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 The Archer House - Moorestown Historic District - Moorestown, NJ
N 39° 58.329 W 074° 56.768
18S E 504599 N 4424667
This is one of many contributing homes to the Moorestown Historic District which line Chester Avenue. Most of these homes are extremely huge and heavily landscaped compared to their Main Street counterparts, less than a half mile away.
Waymark Code: WM429C
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 06/27/2008
Views: 12
I had a very nice conversation with the home owner who has been in the home for over 30 years and she had some interesting facts to tell me.
- June 1929, there was a famous murder-suicide in this house. Mary Wilson and a fellow with the last name of Roberts (his father lived there as well, his name being James O. Wilson). There was some suspicion if it actually was a murder-suicide as Mr. Roberts had 4 bullet holes in his head. Perhaps he came back postmortem to insure he did the job correctly. In the Philadelphia Inquirer archives, the article can be read. It caused quite a stir in this otherwise quiet community.
- There are no ghosts in this home nor hauntings of any kind. The realtor who sold them the home did not inform them of the murder as she was not required to do so. When approached by the home owner at a party some time later she simply said, "don't worry, the house is not haunted".
- Unofficially, this house is known as the Archer House. Although not the original occupants, they are the ones who lived there the longest and are responsible for all the landscaping which currently occupies the property.
- The owner is adamant officials are mistaken about the date of the house. The historical society, and consequently, the Dept. of the Interior list it as 1928. She believes the house was built in 1908. She did not have any supporting documentation on hand to verify this but she was pretty darn sure, nonetheless.
- The Moorestown Library site has old pictures of this home
Located at 515 Chester Avenue a quarter mile or so from downtown Moorestown, this is one of 351 contributing buildings/structures to this historic district.
The Department of the Interior sent me the following narrative/information on this house:
"Built 1928. Walter Williams Shipley, architect. 2 ½ story Tudor Revival-style house. Porch-fronted with porte cochere. Sidelighted entrance. Shingled first floor, stuccoed second floor, half-timbered gables and polygonal bays. 4/1 and 6/1 double hung sash, diamond-paned casement sash in attic. Exterior end stone chimney. - Contributing.”
Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Moorestown Historic District
Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link]
Address:
515 Chester Avenue
Moorestown, NJ 08057
How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Other (Please explain in the Private Message field)
NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): Not listed
Optional link to narrative or database: Not listed
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