• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Trix Rosen Photography

Menu
  • Biography
  • Galleries
      • HE-SHE
      • MAîTRESSE
      • THE LADIES ROOM
      • 100 % PURE HEROINE
      • STRONG & SEXY
      • CHANGED LANDSCAPES
      • CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
      • WHITE LACE
      • PORTRAITS
      • THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL
      • URBAN ARCHEOLOGY & MODERN RUINS
      • BET HAYYIM
      • LIGHT DRAWINGS
      • DIVINE LIGHT
      • DAHLIA AND OTHER FLOWERS
      • Illuminations
    • Close
  • Exhibits
    • CLUB 57 EXHIBITION (MOMA)
    • HOME EXHIBITION
    • SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
    • QUOTES BY CURATORS
    • Published Reviews, Articles and Lectures
    • Close
  • Trixspix Blog
  • Shop
  • Contact

Endangered Historic Houses – Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, New Jersey

March 23, 2012 by trixrosen 6 Comments

My friend, Robert Williams, the Verona NJ town historian, took me on a tour of these National Park Service houses, located within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Built between the 18th and 19th century, many of these sites are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and were in live-in condition a couple of years ago when the Park took ownership. We saw doors wide open or missing, window glass smashed and some of these historically important houses sadly vandalized and trashed.

“The Shoemaker-Houck Farm was one of the premier structures in the Park,” Bob told me. “The front portion of the house was built in 1822 while the rear portion was built in the eighteenth century. Look what has happened to this house in only one year’s time!” We saw that the back door was wide open. “This is a National Register Building that was in excellent condition. How could this have happened?” Bob asked sadly.

Bob explains the history of each house we visit and recounts how the Smith-Lennington House had been in the same family since it was built. “The Smiths built the initial house in 1820 and then remodeled and added to it in 1902. When the Park Service took title of this a few years ago, it was completely intact and in live-in condition. Shortly after their stewardship began, someone took the columns off the porch and it was down-hill from there.”

In case you are interested in expressing your concerns, here are excerpts from the letter sent to Senator Lautenberg from Robert Williams on 1/10/2012:
Hon. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg
324 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510-0001

Re: Demolition/Condition of Historical Sites at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

  •  “Currently, there are scores of historical buildings surviving in the Park in various stages of decay with little to no protection whatsoever. Many of these buildings and their respective sites are already listed on or eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places.”
  • “These elements are key to understanding the rural development of northwestern New Jersey and the significant role that area played in American history.”
  • “I think the Park Service fails to see that these buildings are assets that belong to and were paid for by the taxpayer.”
  • “It is clear that the National Park Service has a legislative responsibility to care and maintain the cultural/historical resources that belong to the people.”

Filed Under: Architectural Restoration, DOCUMENTARY, Historic Preservation, PRESERVATION Tagged With: architecture, documentary, endangered historic sites and houses, fine art photography, historic preservation, National Register of Historic Places, New Jersey Historic Houses, vernacular architecture

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Peggy Sendars says

    March 23, 2012 at 9:26 am

    Your photos are beautiful and heart breaking! Sometime in the late 70’s? Jackie and I went on a trip down the Jersey Shore. We stopped at a retired Navel base where they had restored the Naval Officers houses and leased? the houses to non-profit organizations. They were in beautiful condition and were used for the good of the community. The last time I was in Brooklyn it looked like no one was taking care of the officers houses at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Looks like it’s to late for those houses but maybe this waste should be dealt with on a national level.

    Reply
    • Trix Rosen says

      March 23, 2012 at 9:57 am

      I photographed ‘Admirals Row’ as a HABS projects when the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp (BNYDC) had let those beautiful turn-of-the-century row house’s fall to ruin. They had to be documented before being demolished- http://www.trixrosenphotography.com/Preservation/NavyYard/navy.html
      The neigborhood protested (I gave many of my 35mm personal images that I had shot inside the houses for them to use in their campaign) and to this day the houses have not been demolished. However they are probably beyond preservation. So very sad.

      Reply
  2. Dana Bree says

    March 23, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    Wonderful documentation of these neglected houses. What a shame.

    Reply
  3. Joanmarie Kalter says

    March 23, 2012 at 10:14 pm

    So powerful! Haunting photography — and how ironic that these are part of the national historic register…. Thank you for documenting this important issue.

    Reply
  4. Kathy says

    March 24, 2012 at 11:25 am

    Beautiful. Haunting. Sad. How could the national historic register let these houses fall into such disrepair?

    Reply
  5. DEWA says

    May 11, 2015 at 1:20 pm

    Deadline May 15th

    The National Park Service (NPS) is undertaking a listening session process as an initial step in the development of a visitor use management plan (the plan) for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area {DEWA} and Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River (the park). The purpose of the plan is to maximize the ability of the National Park Service to encourage access and protect the park’s natural and cultural resources.

    http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=220&projectID=55912&documentID=64690

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

SELECTED PAST EXHIBITIONS

HOME
Hebrew Union College-JIR Museum
One West Fourth Street, New York NY
Sept 2017 - June 2018

CAMERA’S VISION: Archeology/Architecture/Landscape
Fine Arts Gallery - St Peter’s University
47 Glenwood Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07306
September 1 - October 20, 2017

CLUB 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983
Museum of Modern Art, (MoMA) New York NY.
Oct 31, 2017 - April 1, 2018

THE FL3TCH3R EXHIBITION
Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN 37614-1701
October 10 - December 19 2017

DISPLACEMENT: WOMEN’S JOURNEY’S
Ceres Gallery, 547 W 27th St #201, New York, NY 10001
Jan 31- Feb 24, 2018
EVIL: A MATTER OF INTENT
April 19 – Oct 1, 2017
Jewish Museum of Florida
301 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach,FL

WORLD WHERE WE BELONG, The Georgia Brooks LGBTQIA Exhibition
March 3 - April 19, 2017
Benjamin J.Dineen, III and Dennis C. Hull Gallery, Hudson County Community College
Jersey City, NJ

EVIL: A MATTER OF INTENT
Sept 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016
Hebrew Union College- JIR Museum
One West Fourth Street, New York NY

IDENTALTERITY – BUT STILL IN ONE PIECE
June 17 – Sept 30, 2015
5th Biennale of Contemporary Art of Thessaloniki
Contemporary Art Centre of Thessaloniki, Greece

Archives

Recent Posts

  • Trix Rosen’s Illuminations at Art House Gallery
  • TRIX ROSEN’S MAITRESSE opening at MoMA on Oct 31, 2017
  • SEPTEMBER 2017 EXHIBITIONS
  • “PAINT BY NUMBERS” Exhibition
  • 2015 FALL to WINTER – 3 Exhibitions

Categories

  • Architectural Restoration
  • Baptist Church
  • Cejwin Camp
  • Church Restoration
  • DOCUMENTARY
  • Eastern European Jewish Gravestones
  • EXHIBITIONS
  • FINE ART
  • Gender Fluid Identity
  • GENERAL
  • GLBTQ
  • Historic Preservation
  • Historic Restoration
  • Home
  • Indigenous Cultural Identity
  • Jewish Art
  • Jewish Cemetery in the Ukraine
  • Modern Ruins
  • Polaroid and Instant Film
  • PRESERVATION
  • The Kalinga Tribe
  • The Philippines
  • Uncategorized
  • Vernacular Architecture
  • WEDDINGS

Tags

9-11 art american buildings survey architecture Baal Shem Tov Baird Center Cejwin Camp Port Jervis NY Chernivtsi Deleware Water Gap National Park Endangered Houses documentary Eastern European Jewish Cemetery embodied light memory block endangered historic sites and houses environment exhibition Ernest Rubenstein Gallery Essex County Penitentiary essex junction vt exhibition catalog Exhibitions Fine Art fine art digital fine art photography Fred Koenig gender ambiguity HABS Photography Documentation Historic Church Restoration historic preservation Historic Prison Photography Indigenous Culture jewish art Jewish Cemetery jewish fine art photography Jewish Heritage Travel Kalinga Tribe LBGTQ leviticus 18:22 Medzhybizh Modern Ruins National Register of Historic Places New Jersey Historic Houses north caldwell new jersey talmud The Philiipines Ukraine Ukraine Jewish Cemeteries vernacular architecture

Footer

Other Places to Find Me

Architecture & Documentary
Corporate, Portraits, Weddings & Pets
Trix Teaching Photography Workshops

Get In Touch

Trix Rosen Photography
Trix@trixrosen.com
212.228.8100

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Get Updates

Copyright © 2017 · Trix Rosen Photography
Developed By Renaissance Web Solutions