Top 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in NJ

NEW JERSEY — A former abbey for monks in Sussex County. A house in Camden where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stayed on weekends while attending Crozer Theological Seminary from 1948 - 1951.

These are just two of the most important historical sites in New Jersey, and both of which are under current threat of being lost forever.

This is according to Preservation New Jersey, which on May 4 published its annual list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey.

Their list, released every year, spotlights irreplaceable historic places in New Jersey that are in imminent danger of being lost. The group says all the properties below suffer from neglect, vandalism, fires, disputes with local government and a lack of badly-needed funding to preserve just how important they are to American history.

The 2024 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in NJ are:

St. Paul’s Abbey in Newton, Sussex County

St. Paul's Abbey is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery in Newton, New Jersey that was founded in 1924. The abbey was originally established as a mission following World War I. German monks sought refuge from post-war persecution and invested in agricultural pursuits such as beekeeping, cow-raising and fruit growing on the roughly 20 acres immediately surrounding the monastery. The property has been vacant since 2002. In 2008 plans and a partnership to revitalize the abbey into affordable housing units was made between St. Paul’s and Newton Township. The building was cleared out and prepared for renovation. However, budget cuts and other factors halted plans to move the property forward. Ever since, the Abbey has been vacant and open to vandalism and affected by a lack of maintenance and weatherization.

Palace Amusements in Asbury Park

Palace Amusements opened as a carousel house in 1888 and was one of only 400 amusement parks in the U.S. to survive the Great Depression. By 1955, Palace owners undertook a major expansion, adding the Fun House and Bumper Car buildings. The expanded Palace was decorated with original artwork painted on the Lake Avenue, Cookman Avenue, and Kingsley Street walls by designer Worth Thomas. The scenes included people riding bumper cars, the names of the attractions in offbeat scripts, and the amusing/creepy “Tillie” fun face. The Palace ultimately became a target of local property marketing and management firms, which claimed that failure to demolish the arcade would undermine the redevelopment of Asbury Park’s waterfront. In a bid to appease city and state officials and preservation activists, the developers agreed to mitigate the demolition of Palace Amusements by removing and storing the artifacts in a new building. Now, nearly 20 years later, artifacts from the Palace Amusements arcade have not been seen, reused, or returned to public view. A group called Save Tillie Inc. calls on the owners to return these New Jersey icons to the public.

Anderson Farm & House in Bayville, Ocean County

The Anderson Farm, once a part of a 600-acre tract, has connections to the American Revolution and slavery. Since 2004, the site has been vacant with roughly 10 acres of forested land surrounding it.

Garden State Gate House in Cherry Hill, Camden County

The Garden State Park and horse racing track was constructed by developer Eugene Mori throughout 1941 and opened on July 18, 1942. Garden State Park was designed to hold more than 30,000 people as well as stables, eateries, and other public amenities. With the popularity and success of the racetrack, Mori would later build hotels surrounding Garden State Park, making it an attractive arena for both sports and entertainment. The Park would host some of the best athletes and horses and by 1946 would serve an average daily attendance of 17,000 people. But a devastating fire in 1977 destroyed the Garden State Park. Under new ownership and with a grand vision, the Park was rebuilt and reopened in 1985. But as time went on the racetrack suffered. In 2001, after almost 60 years in operation, the track had its final race. In 2003 the property was sold and demolished to create a town center. The only structure to remain, that both outlasted the devastating fire of 1977 and rebuild is the gatehouse. The gatehouse is now under threat as the property is for sale with plans for further commercial development.

Orange Memorial Hospital in Orange, Essex County

The Orange Memorial Hospital Historic District, listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places in 2015, includes nine buildings. The oldest and main structure of the site was built in 1906. The hospital closed in 2005 and has been vacant since. The hospital was founded by the leading Victorian-era families of Orange and became the site of the nation’s first four-year nursing school. The Orange Memorial Hospital Historic District is significant as a prominent, community-based provider of healthcare and the primary hospital for Orange and surrounding towns. It also reflects institutional architecture in the Colonial Revival style designed by the notable New York architects Crow, Lewis & Wick.

Homestead Plantation Enslaved Quarters in Clark, Union County

In the area of Oak Ridge Park, Ash Brook Reservation and Ash Brook golf course in Clark there are the ruins of the Homestead Plantation’s slave quarters. It is one of only a handful of free-standing original slave dwellings in the state. The site is owned and managed by Union County, which is said to have plans to add new park amenities. Preservation New Jersey supports the mission of Friends of the Oak Ridge/Ash Brook Historic Sites to protect Homestead Plantation and its archaeologically sensitive areas within the park.

MLK House in Camden

The MLK House, located at 753 Walnut Street in Camden, was built in 1900. Dr. Martin Luther King resided there on weekends and during the summers while he was attending Crozer Theological Seminary from 1948 - 1951. During Dr. King's time in Camden, he and his friends were refused service in a local bar, Mary’s Café, and physically threatened by the bartender. This event took place on June 11, 1950. Dr. King would later cite this event as setting him down the path of civil rights activism through passive resistance. Further research is being conducted to understand how Dr. King used the newly enacted New Jersey state anti-discrimination law which led to the arrest of the café owner, and about his life and community role in Camden. New Beginnings Behavioral Health, a not-for-profit organization, purchased the property two years ago with the intent to convert the property into a museum and cultural hub for the Camden community. Since the purchase, the organization has worked tirelessly to secure funding to restore the site and conduct programs regarding Dr. King’s legacy in Camden. But lack of funding for the site is one of its many challenges. The site has juggled with issues such as neglect, flooding, vandalism and fire.

Joseph Hornor House in Princeton

The Joseph Hornor House located at 344 Nassau St. was built in the 1760s by the grandson of one of Princeton's Quaker founders. The two-story, brick, side-hall house originally had a one-story kitchen wing. In the early 20th century, a second story was sensitively added on top of the wing. The house is an anchor to the Local, State, and National Register Jugtown Historic District, and occupies the northeast corner of the historic crossroads of Nassau and Harrison streets in the Jugtown section of Princeton. The proposed threats facing the Joseph Hornor House is its incentive design for redevelopment for the purpose of affordable housing units. The current project will include adding a four-story structure to the rear that would amass and surround the historic structure.

Nos. 9 and 10 on their list are Urban Historic Districts - statewide and state-owned and managed historic properties statewide.