This house is unique as the only Underground Railroad station owned by an African American in an all African American community. Peter Mott also served as pastor of nearby Mount Pisgah A.M.E. Church. The house was built in 1845.
Like many historical sites, this is located in a modern tract of homes, but unlike many homes, it is not well maintained and the surrounding area is a pig sty. This is the home to the local underground railroad. The Peter Mott House Officially Opened to the Public on October 14, 2001 as an Underground Railroad historic site and museum.
It is quite shameful to look at this site and the trash and garbage strewn around it. It seems there is a complete lack of nearby community interest. Clearly there is local and state interest but that has not transcended to the local population who share the street with important and significant site. It is as much a part of our region's cultural heritage as any other NRHP in the immediate area or even in the county for that matter.
The local historical society was founded around this house. The Lawnside Historical Society, Inc., is a tax-exempt, nonprofit founded in 1990 to protect, preserve and maintain the Peter Mott House as part of the Underground Railroad and to restore the legacy of the historically African-American municipality of Lawnside, N.J.
Unique as the only Underground Railroad station owned by an African American in an all African American community. Peter Mott also served as pastor of nearby Mount Pisgah A.M.E. Church.
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The Peter Mott House is the oldest known house in Lawnside. Built circa 1845, the house was residence to Peter Mott, an African-American preacher who was the first Sunday school superintendent at Mount Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lawnside, and his wife, Eliza.
No birth certificates survive, but census records indicate that Mott was born around 1810. The 1850 Census lists Mott, 40, as a black male laborer owning real estate valued at $600. His wife, Elizabeth Ann Mott, was listed as 42. Gloucester County marriage records show that he married Eliza Thomas on Nov. 2, 1833.
Mott was a free Black man and an agent of the Underground Railroad. The size of his house in what was then called Snow Hill or Free Haven and its method of construction — two stories — reflect Mott's status as a respected member of the community.
Land transactions for May 30, 1844, record Mott's purchase of the property for his home from Thomas Stephenson for $100. The 1870 Census valued Mott's real estate at $1,000 and his personal estate at $250.
The Borough of Lawnside, located eight miles north of Camden, is the only historically African-American incorporated municipality in the northern United States. It dates to Colonial times as a settlement of people of color.
Through the abolition of slavery in New Jersey, the perils of the Underground Railroad, the ravages of the Civil War and the grinding poverty of the Depression era, Lawnside has emerged as a viable, modern community.
The Lawnside Historical Society has fought to preserve, acquire and maintain the Peter Mott House. In February 1992, the Society was handed the deed to the property. The house was restored as a museum and opened to the public in October 2001. The property is now listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
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Hours:
Noon to 3 p.m. Saturdays.
Weekdays appointment only.
Location:
26 Kings Court,
Off Moore Avenue,
Lawnside, N.J. 08045
Donation:
$5 for adults; $2 for students.
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