Only a decade ago, the historic Kirch House almost fell victim to the wrecking ball. But now, the ll-room white two-story colonial with green shutters that sits at the corner of Reinman and Mt. Bethel roads is a nationally-recognized historic site. After countless hours of research, the l8-member Warren Township Historic Sites Committee could finally claim victory when they received word recently that the house was placed on the prestigious National Register of Historic Places. Properties listed in the National Register, an official list of the nation's cultural resources, are deemed worthy of preservation because of their significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture. The Kirch House is the third township landmark to earn a place on the national register. The Mt. Bethel Baptist Meeting House on Mt. Bethel Rd. (l761) and the privately-owned Smalley-Wormser House on Mountain Ave. are the others. Because fires set by British soldiers -- such as the one in l780 that destroyed the Somerset County Court House, then located in Millstone -- burned many early records, it's difficult to say exactly how old the Kirch House is. A beehive oven built into the left rear wall of the keeping room's l0-foot wide stone fireplace indicates the house was most likely built around l750. According to George Bebbington, Thomas Terrill, a banker, judge and magistrate who served as the township's first clerk in l806, lived there. The property changed hands a number of times before l857, when John Kirch, a German immigrant builder, bought it for his wife, Catherine, and their 8 children. Kirch built a number of structures in the area, including the Meyersville Presbyterian Church in Passaic Township. Kirch, who served on the township committee in l876-77, died in l894 and left the property to his wife. She willed it to her son, William, who left it to his son, Raymond. When Raymond Kirch died in l978, a group of history-minded citizens campaigned to save the site from possible destruction by its new owners, Bell Labs. A year later the company agreed to donate the property to the township and, in l980, the transfer was made official. When the Historic Sites Committee first gained access to the building, it was in deplorable condition. After securing it from vandals and the weather, the committee began its work, aided by Plainfield-based restoration architect Charles Detwiller Jr. Officials inspected the house, inch by inch, to determine how old certain parts were, arriving at the conclusion that the house was probably built around l750. The restorers rebuilt the domed beehive oven and replaced a worn fireplace flue. When he first saw the fireplace, Detwiller called it "a classic," saying it alone was reason enough to preserve the building. Today, the fireplace and oven are used regularly for open hearth cooking demonstrations. When the township acquired it, the only things left in the house were two black and white framed portraits of an unidentified couple. The pictures still hang in the parlor, or Victorian room, on the west side of the house. Otherwise, the home is furnished with antiques, all of them donated, most by township residents. Except for being older and weathered, almost everything about the building is the same now as it was when the Kirches called the place home. In fact, if the Kirch family could see the place today, they probably wouldn't notice many changes since the day they moved in back in l857. Some restoration work has been done to keep the building safe for visitors and preserve it for future generations. Methods of construction and other architectural features in certain areas indicate that the house was built in four sections. A one-and-a-half story section was built about l750. The two-story brick portion of the house, made of bricks from a nearby clay pit that was in operation as late as the l930s, was added about l780. Other rooms were added to accommodate growing families, including the lean-to entry. Local lore has it that a secret room, located just under the roof to the side of the fireplace, was part of the Underground Railroad used to hide runaway slaves during the Civil War. Another legend has it that a Revolutionary War soldier hid in the confined space. Clearly, the room was used to conceal something, for its only access is through a loose ceiling board in the borning room, located just under the secret chamber. With one wall next to the fireplace, the small borning room was the warmest one in the house and therefore used to welcome babies into the world. Because of the presence of locks and chains on most of the inside doors, the building may at one time have been used as a boarding house. In front of the house stands a shallow hand-dug well, illuminated to show its depth. The house now is used as a living museum with displays and programs. Hundreds of visitors, many of them schoolchildren, tour the house every year, guided through its rooms by members of the committee. Visitors are welcome from 2 to 4pm on the second Sunday of the month, March through December. |