Intensive-Level Architectural Survey of Selected Properties within the Lower Gregory Neighborhood, Township of West Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, Volume 1

Boyce, Eryn; Harshbarger, Patrick

From management summary: "This report presents the results of an intensive-level historic architectural survey of 45 properties in the Township of West Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. The survey was sponsored by the West Orange Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) with funding from the Certified Local Government (CLG) Grant-in-Aid program of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Historic Preservation Office (NJHPO). It was designed to identify potentially historic resources in a study area of southeast West Orange Township designated the Lower Gregory Neighborhood. The Lower Gregory Neighborhood originated in the colonial period as a series of farmsteads and craft shops located along Valley Road. From these modest beginnings, the neighborhood developed in the latter half of the 19th century as a setting for suburban “country” homes and estates, but this development was never as extensive or as exclusive as some other parts of the Township like Llewellyn Park or St. Cloud. Eventually, suburbanization was of a more middle-class character with more than 1,200 houses in various revival styles built from the mid-1900s to 1920s. The neighborhood consists of at least ten major subdivisions and dozens of smaller subdivisions. This survey evaluated 45 properties comprising 41 dwellings, two schools, a church and a diner. The survey recommends that seven of the 45 properties individually meet the National Register of Historic Places Criteria for Evaluation and are eligible for the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places or as West Orange Township Historic Landmarks. Two of the seven properties are already listed as West Orange landmarks. Additionally, this survey recommends that there are at least two potential historic districts that would include 26 of the 45 surveyed properties as contributing properties. One potential district is the Forest Hill Road and Hillside Avenue Victorian Historic District. This district contains a significant concentration of dwellings from the 1890s to early 1900s, mostly in the Queen Anne style with asymmetrical facades, multiple roof lines, and a variety of finishes and window patterns. The second potential district is the Northern Enclosure Historic District. This district contains moderate-sized revival-style houses of the late 1920s, many in the English Cottage style that makes use of a mixture of stucco, clapboard, slate, stone and half-timbering finishes. Further work would be necessary to conduct a comprehensive survey of all properties within the potential districts and establish precise periods of significance and boundaries." Funding for this project was provided in part through a fiscal year 2015 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Township of West Orange (project number NJ-15-105) administered by the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P15AF00186) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. West Orange Township, New Jersey is a Certified Local Government.

Intensive-Level Architectural Survey of Selected Properties within the Lower Gregory Neighborhood, Township of West Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, Volume 1

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