This house is named after the three families that
once owned it. In 1985 it was moved to this spot from the course of
the Monksville Reservoir. Probably begun before the Revolution, the
house first appears on tax records in 1780. It was a farm house not
owned by the Ironworks company but a home on one of several "satellite
farms" that were part of the economy generated by the ironworks. Very
much a company town, the Ironworks village was the center of a "plantation
economy" that relied on a satellite population to grow crops, raise
draft animals and perform such services as teamstering, charcoaling,
etc.
After many years as a farm house, the building was
used as a restaurant and went by many names such as the Wanaque Valley
Inn, the Copper Kitchen, the Paul Bunyan Inn, and most recently the
Holy Mackerel Seafood Restaurant. Plans for this building include restoration
and adaptive reuse, possibly as a craft shop or tea room.
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