High Sheriff Joseph Mullen House - Mt. Holly Historic District - Mt. Holly, NJ
N 39° 59.537 W 074° 47.267
18S E 518116 N 4426922
A modest, demure, late 18th century home is now used for commercial purposes. The contributing home appears to have two entrances, one for the business and one for a private residence.
Waymark Code: WMGQQV
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 04/01/2013
Views: 2
The older the homes, it seems the more plain they are. This house is a remnant of the 18th century and represents some of the more simple, perhaps Quaker inspire construction. This is such a neat, and fun historic district. It has Quaker beginnings just like Haddonfield, Moorestown, York, PA and so many other places, but is so different than all of them. Imagine a rural, somewhat economically depressed but exciting and colorful historic district. This house typifies the vintage homes of this area when construction was just beginning. Unfortunately, an ugly fire escape has been added to the left side as well as a business which kind of takes the age-earned integrity away from this home.
There is a local historic marker attached to the front of this home. The hand painted sign is similar to the signs in Moorestown, NJ which serve the same purpose and whose wooden template is probably produced by the same company. I believe the local DAR chapter sells these signs to interested homeowners or at least this is my understanding based on what I read at the town's library located on High Street. These signs in Mount Holly were erected in commemoration of the country's bicentennial celebration. They began hanging them in '75 with many concluded in '76. The historic marker reads:
House of
JOSEP MULLEN
High Sheriff of Burlington County
Circa 1790
Col. Thomas A. Reynolds Chapter NSDAR
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:
12. HIGH SHERIFF JOSEPH MULLER HOUSE .... C 1790 ....5 Church Street
Two and one-half story L-shaped, side hall entrance house; gabled roof with box cornice; foundation of high stone capped with brick; walls of brick covered with stucco; inside end chimney (originally corner fireplace); windows 6/6 (1840); front door has box lock (W.P.A. Historic Sites Listing).