MILLSTONE – A $10,000 grant from Monmouth County has been received by Millstone Township officials for a project that will replicate the front porch of an historic property in the community.
During the Township Committee’s Feb. 17 meeting, officials reported they had received a letter dated Feb. 3 from the Monmouth County Historical Commission regarding the front porch replication of the Thomas Baird House.
In the letter, the commission announced that Millstone would receive a $10,000 grant for the project.
Township Committeeman Christopher Morris, who is the governing body’s liaison to the Millstone Township Historic Preservation Commission, congratulated the commission for receiving the $10,000 grant. Morris said the grant must be matched by the township.
The Thomas Baird House, which is also known as the Baird Homestead, is at 24 Baird Road. According to the nonprofit organization Friends of Millstone Township Registered Historic Properties, the structure is a Greek Revival farmhouse.
The homestead is the former residence of its namesake Thomas Baird, the son of Revolutionary War veteran David Baird, who built the house on the homestead circa 1830.
Baird and his family grew wheat, rye and corn on the property. The Baird family was among the first families in Millstone to plant extensive orchards. The family eventually grew fruit trees and large ornamental trees which were shipped by train to Maryland and Delaware, according to the Friends.
Baird was a founder and the first vice president of the Monmouth County Agricultural Society, which was formed in 1853. He was elected as a county freeholder.
The homestead has been owned by Millstone Township since 2012.