Holiday house tours: Christmas decorating brimming with history lessons and ...
There’s a little house in Bedminster where Routes 202 and 206 run together that shines especially bright at Christmastime, an example of what one community can do to help preserve an important piece of its past.
Like many historic buildings, the Jacobus Vanderveer House spent some time as an abandoned, if not forgotten, structure. In 1989, it was purchased by Bedminster Township, and in the years since, it has become the project of The Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House.
The nonprofit volunteer group not only restored the house, but saved it from demolition more than 10 years ago. The group continues to bring in Colonial era relics that help give visitors a taste of what once happened there.
“It was a really important house during the Revolutionary War,” explains Renáe C. Biale, a member of the board of trustees. Its significance derives from the fact that Continental Army General Henry Knox and his family slept there. From the winter of 1778 through the summer of 1779, Knox occupied the house with his family while he commanding the Pluckemin Artillery Cantonment and training academy.