The Sussex County Historical Society has started the petition “Sussex County Board of Freeholders: Preserve Horton Mansion” and we need your help to get it off the ground.  The Board of Trustees of the County Community College and the President of the College want to demolish the mansion to make way for additional parking and driving lanes.  The College is seeking funds from the County government (meaning that it will come out of our wallets) to fund the demolition of the mansion and then reuse the cut stones from the mansion walls as landscaping features on the campus.

Will you take 30 seconds to sign it right now? Here’s the link:

Horton Mansion, located on the campus of the Sussex County Community College, was erected in 1858 from cut stone and is the best example of Gothic Revival architecture in the county.  The building was erected by John Horton as his private residence.  Horton was a signifiacnt figure in the leather industry from Newark.  The Board of Trustees of the College propose to demolish this historic site to make way for additional parking and driveways.  It is important for the residents of Sussex County to let the Board of Freeholders understand that the demolition of the Horton Mansion would be a tragic loss to our community of such an architecturally and historically significant structure.

Horton Mansion has been determined to be eligible for inclusion on both the New Jersey and national Registers of Historic Places.  It was also named by Preservation New Jersey, Inc. as one of ten historic sites in New Jersey as being the most endangered.

You can sign the petition by using the link provided above.

Thanks for your help !!

Wayne T. McCabe, President

Sussex County Historical Society