By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
MONROE — It started as a simple potato farm built in the early 1800s. Today, the Dey Farm is the centerpiece of a township historic area that, beginning Sunday, will be open for tours every month.
Monroe’s Historic Preservation Commission is hosting the seasonal tours at the farm’s site on Federal and Old Church roads and hopes to have a featured speaker, activity or event at each tour.
The tours will run from 1 to 4 p.m. every first Sunday of the month, starting in June and ending in November.
Part of the township’s now treasured museum is a four-bedroom farmhouse that was built in three separate phases between the 1820s and the early 1900s and later purchased by the Dey family, said HPC Commissioner Laura McIntyre.
”It’s a great way to see and feel a time past,” she said. “Because of all the building going on (Monroe is) very limited on old homes.”
From domestic items to antique farming equipment, the farm has a little something for everyone.
Along with everyday items, the house features objects like a horse and buggy, a potting shed and a parade of pictures, Ms. McIntyre said.
The house’s newest attraction is a display of formal antique hats, she said, mostly worn by the women of a neighboring Monroe family, the Ely.
Although the house has been open to the public in the past, tour-seekers usually only had access to it a few times of the year, an operation they clearly weren’t satisfied with, Ms. McIntyre said.
”We’ve had a lot of requests to do more open houses,” Ms. McIntyre said. “It’s a great way to keep it open and on the minds of people. This would be just a way to enjoy Monroe as maybe it once was — the life and the people, the daily tasks and the chores.”
For Sunday’s special guest, the commission has invited Ray Helge, a Revolutionary War re-enactor, to speak on Washington’s march to the battle of Monmouth and life as a common soldier during that war. Mr. Helge will bring some of his own items to display.
The tours are open to the public and free of charge. For more information contact Monroe’s Historic and Preservation Commission at 732-521-4400.