A Weekend in Old Monmouth

Sometimes the best getaways are in our own backyard.

May 05, 2026

Costumed reenactors outside the John Murray Farmhouse. Photo by Yours Truly

Hiya History Lovers,

As our country’s 250th anniversary approaches, historic sites across the country are pulling out all the stops to celebrate — and educate. Last weekend was “Old Monmouth Weekend,” in Monmouth County, New Jersey wherein 60 landmark properties with a connection to the Revolutionary War waived their admission fees. The Hubs and I managed to make it to four properties: Burrowes Mansion Museum, The Joseph Murray Farmhouse, Marlpit Hall, and the Taylor Butler House. More on those in a moment but first …

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We started out at Burrowes Mansion in Matawan, NJ where we were lucky to have Mark Chidichimo, a local historian and genealogist, as our guide.1 This stately house (“mansion” is a bit of a misnomer) was built in 1723 by John Bowne III, a descendant of the Quaker religious freedom fighter whose house still stands in Flushing Queens. During the War of Independence, Burrowes Mansion was home to prosperous grain merchant, John Burrowes aka The Corn King and his family including son John Burrowes, Jr., a major in Washington’s Continental Army.

Burrowes Mansion in Matawan, NJ. All Photos by Yours Truly unless otherwise noted.

Thanks to John Jr., the grounds became a mustering point for New Jersey’s colonial troops. That, and provisioning the Continental Army, made the family a target of the British. An upper floor ceiling has the musket balls to show for it!

On display at Burrowes Mansion, correspondence between General George Washington and Major John Burrowes Jr.

Next up, another patriot home, the Joseph Murray Farm House in what is today Poricy Park in Redbank, NJ.

The Joseph Murray Farmhouse in Redbank, NJ.

The five-room house and barn, both circa 1770, are beautifully preserved and recreate the rigors of 18th century farm life. Owing to citizen activists who banded together in the late 1960s and later formed Poricy Park Conservancy, not only the buildings but also the surrounding 250 acres of parkland look much as they did when Irish stonemason Joseph Murray lived there with his wife and four children.

Having no love for the British, Murray aligned himself with the patriot cause and took it upon himself to spy on British ships along the bay shore near Sandy Hook and the Navesink River. According to our colonial clothed docent, Murray was a bit of a firebrand. On one occasion, he seized the horse of a Loyalist neighbor, Edward Taylor, and when Taylor tossed his hat to spook the horse, Murray caught the hat and took it, too! Actions such as that made him a marked man. On June 7, 1780, while tilling his fields, he was set upon and assassinated by a Loyalist trio.

A costumed guide walks us through the Murray farmhouse, a charming example of Colonial vernacular architecture.

The next two houses, Marlpit Hall and the Taylor Butler House, belonged to a Loyalist family. Though separated by more than a century, the properties are located just a driveway apart on Kings Highway in Middletown, NJ.

Marlpit Hall interior. Photo by Raj Moorjani.

Marlpit Hall (aka Orchard House) built in 1686 and added onto later, was owned by prominent Loyalist Edward Taylor — the same Taylor who had his horse, and hat, seized by Joseph Murray! Currently on exhibit is “Beneath the Floorboards, Whispers of the Enslaved at Marlpit Hall,” which uses excavated artifacts and archived materials to give voice to the seven men, women and children once enslaved there.

In Marlpit Hall, steep steps lead from the kitchen to the loft where enslaved workers, whom the Taylors called their “kitchen family,” slept.

Despite being on the losing side of the war, the Taylors continued to prosper. Eventually humble Orchard House was let to tenants, and the family moved into what is today the Taylor Butler House. The stunning Italianate style mansion was finished in 1853.

**The Taylor Butler House in** Middletown, NJ.

We ran out of time for the immersive VR experience: “Colonel Tye - Fighting for Freedom,” which runs about every 20 minutes, but the permanent collection of portraits depicting Tyler relations and members of other prominent area families was well worth the walk-through.

Portrait of Julia Norton Hartshorne (1838 - 1869) by an unknown artist, on display at the Taylor Butler House.

The above portrait of Julia Norton, who married into the Hartshorne family, nudged us toward Hartshorne Woods Park in Highlands, NJ (not to be confused with the Atlantic Highlands, further west). The hilly, forested 831-acre preserve overlooks the Navesink River and has long been one of our go-to local hiking spots. Unfortunately, Portland Place, the Hartshorne family farmhouse, was closed when we got there, so we settled on a partial hike along one of the park’s several well-marked trails.

Yours Truly at Hartshorne Woods Park. Photo by Raj Moorjani.

We topped off the day with a sunset seafood supper at another Highlands, NJ staple: Bahr’s Landing.

Founded in 1917 by German American couple, Jack and Florence Bahr, Bahr’s Landing is the sort of old school dockside seafood restaurant I recall fondly from my childhood in another waterfront community: Baltimore, MD. The kind of establishment where an onsite gift shop sells branded merch, the walls are covered in old photographs and nautical memorabilia, and the entrees come with foil wrapped oven baked potatoes. (Last year they swapped out the baked spuds for mashed but otherwise it’s as good as ever).

Mandatory starter: oysters on the half shell. These bivalve beauties hail from Delaware Bay, NJ.

For my main, I was torn between the whole lobster and the soft shell crabs, which are just coming into season. As you see, the lobstah won out. One and one-half pounds. And yes, I ate every butter slathered morsel.