Medford - Riley/Garwood House
N 39° 53.852 W 074° 49.405
18S E 515095 N 4416399
Classic 18th Century Georgian House
Waymark Code: WMGZV
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 07/10/2006
Views: 58
In l785 and l786, the Branins sold all of their land on the east side of Great Road (now Mian Stret) to John Riley and Samuel Jones. Jones owned from just north of Bank Street to Coates Street, and Riley from Coates to the creek. The two earliest houses on the east side were built by Jones and Riley. The house is classic l8th century Georgian, built around l785 of Flemish bond brick. Note the belt coursing on the second floor and the watertable brick details on the first floor.
William Riley was the village cabinetmaker in l850. His shop was next to William Dyer's store. Like most cabinetmakers of the time, Mr. Riley also served as the village undertaker.
Israel Garwood is credited with having developed a variety of cranberry still in existence today, the Garwood Belle. The native cranberry was not uniform in color or size. While walking in his bog, Mr. Garwood noticed one plot of berries which were all the same size and uniformly bright red. He later cultivated these plants to develop his famous berry.