The Woman’s Club of Maplewood Clubhouse (aka 60 Woodland Road)

The Woman’s Club Building is now known as “The Woodland” and is available for private event rentals.

The Maplewood Woman’s Club has played a vital role in Maplewood and beyond, from fundraising for student scholarships and activities, and the establishment of a community house and well-baby clinic, to raising money for a fighter plane during World War II. The organization’s birth and tremendous growth in membership occurred during Maplewood’s rapid development as a railroad suburb in the first half of the 20th century.  Maplewood Mayor John DeHart, a visionary in the planning of the township at this time, noted that the Woman’s Club was “always at the forefront of community activities.” The conscious choice of a design for its clubhouse that reflected the colonial history of the country, as well as that chosen for the civic buildings of Maplewood, expressed the Club’s intent to be an important force in the community. As a purpose built clubhouse, the building is a tangible expression of the changes in the life of American women from the early 20th century to the 21st century, and their aspirations.

The clubhouse was built with the express purpose of being used not only by the Club but also by the local and larger community. Over its 80 plus year existence, countless theater performances, concerts, lectures, dance lessons, recitals, fairs, wedding receptions, evening dances, civic meetings, fundraisers, celebrations and other gatherings have taken place within its auditorium and meeting rooms. An article in the November 1925 Members Chat, “What Does the Club House Mean to the Community?” notes that for the club, “it will be a locus for their learning, fellowship and service.” But for the community, “…it would be a living monument to civic pride, the materialization of the keen vision of far-sighted women who have worked faithfully and given bountifully, unbiased in its views, where all are welcome.”

The Maplewood Woman’s Club embodies community service and community involvement—attributes that continue to be associated with Maplewood to this day. The building represents the nationwide trend of women’s club organization in the decades following the Civil War. As more and more American women entered the workforce in the decades following World War II, there were further changes in American domestic life. The Maplewood Woman’s Club responded to these changes by offering different types of membership and ways to be involved. By the latter part of the 20th century, fewer women were joining women’s clubs. The demands of work and other activities left more women with less time. While the impetus to volunteer in one’s community remains strong, today the opportunities are many and varied, and not focused on a single organization.

The Woman’s Club of Maplewood Designation Report

Municipal Building

The Georgian Revival style Maplewood Municipal Building dating to 1930 is the crown jewel of the Township and of the civic center. Visible from many points in the Township, the dominant feature of the municipal building is the white wood cupola and impressive limestone Doric colonnade with full entablature. The building sits on a broad lawn facing Valley Street and Memorial Park. There is a wide slate walkway with steps leading to the main entrance, numerous old trees and shrubs on the lot and a flagpole on the northern lawn in front of the building. A pyramidal stone memorial to war veterans is located on this lawn as well. Behind the building are a large parking area, an open lawn and the town greenhouses.

The Village of South Orange had separated from South Orange Township in 1904 and to prevent confusion, the official name of the town was changed to the Township of Maplewood in 1922. During these early years, community leaders set out to establish a civic center that would define the developing Township. The idea of a central civic center had become an important asset to municipalities during the early 20th century, when the ideas of the City Beautiful movement became popular throughout the country. In Maplewood, this civic center, including the park and the municipal buildings, was to be established near the center of the community, on the farmland that was adjacent to the East Branch of the Rahway River and the railroad tracks.

As discussion about a new municipal building proceeded, public pressure soon altered the plans. Maplewood citizens were concerned about the high costs of the proposed municipal building (this was during the Depression) and about locating the jail near other municipal functions and within a residential district. The local newspaper, The Maplewood News advocated for a new building and suggested that a new Police Department be constructed on Dunnell Road near the Fire Station.

During the discussion of a police headquarters in the 1920s, the Township Committee also re-visited the need for a new municipal building. They cited President Hoover, who stated that in spite of the difficult economic conditions, municipalities should continue with municipal projects, as they would provide work for the un-employed. The Township Committee, led by Mayor John S. DeHart selected the prominent Newark architectural firm Guilbert & Betelle, Architects, to design a new municipal building. (Guilbert & Betelle also designed Columbia High School and several elementary schools in the district.) The building was dedicated in 1931 to the “promotion of good government and civic consciousness.”

Municipal Building Designation Report

Maplewood Memorial Park

Maplewood Memorial Park consists of approximately 25 acres, bounded by Valley Street to the east, Baker Street to the south, Dunnell Road to the west and Oakland Road to the north. The park is a large, triangular-shaped, landscaped area, designed in the picturesque tradition with artfully arranged trees and shrubbery, winding foot paths, and gracefully arching footbridges. Oakview Avenue bisects the park from east to west. The park features rolling hills and meadows, clusters of trees within and around the perimeter, curving pathways that open up to long vistas, rustic stone and wooden bridges over streams, a rock garden, as well as ball fields and playgrounds.

In 1922 the Township hired the prominent landscape design firm of Olmsted Brothers to create a picturesque park on the land they had assembled.

Memorial Park was dedicated in 1931 to the men and women of the Township of Maplewood who served their country in World War I. A stone monument with a dedicatory plaque is located on a rise at the southern end of the park near Baker Street.

In contrast to the classical formality of other municipal buildings, the Civic House/Shelter House, constructed in 1929, was designed in an Arts and Crafts style and was designed by local architect Charles C. Grant (architect of the old police building). It serves as the location of civic activities and meetings such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and continues to be a center for community activities and offices. These buildings were included in the original designs for the park and are integral to the many uses of this space.

The Skate House, constructed 1929-30, is a small, one-story wood frame building, rectangular in plan with a moderately pitched hipped roof. The small Skate House was designed by William Mitchell and constructed in 1929-30. This building historically provided shelter from the cold to skaters at the nearby frozen pond.

Maplewood Memorial Park Designation Report

Durand-Hedden House

The original structure of the Durand-Hedden House was built in 1790 and was the homestead of Obadiah Durand. Obadiah’s great grandfather, Edward Hedden and his wife Jane had moved to Robert Treat’s Newark Colony from Massachusetts roughly 100 years earlier. They subsequently were among the first pioneers from the Colony to settle the “uplands of Newark” at the side of First Newark Mountain included in the Indian Purchases of 1676-7. Edward and Jane Hedden had six children including Joseph, the grandfather of Obadiah.

The Durand-Hedden House began its life in ca.1790 as a small post and beam construction side hall farmhouse with a second floor loft. The 1790 tax ratables for Newark Township show that at that time Obadiah Hedden had 50 acres altogether, 3 horses, 4 cattle and one slave.

In 1812 the property was purchased by Henry and Electa (Baldwin) Durand, the parents of eight, four of which lived to adulthood. Henry was born in 1780 and grew up with nine brothers and sisters on the neighboring farm of their father John. Among his brothers was the well-known artist, Asher B. Durand Henry, like his father and grandfather, was a farmer, a watchmaker, a jeweler and an inventor. He and his brother Cyrus Durand invented machines to cut the parts of the clock’s they made and also invented a line of lathe and presswork operations that improved bank note engraving. Reportedly, they were called “the inventive, mechanical brains of Newark.”

Saved from Destruction

The house fell into disrepair in the years that followed and was threatened with demolition. A campaign to save the historic property was led by Maplewood’s mayor, Robert Grasmere, and the Town of Maplewood bought it in 1977 with the help of the sate  Green Acres program. The Durand-Hedden House and Garden Association was established in 1979, and has spent the ensuing 20 years restoring the property and offering historical and educational programs to schools and the community. The House now sits on two acres of gardens and meadows in Grasmere Park, named in honor of former Mayor Grasmere.

Durand-Hedden House Designation Report

Durand-Hedden website

The Old Stone House

This house is a private residence. Please respect the privacy and property of the owners.

One of the oldest houses in Maplewood, it is also known as the “Montgomery-Ogden House”, the Old Stone House consists of a one-story wood frame 18th century portion with a later early 19th century stone addition, and a mid-20th century one-story wood frame rear addition. The house is located on a site that is approximately ¾ of an acre and is set amidst mature trees and shrubs.

The earliest years of the property are associated with the Pierson family, who owned mills along the east branch of the Rahway River (not thought to relate to the Pierson’s of “Vaux Hall” further to the southwest on Valley Street). A reference in From Maplewood Past and Present indicates that Deacon Joseph Pierson, the son of Deacon Bethuel Pierson, owned and resided in the “stone house situated on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and the Road to Pierson’s Mills.” The original owner and builder of the house may have been Joseph Pierson, Sr. (1693-1759.)

The Old Stone House is one of only two houses recorded by the Historic American Building Survey in Maplewood.

Old Stone House Designation Report

Library of Congress Historic American Building Survey

Aaron Brown House

This house is a private residence. Please respect the privacy and property of the owners.

Aaron Brown was born in 1779, the eldest of eight children of Job Brown II and Jane Tompkins of South Orange. Brown was a direct descendant of John Brown and his wife May who had come from Connecticut in 1666 with the original settlers of Newark. Aaron Brown received a sum of money from his uncle which he used to purchase property in South Orange Village. Early in the nineteenth century, Brown married Dorcas Ball, from another prominent early Maplewood family. He lived the rest of his life in this house, where he and Dorcas raised their six children.

There is some indication (so far unsubstantiated) that the existing house was constructed around a small preexisting house dating to c. 1749, that includes the area on the western section of the house. This section of the house has a rough stone cellar with a large hearth. Originally two rooms with two adjoining fireplaces that shared a chimney, it would also have had a small loft. Aaron Brown and Dorcas Ball either built the original house in 1805, or enlarged the existing structure to a one-and one-half story building to have a center hall with living rooms on one side and dining room and kitchen on the other.

Aaron Brown House Designation Report