MONROE — The first phase of a project to restore a historic schoolhouse and barn along Federal Road is well underway, with the frame of the 19th-century schoolhouse already reassembled.
According to John Katerba, chairman of the Monroe Township Historic Preservation Commission, the schoolhouse is the only remaining one-room schoolhouse of 16 that served as the local educational facilities until 1936.
“Everything above the deck is the original materials,” Katerba said. “All these boards came bundled up and numbered … it’s like putting together a puzzle or a model airplane.”
The 16 one-room school buildings were all built between 1838 and 1850, Katerba said. Those schools were shut down when the Barclay Brook School and the Applegarth School were built in 1936 as part of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration.
The school under reconstruction on Federal Road then became the old municipal building on Prospect Plains Road until the current town hall opened in 1982, according to Katerba.
It was then periodically used by the local recreation department, as well as utilized as a food pantry until it was taken down and preserved.
“All the others were lost to history,” he said. “They were all basically the same, but they had some variations. They all had their own character.”
The project to restore the schoolhouse and the original Dey Barn is taking place on a 40-acre tract donated by Renaissance Properties, developer of nearby Southfield Estates, in 2001. Monroe received a $1 million grant from Middlesex County to undertake the historic preservation.
Council President Gerald Tamburro said in an interview on the site that having a place where Monroe’s history can be brought to life represents a great opportunity for residents to connect with the past.
“I think the important thing from the elected officials’ standpoint is for the past to be preserved,” Tamburro said. “And this is not only about preserving the schoolhouse, but also our farm preservation program.”
Tamburro added that once the schoolhouse is built, he hopes more people will realize the significance of the site and donate any historic items they might have stored away in their homes.
He also noted the rigorous historic restoration standards that must be adhered to as requirements of the county grant.
“The contractor is expected to be a master at the restoration of old buildings,” Tamburro said, pointing to the workers from the New Jersey Barn Company, Ringoes. “They’ve been at it for more than 40 years.”
The New Jersey Barn Company also dismantled and preserved the building when it came down at the Prospect Plains Road location.
The Dey Farmhouse, which already stands on the site, serves as a museum, packed with historic artifacts ranging from Native American arrowheads to World War II-era news clippings and 1940s television sets, all donated by local residents.
According to Katerba, the Dey Farm House was built in three stages, with the main construction beginning in the early 1800s and two subsequent additions in the 1850s and 1880s.
Also in the home are textbooks, school desks and even the morning bell from one of the original 16 schoolhouses, which will be placed in the school when construction is completed.
“The schoolhouse will be the showpiece of the farm,” Katerba said. “It will make it clear that this is a historic site.”
While restoration work is continuing in earnest, Katerba said he is hoping the township can secure additional funds in the future to expand the project, particularly to include the restoration of the on-site England House, built circa 1810.
“This is Dey Farm restoration phase one, and we’re really hoping for a future phase two,” Katerba said, adding that the township has two other historic barns in storage that would be added to the site. “To think, this all would’ve been developed if we hadn’t acquired it.”