The Roundhouse Museum - Egg Harbor City, NJ
N 39° 32.192 W 074° 38.567
18S E 530697 N 4376379
The Roundhouse Museum contains memorabilia and items historically significant to Egg Harbor City. This history museum is the former site of Dr. Smith's Sanitarium Site, a NRHP listing.
Waymark Code: WM55N3
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 11/15/2008
Views: 14
The museum has permanent displays which include Liberty Glass, C.P. Leek & Sons boats, clothing and wine industries and Dr. Smith's Health Spa. Rotating displays have included local connections to the Civil War, County Fairs, rail-roads, "Grandma's Kitchen", "Grandpop's Tools", fire and police departments and the U.S. Postal Service. The museum also holds city census records, old city tax records dating to 1862, and the beginning of local genealogies available for study.
The museum hours are every Wednesday and Saturday from 1:00PM to 4:00PM. The exhibit area and restroom facilities are handicapped accessible and the staff will help obtain materials from our library on the second floor. Admission is FREE! Supported by the Egg Harbor City Historical Society, monthly meetings are held on the last Monday of each month at 7:30PM, unless otherwise noted in the Calendar of Events. The meetings include a special presentation each month with refreshments served after the meeting. The public is cordially invited to attend. For further information, call (609)-965-4677.
In front of the house is a donor brick walkway which is pretty nice and very long. There is also a time capsule, to the left of the front walkway leading to the front door. In the front yard to the right is a pretty fountain presented by George Gerlach to Lincoln Park, whatever that is. The building is very unusual and definitely stands out in this area. In the back of the house is a huge park and playground for children to play.
Today, the house is a museum which collects and preserves items related to the city's German heritage, from records and newspapers, items manufactured here, photographs and genealogy records, etc. Several permanent exhibits on the wine, boat and clothing industries as well as revolving displays of current interest can also be found here.
From the Interpretive
Welcome to the site of Dr. Smith's Neutral Water Sanitarium. Before you is the focal point of the sanitarium, the flowing cedar waters in the serpentine creek. The site before and behind you was the destination hundreds of people from the surrounding area of New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
If you were to stand at this sign, you would be facing Peace Pilgrim Park which the serpentine creek is now a part of today.
Trying to find out even more information, I came across a message board. Here is one of the posts:
"Yes, I'm familiar with it. The sanitorium itself is gone (I have an original postcard of it which I can scan). There is one building left from the complex. It's a 16-sided building known as the roundhouse. I forget exactly what its purpose was. It is now the headquarters of the Egg Harbor City Historical Society. The Sanitorium was the main building in a complex that included small canals that people were encouraged to wade through for good health as part of their treatment. The canals are still there near the roundhouse" SOURCE
Contact Information
535 London Ave.
Egg Harbor City, NJ 08215
Phone: 609-965-4677
Email: vf-6_felix@att.net
Official Website
Museum Hours
Wednesday & Saturday 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Or by Appointment
Admissions
Free