The Crawford House is a contributing member of the Tinton Falls Historic District, a New Jersey State and National Register Historic District placed on the National Register in 1977. The nomination application states that: “The Crawford residence is a two story farm house built in the early nineteenth century. The outbuildings were used as an abattoir and butcher shop by the Crawford family from 1865 to the mid 1960’s.”
The Crawford House possesses historical and architectural significance of great value to the Borough of Tinton Falls. It is one of the earliest houses in the historic district and has a long and continuous association with the Crawford family, one of the most long-lived families in Tinton Falls. The house is one of only a few remaining early nineteenth century houses in Monmouth County that has a one-and-a-half story, heavy timber Dutch frame. Although the house has been altered, it still represents the historical and architectural development of the village center that became Tinton Falls.
Historical context
In the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century all of the property that is now the village center in Tinton Falls belonged to Tinton Manor, the ironworks of Lewis Morris. By the time a map of the area was published in 1676, the area was a flourishing, well-established community containing an iron mill and forge close to the falls, storehouses, piles of cordwood and “coles” (collier stacks) and “Negro cellers” where the mill workers lived. Several houses belonging to some of the first proprietors’ families were nearby. This ironworks was the first built in New Jersey and one fo the first built in the new colonies. Colonel Morris died in 1691, leaving his ironworks to a nephew of the same name who was to become one of Monmouth County’s most powerful men. More interested in politics than ironworking, the second Lewis Morris paid little attention to the industry, allowing it to become unprofitable. Through much political ladder climbing, Morris eventually became Governor of New Jersey, a position he held until his death in 1746. The late Governor’s son, Robert Hunter Morris, inherited the ironworks. A few years later, the heir sold off his holding, breaking up the old ironworks. For instance, in 1765 the mill property was owned by Daniel Hendrickson; later by Reuben Shive and my William Remsen, who in 1838 sold the mills to Pierson Hendrickson.
Before 1787, the property on which the Crawford House presently sits was part of larger parcel that included the lot immediately to its south. This large holding was owned by Briton and Sarah Corlies, who had ten children by 1789. They sold both parcels to Anthony Holmes and his wife, Lydia Applegate. Anthony and Lydia kept the current property and sold off the lot south of theirs to J. Vorhees. The property stayed in the Holmes family until 1869, when it was sold to William Smith, who immediately sold it the next day to Richard and Mary Applegate. The Applegates held onto the property for four years until they sold it to Abel Colemen, a butcher. Coleman operated as a butcher at this location until April 1884 when he sold the property to John Mack, who was also a butcher.
The first of the Crawfords, John H. and Rebecca Crawford (married in 1865), purchased the house from John Mack and established a wholesale butchering business. They raised 8 children in the house. In 1897, John H. retired, leaving his two sons, John C. and Albert B in charge of the firm of Crawford Brothers, and sold the house to John C. and Ella W. Crawford, his wife. John C. Crawford also ran the general store (now the restaurant at 720 Tinton Avenue). He delivered groceries by horse and wagon to the surrounding farms. John C. and Ella’s Son, Allen E. Crawford took over ownership of the house and business in November of 1924. Allen and his wife Ruth continued the butchering business previously established on their property. They raised four children in the home. Allen retired as a butcher in 1965; he died 5 years later. His widow Ruth continued to live in the house until she died in 1986. The home remained in the Crawford family for four generations.
After the death of Ruth Crawford, her heirs sold the property to Stavola Realty Company (August 21, 1987). Stavola rented out the house until they were able to swap the property with the Borough of Tinton Falls for some land the Borough owned adjacent to the Stavola family gravel pit. The transfer of the property from Stavola Realty to the Borough of Tinton Falls occurred on December 21, 1999. The Borough acquired the Crawford property with the intent to preserve it as part of the Tinton Falls HIstoric District and to find the best public use for it.
The earliest existing map of Monmouth County that shows structures is the Jesse Lightfoot map, delineated in 1851. Map research indicates that the Crawford house existed on this map. In 1860, the residence was owned by the estate of Anthony Holmes. The 1873 Atlas of Monmouth County depicts the Crawford House with its pre-1920 massing, as the residence of A. Coleman. By 1889, the house was owned by J. Mack. The 1941 Franklin Survey shows the house with its barn in the rear. By this time the Crawford family had owned the property for at least 60 years.
Architectural history
Deed research combined with architectural elements indicates that the Crawford House was first built in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Prior to 1797, the property was a large agricultural plot extending from the millpond along the turnpike for some distance. Anthony Holmes sold off the southern lot to J. Vorhees in 1797 reducing the size of the property somewhat. It is likely that the Crawford House was built sometime after this subdivision, as there was an existing house on this southern lot (it was destroyed by fire in 1976). This subdivision would have required a new residence. Photographic evidence from c. 1900 suggests that the western two-thirds of the house was built first and then a single bay addition was placed on sometime soon after. Cooking was done in an attached shed-roofed addition at the southeast corner of the house. Architectural evidence supports this conclusion.
The house utilizes a Dutch framing system that was prevalent in the eighteenth century Monmouth County, yet the timbers are sawn rather than hand hewn. They are marked by vertically-sawn marks. The house embodies one of the last examples of Dutch influenced framing. Moreover, it illustrates the influence of local tradition over carpentry practices. The largest concentration of Monmouth County residents of Dutch ancestry, Pleasant Valley (Holmdel), was located not too far from the village of Tinton Falls. The house also exhibits a traditional Dutch floor plan typical of one-and-a-half story Dutch frame houses. The most common of these plans is the one-room plan, a rectangle of squat squarish proportions with a garret above (Hunton 1981:71). The roof evident in the c. 1900 photograph does not appear to be as steep as a typical Dutch roof would be. However, the arrangement of the window immediately adjacent to the entrance door is also typical of a Dutch house. It is possible that when the eastern third of the house was added on, the roof was changed (and lowered) to unify the two sections.
Sometime in the late nineteenth century, the house had larger windows installed in the first floor of the west wall flanking the fireplace. These were then removed and the opening sealed up. One of the windows appears to have been placed in the west wall of the enclosed porch. The trim sets used on many of the current windows appear to be of late Victorian vintage; however, it is possible that the moulding was locally available long after it was used on urban areas. There was a busy sawmill located across the street and there could have been Victorian-style trim available still in the 1920’s.
The greatest change to the house occurred around 192 when the house was modernized with Colonial Revival features. On the exterior, these included a classical-columns supported open porch, a raised roof with dormers on both the north and south elevations, cedar shingles over the original clapboard, beaded board undersides on the eaves, and new windows flanked by louvered shutters. The shed-roofed kitchen ell was removed and a new shed-roofed ell with plumbing added to the south corner of the rear of the house. Interior changes included a new staircase inserted into the living room including the peristyle to divide the single room into two; new room arrangements on the second floor and new window and door trim sets. The front door was moved as well. Utilities were brought into the house including plumbing electricity and stoves to heat the house. A kitchen was probably installed into the space where the kitchen is today.
Since the 1920s the house was updated again with a new kitchen (probably in the 1970s); new bathroom fixtures; and the front porch was enclosed to make an office for the Borough tax collector.
The Crawford House is an important architectural element in the richness and variety of Tinton Falls’ surviving historical landscape. Its preservation is significant for the integrity of the Tinton Falls Historical District and for future generations.
(Text adapted from A Preservation Plan for the Crawford House, prepared by Michael Calafati.)