The Reverend Moorehouse House - Mt. Holly Historic District - Mt. Holly, NJ
N 39° 59.832 W 074° 47.362
18S E 517980 N 4427467
Non-de-script house of some note w/ interesting detail, composed of brick and resting on a nice corner lot contributes to the historic district. It is one of the more earlier residences being built in 1830 but lacks the character of nearby homes.
Waymark Code: WMEREJ
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 07/01/2012
Views: 1
This corner property shares space with another property, both with the same home owner name, Joseph Read. Perhaps they were a father son tandem? Both historical markers on each home have the same name but, whereas the Joseph Read of this house (200 High Street) was a member of the Provincial Congress, his next door neighbor (204 High Street), Joseph Read, had an occupation of probate judge. Even more weird is in the NRHP narrative the house is listed as being owned by The Reverend Moorehouse but that is not what is on the historical marker attached to the house. It also seems the houses were connected, probably in the early 20th century by the looks of it.
Naturally, a building this old and unique is also a contributing structure to the Mount Holly Historic District. In my never ending quest to document all things contributing, I visited the town library to retrieve the nomination form and narratives for the historic district. The reference desk rewarded me with a very old, crumbling NRHP packet from 1969. Despite what on-line sources would have you believe, there are actually 39 contributing structures and not 36.
From the Nomination Form:
21. THE REVEREND MOOREHOUSE HOUSE ....C 1830 ....200 High Street
Two and one-half story L-shaped, side hall entrance designed common brick house; high brick foundation; inside end chimneys; transom six panel front door covered by hood on console; 6/6 windows on first floor and 1/1 windows on second floor; Victorian gabled dormer added to gabled roof (two Gothic windows in dormer); box cornice with Victorian scrolled bracket and frieze.
This historical marker can be found to the left of the front entrance at waist level. The local DAR chapter has been responsible for selling and installing these markers since 1975. This one was installed in 1975. The sign looks very new so either it was repainted or another one was bought to replace the old one. Other neighboring communities use the same markers to designate their historic buildings and/or contributing structures such as Pemberton, Moorestown & Mt. Laurel. The marker reads as follows:
HOUSE
OF
JOSEPH READ
MEMBER OF PROVINCIAL CONGRESS
CIRCA 1775
Col. Thomas A. Reynolds Chapter - NSDAR
1986