The county plans to use a Preservation New Jersey grant to repair 14 structures and the wall surrounding Smithville Mansion.
Burlington County’s plan to preserve more of historic Smithville is getting some help from the New Jersey Historic Trust.
The trust recently announced its recommendations for Preserve New Jersey grant awards, a list that includes a $750,000 capital grant to stabilize and repair several buildings in Smithville, the former 19th-century industrial village along the Rancocas Creek in Eastampton that is now a county park.
Since 1975, the county has invested more than $17.5 million to preserve and restore Smithville mansion and other historic buildings in the park, as well as make other enhancements and additions, including a floating trail across Smithville Lake, fishing docks and a playground.
The park is now the permanent home of two art galleries located in the mansion annex and a restored worker’s house. The Underground Railroad Museum of Burlington County is also housed in a former worker’s cottage there.
The county plans to use the recommended Preservation New Jersey grant to stabilize and repair 14 structures and the wall surrounding Smithville Mansion. Work will include repairs to the Thomas Merritt House, built in 1786 and the oldest property in Smithville. It is believed to be the site of a Lenape village, and was also the home of a grist mill that operated during the American Revolution.
The grant for Smithville restoration work is one of 67 recommended by the Historic Trust that total $13.8 million for state preservation. Among the others are $49,500 for the Community House of Moorestown and $57,188 for Saving Historic Moorestown, specifically historic site management at the Thomas Cowperthwaite House.
Funding for the preservation grants comes from a portion of New Jersey’s corporate business tax revenues dedicated to open space, farmland and preservation. The awards must still be approved by the state legislature and the governor through the normal appropriations process.
