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Currently, this building is our Visitor's Center
and houses the Museum.
The West wing (left side of the building in these
images) was once a two-family worker's house. Originally a staircase
stood against either side of the center wall leading upstairs where
there were two rooms, one for mom and dad and the other for the 2,3,4,6,8,10
or however many children there were. Downstairs were the living room,
kitchen, eating area and everything else room(s). The wood/charcoal
stoves had flues routed right up inside the end walls. This pattern
and style building was repeated several times throughout the village.
This wing of the building is the older, original
portion. Dating the building is difficult - at least one historian believes
it dates to Hasenclever's era (1764 - 1767) but most historical architects
date it to the Cooper-Hewitt period, around the beginning of the American
Civil War (1861).
The center portion and right side were added together
in the late 1920s. This new addition was the establishment of a roadside
business here, effectively moving the old Company
Store business from the village interior,out
to the roadside, where they could also sell gas for the growing traffic
and offer full general store services. The building was known as the
Old Country Store. Later a fast food chargrill was here in the 1960s,
and a picnic area was established to the right of the building and around
the back which led down to the edge of the old Wanaque River bed.