Museum Monday #13 - In the Upstairs Gallery of the Hill Memorial Museum you will find a display about Early Farming in Sussex County. Centuries ago, when people first settled in northwest New Jersey, agriculture was a necessary way of life. Farmers focused on choosing a range of crops and animals that would provide food and clothing for their families. Gradually, farmers began to produce surplus for trade and agriculture became an important revenue generator in Sussex County. Because of geological constraints, dairy farming was the center of farming in the county, with a few farms having orchards for apples and peaches. Farmers exchanged or sold extra food and products to their neighbors. This was the economic model until the 19th century when advances in food preservation and the construction of the Morris and Union Turnpikes in the early 1800's, followed by railroads in the mid 1800's, allowed Sussex County to transport farm products throughout the region.
Stop by on Fridays from 9-1 and check out the collection of farm artifacts, along with more information about farming in our area..."farm facts" through the years will show you how farming has changed in Sussex County.

Andover station, 1920's

About a year or so ago I was at a flea market in Sussex County and came across old documents just tossed around in a box. A quick look revealed that they were not from Sussex County but they looked interesting. I bought the box because I didn’t want these documents to end up in the garbage if they didn’t sell by the end of the day. A few weeks ago I finally got around to looking thru them and discovered they were all from one source. They were from a man named James A. Harps who had a General Merchandise company in Akermanville, PA. There were business checks, some mailings and a whole lot of receipts, all from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The artwork on some of the receipts is outstanding and the checks were very cool looking too. The other day I got to thinking that these don’t belong here in Sussex County, they belong back home in Akermanville. Seeing that there was not an Akermanville Historic Society, I contacted the Slate Belt Heritage Center in Bangor, PA, which is just outside of Ackermanville. I told then what I had and asked if they were interested in preserving these documents for future generations. They said yes and were very excited to hear about them. So today I am driving out to the Slate Belt Heritage Center to donate all of these documents from Akermanville. Today these documents go home. The moral of this story is that it is up to all of us to preserve history so that it doesn’t disappear. When going thru old stuff, especially when emptying out a house of a departed loved one, if you come across old documents and pictures, please don’t throw them away. Please contact your local Historic Society and donate them so that they can be preserved for future generations to learn from.