MIDDLETOWN — As Middletown approaches its 350th anniversary, residents and township officials are looking into the past with an eye toward the future.
At the township committee’s Aug. 20 meeting, seven inaugural members were officially appointed to the new Middletown Township Historic Preservation Commission.
The commission, according to township officials, will act as an advisory board charged with fostering awareness and appreciation of the township’s history, advancing public knowledge through outreach programs and education, and encouraging the growth of heritage tourism in the township.
“It’s my hope that this commission will become the decisive educational resource of the town when it comes to preserving our local heritage,” said Stephanie Murray, the township committeewoman who will serve as the mayor’s designee on the commission.
“There is a lot of work ahead of us, but I really think that this commission will be the champion of our whole history and our community identity.”
Five residents were selected from more than 20 applicants to serve on the commission, alongside Murray and Middletown Landmarks Commission member Peter Van Nortwick.
In addition to collecting, exhibiting and archiving historic Middletown documents and artifacts, Murray said the commission will also be working on Middletown 350, a planned year-long celebration of the township’s 350th anniversary in 2014.
“We had many enthusiastic applicants and the choice was difficult because we had so few openings,” she said.
“However, every resident not selected to the historic commission was offered a place on the Middletown 350 Committee.”
According to township documents, the formation of a Middletown Historic Association was discussed as far back as 1967. In 1981, the first historic commission was established with the purpose of managing certain historic township-owned properties.
The Middletown Historic Commission legally ceased to exist upon the codification of the township code in 1997. Since then, there had been no township-sanctioned historic commission in Middletown.
Murray said the lack of such an organization was part of the reason she pushed for the creation of a new commission.
“When I went to try to research the history of the town, I found that if you don’t know what you are looking for it’s very hard to find,” she said. “And there really isn’t one decisive resource on local history.
“You’ll find a lot of our stuff tied in with county history, a lot of genealogy. We have just a great story and you can’t go anywhere officially to find it.”
The five citizen appointees — Susan O’Neal, Elaine Hinckley, Thomas Ferrari, Gail Nelsen and Damon Keeley — will meet with Murray and Van Nortwick six times a year. Murray said the commission may primarily focus on historical education initiatives.
“I foresee the commission as an educational resource,” she said. “I would love to see an online archive where kids from the schools can just basically go to a portion of the website and be able to pull up all the information about the town.
“That’s the kind of thing that would take a long time. It’s going to take a village and it’s going to take many years, but I think it’s certainly a worthy project.”
During the meeting, Committeeman Gerard Scharfenberger and other committee members applauded Murray for spearheading the effort to bring a historic commission back to the township.
“I don’t think anybody would doubt that Middletown, one of the oldest towns in New Jersey, certainly needs a historical preservation commission,” said Scharfenberger.
“It’s good to see people take such an interest in it. It will be well worth it. I think there is going to be a lot of good things coming down the road.”