By Sunayana Prabhu
MIDDLETOWN – Poricy Park, one of the largest in Monmouth County at 250 acres, offers a nature preserve, an education center and a New Jersey Historic site in the former home of a Revolutionary War hero, the Murray Farmhouse.
Last renovated in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the farmstead, consisting of the house and a barn, will soon be undergoing restorations.
The Middletown Township Committee authorized a contract in the amount of $56,400 for professional engineering services to DMR Architects for the farm- house project during its Dec. 4 meeting. According to the resolution, the township is currently looking for design, construction and inspection services, as well, for the farmhouse and an adjacent barn.
“The buildings were restored about 45 years ago. Those products have held up,” said Elaine Hinckley, president of the Poricy Park Conservancy Board of Trustees. The windows, cedar shake roof and the west front porch of the farmhouse will need to be replaced. The barn roof was recently protected with a tarp and needs repairs. The township has been adding to the capital funds to make these repairs but, because it is a historic building owned by a government body, it has to follow a bidding process that “takes a lot of time,”
Hinckley said, explaining why the efforts to restore the site have been slow.
“The township is setting aside approximately $350,000 of capital and/or grant funds for window and roof improvements (to the farmhouse) in the coming year,” explained Tony Mercantante, the Middletown Township administrator, in July. “This will be done in a historically appropriate manner to ensure the longevity and survival of this important historic site in Middletown.”
Preservation New Jersey (PNJ), a statewide historic preservation nonprofit, recently named the Murray Farmhouse and Barn to its annual 10 Most Endangered Historic Places list.
Located off Oak Hill Road in Middletown, the two-story, five-room Murray Farmhouse and Barn still stand on their original foundations as an excellent example of the quintessential Colonial-era lifestyle.
The farmhouse was built circa 1770 by Joseph Murray, a stonemason from Ireland. During 1775, when people in the Colonies were forced to choose between loyalty to the King of England and the newly forming United States, Murray chose to be a Patriot and served in the Monmouth County Militia in opposition to the British during the Revolutionary War. He gathered intel on enemy troops and secured supplies for George Washington’s troops.
Murray was shot and bayoneted by a British loyalist in his own cornfield on the historic site in 1780.
On May 15, 2021, a permanent sign was installed in his honor on the lane leading to the farmhouse and barn.
With the nation’s 250th-anniversary celebrations approaching, restoring the farmhouse and barn to highlight the history of the site is a priority, said Hinckley, because the Murray Farmhouse offers a glimpse into New Jersey’s role in America’s founding.
The ongoings of ordinary life from the 18th century can be experienced at the farmhouse that retains the old charm of plastered walls, brick fireplaces and period artifacts. According to the information on the Poricy Park website, the Murray family owned the property until 1861. Around 1840, a Murray grandson made an addition to the house. The property served as a dairy farm through the 1960s; it was purchased by Middletown Township in 1973 to save it from development.
The barn was last restored in 1978 and the farmhouse in 1981. The property is maintained by Poricy Park Conservancy, the nonprofit dedicated to its preservation, and owned by the township.
The conservancy works with the township to use the site for education and recreation and provides a wide range of benefits and services from stewardship of the New Jersey State Historic Site to the presentation of special events for the public throughout the year.
The farmhouse is busy year-round, providing the public and school students a glimpse into American history.
“Children participate in what the choices were for children of those days,” Hinckley said. “The kids go gather eggs and tinder for the fireplace. They learn to grind spices and make gingerbread cookies and they have a hearth fire going. They make butter. They go to a classroom and they learn to write the alphabet from a hornbook. They hear stories about Mr. Murray and they also go to the barn because it has the root cellar under it – one of the largest, if not the only one left, in the state of New Jersey.”
The conservancy maintains the historic décor and ambiance inside the farmhouse; powerlines are hidden underground so visitors can get an authentic experience. A garden and cornfield have been recreated and are regularly cared for by volunteers. The Middletown Recreation Department runs camps, fossil hunts, birthday parties, scouting events as well as public school education programs at the park.
Middletown elementary school students from grades one to six used to visit the site as part of their curriculum at least twice a year for a history and science lesson, “but a few years ago the board of ed dropped that out of the budget,” Hinckley said.
However, some PTA groups in town and other schools arrange for programs for students. “Some kids come from West Jersey all the way over here for that experience,” Hinckley said. “It’s definitely valuable because it focuses on how ordinary people lived during the Revolutionary War and the hardships they faced and their loyalty to this country’s creation.”
The purpose of the conservancy in preserving the historic site is for kids to “get hands-on experience,” Hinckley said, because, “if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat its mistakes.”
To volunteer time or donate to the farmhouse and barn, visit the Poricy Park Conservancy website at poricypark.org.
The article originally appeared in the December 21 – December 27, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
