park):
* Jockey Hollow
* NJ Brigade map
* Morristown Historical Park in context of Morristown
* Lewis Morris Park in color (PDF)
* Lewis Morris Park in less color (JPG suitable for printing B/W)

 

Resources:

National Park Service. (n.d.). “Plan your visit,” Jockey Hollow. http://www.nps.gov/morr/planyourvisit/index.htm.

Parsons, E. (n.d.). “Jockey Hollow (Morristown) – Soldiers’ Log Huts.” Richard Stockton College of New Jersey; Art & Architecture of New Jersey. http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=292.

Purdes, J. (2003-2003). “Jockey Hollow.” Hiking in New Jersey. http://www.purdes.com/njhiking/jockey_hollow/.

Skylands Visitor. (2008?). “Morristown National Historical Park: The Great Story.” http://www.njskylands.com/hsmtnhp.htm.

Over the tree trunks and through the woods

In January, I reported that the New Providence section of the Passaic River Park was impassible. I’ve been back to those woods a couple times since, but it’s always been difficult and disappointing.

THIS HAS SINCE CHANGED (!!!).

Some gang sawed through that giant mess of trees… AND BLAZED IT. (I’ve been meaning to blaze it forever!) Neon orange marks now dot the previously unmarked trail, guiding hikers across un-trail-like areas that they’d never think to hike otherwise. Example below: hello random patch of weeds new trail.

For several of the larger logs that blocked the path, rather than cut them up… they’re simply part of the trail now. Volunteers have added steps to help hikers hop over logs.

It is AWESOME. Excellent work. I don’t know who you are, mysterious team of trail volunteers, but I love you, and if you want a hand with the next go-round, PLEASE let me help. You’ve rocked my world!

Mindowaskin bridge

I don’t know what Mindowaskin Park was before it was Mindowaskin Park. It’s pretty well established that (a) the park was established in 1918, (b) there was some debate leading up to its development, and (c) it was named after “one of the four Indian chiefs who deeded the lands now comprising northern New Jersey (Lipson 1996, 58).”

But with a fancy footbridge like this, I dunno, I thought the park was built from a leftover estate. Maybe Mindowaskin Park was simply established during a time when little community parks deserved the very best.

 

References:

Lipson, S.H. (1996). Images of America: Westfield: The Golden Age of Postcards. Arcadia Publishing: Dover, NH. ISBN 0752404067.

Philhower, C.A. (1923). History of Town of Westfield: Union County, New Jersey. Lewis Historical Publishing Company: New York. http://www.westfieldnjhistory.com/scanned.books/ (PDF).

Frozen volleyball

This shot might’ve actually worked in better light, but so it goes. I’m sorry.

(Grove Park, New Providence)

Snowpile

I have no idea why there is a giant heap of snow in Grove Park. Do you? Maybe some kids were playing? Maybe the goal was to build the largest possible mound of snow? I dunno.

Frozen pond

After a week of above-freezing weather, it’s almost guaranteed that Seeley’s Pond is no longer frozen solid like this.

But after last week’s run of nothing above 25°F, it was sure frozen last week.

I saw some kids running on it, which blew my mind a little. Encouraged, I cautiously tested it for myself, and: yup, totally frozen, totally walkable.

Even geese were like “yeahhh, check ME out, crossin’ this pond without swimming, aw yeah.”