Each year, under the auspices of the Burlington County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, the County Historian participates in the selection of sites for a project called " New Views".
The program is one of the means Burlington County employs to celebrate Historic Preservation Month and National Tourism Week. In the past, Burlington County artists were invited to create their own interpretation of one or more of the historic sites selected. When the art work was completed, an exhibit wass held in the Smithville Mansion Annex Gallery, the art was judged, awards were presented and then in May, as a part of the annual Tour Your Town project, a bus tour was conducted to selected " New Views" sites.
Beginning in 2010 the Art portion of the project was discontinued, but the annual bus tour was held independently. Again in 2012, as in 2011, only the Bus Tour will be conducted. Joe Laufer, the County Historian, serves as the official tour guide.
NEW VIEWS XII
Saturday, May 18, 2013 - 8:45 to 4:30
The Quaker Heritage Trail
“New Views Bus Tour” Explores Selected Quaker Meeting Houses of Burlington County
There are 19 Quaker Meeting Houses in Burlington County -- some are "Active" in the sense that they are used for "First Day" or Sunday Religious purposes, and others are "Laid Down," a Quaker term which indicates that they are no longer places of worship, but rather have been adapted for other uses (private homes, headquarters for Historical Societies, Conference Center, etc.) The Official name for the denomination which worships in these buildings is "The Society of Friends." Initially, the apellation "Quaker" was a term of derision for the members of the Society of Friends.
Several of the Quaker Meeting Houses on this tour are among the oldest public buildings in Burlington County. On this tour of the "Quaker Heritage Trail," we intend to actualy tour 7 of these historic buildings, and drive by 8 of them. Mr. Laufer will provide historic informtion about the remaining four and provide directions to them for independent touring.
An informational brochure, itinerary and application for this tour is posted here:
CLICK HERE FOR ITINERARY, APPLICATION AND LUNCH ORDER FORM.
The cost of the tour, which includes lunch, will be $50 per person. The tour is sponsored by the Friends of the Burlington County Library, Inc.
Tour begins at Burlington County Headquarters Library, 5 Pioneer Boulevard at 8:45 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. and includes tours of 7 historic Quaker Meeting Houses, and drive-bys of 8 others. A Subway box lunch is included.
Click here for self-guided Quaker Heritage Tour
REVIEW OF PAST ELEVEN TOURS
NEW VIEWS XI
Saturday, May 19, 2012 - 8:45 to 4:30
Visit Roebling, Smithville, Whitesbog and Batsto
“New Views Bus Tour” Explores Company Towns of Burlington County
This year’s New Views Bus Tour will take riders on a trip back through time to discover the “Company Towns of Burlington County,” including Roebling, Smithville, Whitesbog and Batsto, on Saturday, May 19 from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Burlington County Library and led by County Historian Joe Laufer, the bus trip is held each year in May to celebrate National Tourism Week and Historic Preservation Month. The cost of the tour, which will begin and end at Library Headquarters in Westampton, is $50 per person and includes a box lunch and discounted admission to the featured museums.
During the trip, Laufer will discuss each location’s significance in history and conduct brief tours. The first stop will be the town of Roebling and tour of the Roebling Museum, followed by a visit to Historic Smithville Park in Eastampton and a tour of the H.B. Smith Industrial Village. Participants will have lunch in the event tent at Smithville before departing for Whitesbog Village in Pemberton and a tour of the J.J. White Cranberry/Blueberry Complex. The final stop will be a visit to Batsto for a tour of the Reception Center exhibit and the Village. The bus is expected to return to library headquarters on Pioneer Boulevard at about 4:30 p.m.
The Registration Brochure is posted below. It may be downloaded and mailed to the address indicated along with the $50 payment for each passenger. Be certain to complete a separate Box Lunch order for each participant. If there are any questions, please call the County Historian at (609) 267-9660, ext. 5010.
Click here for a downloadable PDF version of the 2012 tour application form
New Views X
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Commemorating Burlington County's Role in the Civil War 150 Years Later
New Views X will focus on the Sesquicentennial of the Civl War in Burlington County. The tour will take place on Saturday, May 21 beginning at 8;45 a.m. at Smithville Park. The tour is limited to 50 people and will be narrated by County Historian, Joseph Laufer, assisted by Historian Paul W. Schopp. Cost per person is $45.00. Checks should be made out to the "Friends of the Burlington County Library." The price includes the cost of a box lunch which will be served at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Beverly. Estimated completion of the tour will be at 3:30 p.m. Mail checks, with name, address, phone and e-mail address to: Civil War Tour, Burlington County Library, 5 Pioneer Boulevard, Westampton, NJ 08060. First come, first served. Menu choices will be sent with confirmation.
Click here for brochure application and box lunch order form
Itinerary for Sesquicentennial Civil War Tour – Saturday, May 21, 2011
Starting Point: Smithville. Board bus at 8:45 a.m.
Route:
A. Mount Holly – John Woolman Memorial – Attitudes towards Slavery before the war.
B. Burlington City
- Burlington County Historical Society - Civil War Exhibit
- Location of Camden & Amboy Station
- Burlington Quaker Meeting House - Resolution against Slavery
- The Wall Mansion – James Wall arrested for his Southern sympathies (Copperhead)
- U.S. Grant House – Wood Street – Grant family refuge
- Location of steamboat wharf that Grant used when arriving
- Grubb Estate – Waterfront – NJ 23 rd (Yahoo) hero
- Black Vets Cemetery at Bethlehem AME Church.
C. Delanco:
- Civil War Submarine Prototype for the Alligator
D. Beverly
- Riverfront and Manor Road wharf: Disembarkation of troops; Entry point for wounded.
- Camp Cadwallader – South Jersey’s only camp for new recruits
- The Hospital (The Clara Barton connection with Burlington County, although not going to Bordentown on this trip.)
- The Soldier at Rest statue
LUNCH IN BEVERLY - St. Stephen's Church Hall
E. Edgewater Park
- The National Cemetery
- The Grubb House site (Yahoo GAR reunion site) [Burned in 1924]
- Coopertown Meeting – For Riverfront Historical Society Civil War Exhibit.
F. Westampton
- Timbuctoo – Black Vets Burial Place; story of fugitives living in the county
- Mt. Moriah Cemetery at Mt. Holly Bypass – Black Vets.
G. Vincentown – Military impact on a typical rural community
- Quaker and Baptist Cemeteries: Eayre Brothers graves – Vincentown’s war heroes: one survives another sacrifices his life.
- Eagle Walk (Burr property at Camp Woods)
- Kesiah Davis; Irick Family; GAR Reunions
- Bryan Family homes (prominent family responds to war)
- Woolston Family – Civil War Surgeon
End at Smithville - Estimated time of conclusion: 3:30 p.m.
New Views IX - 2010
This year’s program will consist only of a themed tour, without the creative component involving artists. Stained glass is the art medium selected, showcasing some of the most representative and distinctive stained glass located throughout Burlington County. On May 15 th, 2010, County Historian Joe Laufer will lead a Bus Tour of 7 representative venues which contain an array of stained glass styles in Burlington County.
The anticipated 7 venues are: Christ Episcopal Church, Riverton, NJ (the rose window facing Main St. was created by Louis C. Tiffany); the windows of the Chapel of St. Mary at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Beverly, NJ, consisting of beautifully crafted non-religious images of flora and fauna in an array of the most vibrant colors. The windows of the Chatsworth United Methodist Church in Woodland Township, NJ, crafted by Mr. Gedi Gudauskis in 1984, representing images of the flora and fauna of the New Jersey Pinelands; the windows of the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Eucharist, Tabernacle, NJ, (ultra modern stained glass windows integrated throughout the structure and centering on theological themes of celebration, worship and the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, designed and crafted by internationally acclaimed artist, Maureen McGuire of Phoenix, Arizona. Sections celebrate the local pinelands environment, depicting holly, cranberries, and blueberries; The breathtaking 10 x 15-foot altar window and the side windows in the chapel of the Masonic Home Chapel, Oxmead Road, Burlington Township, NJ created by world-renowned stained-glass artist J. Kenneth Leap; The windows of the new Church of the Assumption, Monmouth Road, Wrightstown, NJ (its stained glass windows are classic 19 th century “Munich Style” fabricated by the famous Zettler Stained Glass studios. They were salvaged from the now closed St. Aloyisius Church in Gray’s Ferry, Philadelphia); the restored “Announcement of the Birth of Christ” and “Resurrection Morn.” windows of Dobbins Memorial United Methodist Church, 330 Union Avenue, Delanco, NJ, fabricated by the William Reith Stained Glass Company of Philadelphia, PA.
The narrated bus tour scheduled for Saturday, May 15, 2010 will begin at Smithville Mansion in Eastampton at 9:00 a.m. Cost per person is $45, and includes a box lunch at one of the venues. In addition to Mr. Laufer’s commentary, brief descriptions of the stained glass art will be given at each venue, in some cases by the artist or a stained glass expert. The tour will end at approximately 3:30 p.m. Limited to 50 people.
Click here for more details on the venues
New Views VIII - 2009
The theme for New Views VIII is "Art Along the Rancocas". For the first time, we are broadening the scope of subjects to include anything related to the Rancocas -- flora, fauna, history, towns. structures, bridges -- the options are unlimited. The Rancocas is a river of many names: to the Indians, the Ancocas; to
the colonists, the Northampton River; to us, the Rancocas. Artists are invited to select themes from the history of the towns which grew up
along the Rancocas and its 3 branches: The Main stem: 8 miles from
Rancocas State Park to the Delaware River; The North branch: 31 miles
from Lebanon State Forest to Rancocas State Park; The South branch,
which includes both the south east and south western spurs. 14
municipalities out of the 40 in Burlington County are touched directly
by the waters of the Rancocas. They may also choose themes from the
ecological, recreational and commercial uses of the Rancocas throughout
the years since 1677 when the first Quaker settlers arrived in
Burlington.
The communities on the south bank of the Main Stem include Riverside, Delran (Bridgeboro), Moorestown, Mount Laurel (Centerton, Masonville, Friendship and Rancocas Woods); on the south bank there are Delanco, Willingboro (Mill Creek Park) and Westampton (Rancocas, Rancocas State Park, Timbuctoo).
The communities on the North Branch include Westampton (Timbuctoo), Hainesport, Mount Holly, Eastampton (Smithville), Southampton (Ewansville) and Pemberton (Birmingham, Pemberton Boro, New Lisbon, Browns Mills, Whitesbog).
Finally, the communities on the South Branch include Hainesport (Rancocas Heights), Lumberton (Ironwood Outdoor Center, Eayrestown), Southampton (Vincentown, Medford (Kirby's Mill and Oliphants Mill).
A bus tour of "The Rancocas by Land" will be conducted on Saturday, May 16, 2009. For reservations, call 609-265-5068.
Click here for suggested sites for New Views VIII
New Views VII - 2008
The theme for New Views VII is "Literary Burlington County - Writers, Historic Libraries, and Literary Forums." We are in the process of selecting some of the couunty's Literary greats -- many of whom are little known to the general public. They include writers of children's books, journalists, and historians, as well as institutions such as the early libraries charterd by King George of England and lyceums and literary forums. Burlington County has a rich literary history and this year's New Views will hightlight the key contributing people and places. The list of sites can be accessed by clicking on the link below. A bus tour of the sites will be conducted on Saturday, May 10, 2008 beginning at 8:15 a.m. from the Mount Holl Library.
Click here for pictures of all New Views VII sites and for a description of each with directions
New Views VI - 2007
The theme for New Views VI is "Burlington County Sculptures, Monuments and Memorials". The venues are quite different from those chosen in former years, but they will hopefully call attention to the many little known historic objects which dot our county.
Click here for the illustrated list of selected New Views VI Sculptures, Monuments and Memorials
New Views V - 2006
For our fifth anniversary New Views project, historic venues in the 7 Pinelands Municipalities (the 7 southernmost municipalities in Burlington County) were selected.
Click here for the list of municipalities and New Views V venues
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO ALBUM OF THE NEW VIEWS V TOUR - MAY 13, 2006
New Views IV - 2005
In 2005, the theme selected was " Historic Schoolhouses and Firehouses of Burlington County" Thirteen sites were selected:
- 1. Brainerd School, 26 Brainerd St., Mt. Holly
- 2. Clara Barton School, Crosswicks and Burlington Streets, Burlington
- 3. Cross Keys School, Mill St., Medford, on the grounds of Medford Memorial School.
- 4. Friendship School, 180 Carranza Road, Tabernacle
- 5. Georgetown School, Rte. 206 N., Mansfield, on the grounds of Mansfield ball park.
- 6. Little Red Schoolhouse, Main Street, Maple Shade.
- 7. New Smithville School, Smithville Road, Eastampton (current police station).
- 8. Old Smithville School, Historic Smithville Park, Eastampton.
- 9. William K. Haines School, behind Sally Stretch Keen Memorial Library, 94 Main St. at corner of Race St., Vincentown Village.
- 10. Good Intent Fire Company, Garden St., Mt. Holly.
- 11. Marlton Fire Co. #1, 26 E. Main Street (rear of building), Evesham.
- 12. Relief Fire Co. #1, Pine Street, Mount Holly.
- 13. Young America Fire Company, 21 E. Broad Street, Burlington.
New Views III - 2004
In 2004 , in commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Emancipation of New Jersey in 1804, the theme centered around historic Black History and Underground Railroad sites in Burlington County. Ten sites were selected:
- 1. Burlington Island, Delaware River, Burlington City
- 2. Old Courthouse, High Street, Mt. Holly
- 3. John Woolman Memorial House, 88 Branch Street, Mount Holly
- 4. Oliver Cromwell House, 114 East Union Street, Burlington City
- 5. Friends Meeting House, Bulington, 341 High Street, Burlington City
- 6. Issac/Thomas Evans House, 875 East Tuckerton, Evesham
- 7. New Jersey Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth, West Burlington St., Bordentown
- 8. Burlington Pharmacy (Wheatley's), 301 High Street, Burlington City
- 9. Jacobs Chapel, AME, Elbo Lane, Mt. Laurel
- 10. Elisha Bracklow House, 274 West Main Street, Moorestown
New Views II - 2003
Theme: Lesser-known Historically Significant Sites in Burlington County
- 1 . Riverton Yacht Club , Main Street and Riverbank, Riverton
- 2. Old Pennypacker House, 9 Eayerstown Road, Medford
- 3. Bethlehem AME Church, 213 E. Pearl Street, Burlington
- 4. Willingboro one-room Schoolhouse, Municipal Complex, Salem Road, Willingboro
- 5. Vincentown-Tabernacle Telephone Exchange Building, 17 Mill Street, Vincentown
- 6. Historic Smithville Park , Machine Shop, River Street (off Smithville Rd.), Eastampton
- 7. Hopkinson House, 101 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown
- 8. Crosswicks Meeting House, Ward Ave. at Route 672, Crosswicks
- 9. Farmers Hall, NW corner Mt. Laurel & Mt. Laurel-Hainesport Rds. (Route 603 & s74), Mt. Laurel
- 10. Shamong Hotel, Main Street (junction of Routes 532 & 563), Chatsworth
New Views I - 2002
Theme: Lesser-known Historically Significant Sites in Burlington County
- 1. Gate House, Roebling Works, Roebling
- 2. Rancocas Friends Meeting, Rancocas, Westampton
- 3. Alice Paul Homestead, Hooten Road, Mt. Laurel
- 4. Iron Masters Mansion, Atsion, Shamong
- 5. Dr. James Still's Office, Crossroads, Church Road, Medford
- 6. Saw Mill, Batsto
- 7. Westfield Friends Meeting, Cinnaminson Road, Cinnaminson
- 8. North Pemberton Train Station, Pemberton
- 9. Vincentown Historic District, Southampton
- 10. Keystone Watch Case Building, Riverside
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