PARSIPPANY —Mary Purrzycki of Parsippany Historical & Preservation Society was the guest speaker at Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany on Thursday, October 1.
Purrzycki discussed the upcoming “Pathways of History” 2015 Historic Places Tour. The tour consists of over 23 historic locations throughout Morris County.
The dates of the tour are Saturday, October 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 11 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 p.m.
A weekend tour is featuring history places in Parsippany, Mount Tabor, Boonton, Boonton Township, Butler, Denville, Dover, Florham Park, Kinnelon, Lake Hopatcong, Mine Hill, Montville Township, Mount Olive, Pequannock Township, Randolph, Rockaway Township, Roxbury Township and Washington Township.
Among the many places to tour, Parsippany’s Bowlsby-DeGelleke House, 320 Baldwin Road is a place not to miss. The house is known for “The Wake of George Bowlsby” Mourning during Civil War. They will exhibit Mourning costume and Jewelry form 1860 to 1890. The house tours by docents in period costumes.
The Bowlsby-DeGelleke House is a one-and-a-half story clapboard-sided framed farmhouse. The house was built-in two stages by George Bowlsby, Jr. (c. 1790 and 1819). Originally the front entrance was on the right side. An addition to the right of the door resulted in a central entrance appearance. It has two chimneys, one at each gable end. The central hallway runs from the main entrance to the rear of the house, and contains a mid-19th century staircase to the second floor, and stairs to the basement. On either side of the hallway are two interconnecting rooms. The left (west) side contains a front parlor with a fireplace and a back room. Both have original wide oak flooring. The right (east) side of the house contains a dining room with original wide pine flooring, and a kitchen with replaced wide pine floorboards. The west side of the second floor originally was one large storage room. Walls were added in 1920 to create two bedrooms. The kitchen, also modernized, once had a hand water pump from a cistern in the cellar. The house is decorated in the 1850 – 1860 period.
During the Civil War, Parsippany and Troy saw their boys go off to war and many of them not return. George Bowlsby, William S. Van Fleet and Josiah Quincy Grimes are three who did not survive. Exhibits follow their involvement in the War Between the States.
The “Wake of George Bowlsby” – Mourning during the Civil War.
Join the family in their time of grief and experience the home during the mourning period. Read letters from Pvt. Van Fleet to his wife, Anna Doremus, a Parsippany resident. Follow the history of the Grimes family in Parsippany.
The house was purchased in 1977 by the Township and is used as the Parsippany-Troy Hills Museum and Archives.
The Mount Tabor Historical Society will be giving guided tours of “Richardson History House” located at 32 Trinity Place, Mount Tabor.
Built in 1873 for the Richardson family, this historic house is distinct as one-third of a triple cottage. Mount Tabor was founded as a post-Civil War permanent Methodist Camp Meeting ground, and the History House is a small-scale 19th century Folk Victorian Camp Meeting cottage. This cottage was owned by a descendent of Richardson until 2007, when it was bequeathed to the Historical Society to serve as a museum. Due to the ownership remaining within the same family, the interior of the cottage is a highly preserved example of a camp meeting cottage. Please take note of the original decorative trompe l’oeil painting on the wood panels in the parlors. The large floor-to-ceiling plate-glass windows in the front parlor swing open to take advantage of the summer breezes and Trinity Park.
Recent renovations: Grants from the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust have helped fund painting the kitchen and upstairs rooms in authentic colors, all new electrical wiring with new lighting fixtures, a new roof and other structural repairs.
For complete information and locations of all 23 tours, click here.
