Opening in 1961, the Museum was the vision of a group of Rutherford PTA parents. These parents collected natural history and Native American artifacts and began exhibiting collected items in one room of a decommisioned school in Rutherford. When the school was again needed for classes, the Museum found a new home in a donated office space and then in 1974 purchased its present home.
Originally serving only the school children of Rutherford, the Museum grew to have an audience of all ages and to serve all of the communities in the greater Meadowlands area. With its focus changed to local history, the Museum today is a growing institution with expanded programs and a broader audience.
History of the Building
When purchasing the Museum building in 1974, the Museum was given an oral history of the building stating that it may have been built in the late eighteenth century. After independent research was done, it was determined that the building was more likely built in the early nineteenth century. It had been listed on the National Register of Historic Sites in the early twentieth century and was part of a WPA project whose workers drew blueprints and took photographs of many historic American buildings.
The walls of the Museum are all plaster reinforced with horsehair. The floors are of wide pine boards, nearly two inches think laid directly on floor beams. The Museum's home was a farm up until the early twentieth century. In the 1930's, the community of Rutherford built Crane Avenue and in so doing cut off the oldest section of this historic home.
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