Paulsdale, Mt. Laurel, NJ
N 39° 57.398 W 074° 55.843
18S E 505917 N 4422946
This marked site, officially known as Paulsdale, was built in 1800 by Benjamin Hooton in the Greek Revival style and was Alice Paul’s birth-place and family home from about 1883 to the 1950s. An historic marker out front tells the whole story.
Waymark Code: WM667V
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 04/11/2009
Views: 18
Paulsdale was added to National Register of Historic Places on July 05, 1989 and designated National Historic landmark on December 4, 1991. This was the family home of Alice Stokes Paul. She was a 20th century international women's rights leader and founder of the National Woman's Party. She was instrumental in the women's suffrage movement and wrote the Equal RIghts Amendment in 1923 which she fought for until her death in 1977. She passed away in a nursing home in Moorestown, NJ.
The Paul Family lived on this 176-acre farm from 1883-1958. The Alice Paul Centennial Foundation owns the 6.5 acre property. Today, the house is home of the Alice Paul Institute. Paulsdale is located at 128 Hooton Road, Mount Laurel, NJ, 08054. I was told by the president of the Institute the house was renovated to its 1900 status, even though it was built in 1800. I noticed lots of Victorian features which were obviously added much later. The iron railing which surrounds the porch was put there to meet code as this is now a public place.
"Paulsdale was the birthplace and childhood home of Alice Paul, a leader in the Women's suffrage movement in the United States. The Paul family had purchased 150 acres (0.61 km2) and the 1880 farmhouse around 1883. They sold the house in the 1950s which led to the Alice Paul Institute purchasing the house in 1990. It has been restored to the condition when Paul lived in the house. It now serves as a Historic house museum and a home for the Institute." SOURCE
The Alice Paul has an excellent website which can be found HERE. The Garden State Preservation Trust Fund has a site just for this house HERE. Finally, and interestingly enough, there is no waymark category for National Historic Landmarks Program (also run by the Dept. of the Int.), but this site has attained that status as well. This is a separate status from the NRHP. This distinction is important as not all NRHP sites qualify as Landmarks. The National Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. The Alice Paul home is one of these. The site for this landmark can be found HERE.