The following are sources of more information including:
Offices related to preservation, research suggestions, and a bibliography

Offices Related to Preservation

County:

Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission

PO Box 3000

Somerville, NJ 08876-1262

(908) 231-7110
Patricia McGarry, Manager

Administers programs and services that preserve, promote and protect the culture and heritage of Somerset County. Administers the New Jersey State Council on the Arts State/County Partnership Local Arts Program Grant for Somerset County, the SCC&HC’s Mini-Grant Program and the Somerset County Historic Preservation Trust Grant Program. Plans and administers the Somerset County Teen Arts Program; Cultural and Heritage Art Gallery & Student Gallery at 40 North Bridge; and the annual Historic Preservation Awards recognition event. Produces the Cultural Connection, a quarterly calendar/newsletter and is a contributing partner to the Somerset County Arts and Leisure Guide, a bi-annual publication. Provides technical assistance workshops for arts and history organizations; coordinates projects that affect historic sites with appropriate federal and state agencies; provides arts outreach programs; cooperates with The Friends of the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Endowment; maintains a comprehensive survey of all historic sites in Somerset County; and maintains and updates a directory of Somerset County cultural and historic organizations.

State:

Garden State Preservation Trust

135 West Hanover Street

PO Box 750

Trenton, NJ 08625-0750

(609) 984-4600 (o)

(609) 203-0233 (c)

(609) 292-4912 (f)

The Garden State Preservation Trust is dedicated to safeguarding our most important natural landscapes and significant cultural resources for today's and future generations. The Garden State Preservation Trust is the financing authority that provides the funds to preserve forests and meadows, watersheds and wildlife habitats, parks and sports fields, working farms, agricultural landscapes and historic structures.

Main Street New Jersey

Department of Community Affairs

PO Box 204

101 South Broad Street 7th floor

Trenton, New Jersey 08625

(609) 633-9769

Main Street is a comprehensive revitalization program that promotes the historic and economic redevelopment of traditional business districts in New Jersey. Every two years the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs accepts applications and designates selected communities to join the program. These communities receive valuable technical support and training to assist in restoring their Main Streets as centers of community and economic activity. Main Street New Jersey Communities have brought significant numbers of new businesses and jobs to their respective downtowns. In addition, facade improvements and building rehabilitation projects have upgraded the image of Main Street. Main Street New Jersey builds on the Main Street ApproachTM that was developed by the National Trust's Main Street Center in 1980 to assist downtown revitalization efforts nationwide. a grass-roots, comprehensive management philosophy designed to stimulate the downtown's economy and capitalize on its unique image. Not a grant program, it is a self-help volunteer-driven, community-based effort that requires synchronizing public and private partners to identify and capitalize on existing local assets. Participation offers access to vast resources, training, and technical assistance that would otherwise be cost prohibitive.

New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office

Division of Parks and Forests

Department of Environmental Protection

PO Box 420

501 Station Plaza

Building 5 - 4th Floor

Trenton, NJ 08625-0420

(609) 984-0176 (o)

(609) 984-0578 (f)

Responsible for administering all federal and state historic preservation programs including the nomination of properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Source of information on a variety of subjects including preservation techniques, preservation planning, and rehabilitation tax credits.

New Jersey Historic Trust

Department of Community Affairs

PO Box 457,

101 South Broad Street , Sixth Floor

Trenton, NJ 08625-0212

(609) 984-0473 (o)

(609) 984-7590 (f)

Established in 1967, the New Jersey Historic Trust is the only nonprofit historic preservation organization in New Jersey created by State law. The New Jersey Historic Trust is governed by a fifteen member board of trustees. Twelve members are private citizens appointed by the Governor who serve without compensation. They represent all areas of the state and bring to the Trust a wide range of experience in preservation. Three members serve ex-officio, representing the State Treasurer, the New Jersey Historical Commission and the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, with which the Trust is affiliated.

Preservation New Jersey,

310 West State Street

Trenton , NJ 08618

609-392-6409

Private, non-profit historic preservation organization. Provides preservation advocacy and information to local organizations and individuals. Publishes their annual 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in NJ list and a digital newsletter, PNJNet,maintains an informative blog, provides a network of and informative training opportunities for professionals through the Building Industry Network, presents conferences, technical workshops, and seminars on preservation issues throughout the state and serves as a clearinghouse for technical assistance and information to homeowners, municipalities, historic preservation commissions, nonprofit agencies and other individuals and groups.

National:

National Park Service, Regional Office

Northeast Region

U.S. Custom House

200 Chestnut St., Fifth Floor

Philadelphia, PA 19106

(215) 597-7013

Dennis Reidenbach, Regional Director

National Government agency with many publications and programs including National Register of Historic Places, Historic American Building Survey, National Center for Preservation Technology & Training, Certified Local Government.

National Trust for Historic Preservation,

Northeast Office:

1785 Massachusetts Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20036-2117

(202) 588-6000 (o)

(800) 944-6847 (o)

(202) 588-6038 (f)

National private, non-profit historic preservation organization whose responsibility is to enhance public awareness of our nation’s heritage of significant buildings, sites, and objects. The Trust is headquartered in Washington, DC, maintains six regional offices that act as a contact for preservationists in the region, offers technical assistance and financial assistance through various grant programs, and publishes a monthly newspaper, a bimonthly magazine, a newsletter, and numerous preservation publications.

Research Suggestions

Local:

Franklin Township Historic Preservation Advisory Commission

Municipal Building

475 DeMott Lane

Somerset, NJ 08873

The Commission has a variety of informational materials available including bibliographies, specialists lists, and guides and bulletins. The Commission is willing to provide assistance with historic property nominations and advice on maintenance and improvements to historic properties.

Franklin Township Public Library

485 DeMott Lane

Somerset, NJ 08873

(732) 873-8700

In addition to books on architecture and construction, the library is a good source for local history research with its collection of maps and histories of Franklin Township and Somerset County as well as local family information in the Historic Collection Room.

Rutgers University Alexander Library

Special Collections/ New Jersey Room

College Avenue

New Brunswick, NJ 08903

(732) 932-7006 (o)

(732) 932-7012 (f)

Their archives contain Franklin Township records including clerk's records and prominent residents' personal journals, along with important early maps of the area and books on local history.

Local Societies

The Meadows Foundation

1289 Easton Avenue

Somerset, New Jersey 08873

(732) 828-7418

Local non-profit organization that oversees seven historic properties they keep open to the public.

Griggstown Historical Society

c/o 506 County Road 601

Belle Mead, NJ 08502

Kingston Historical Society

PO Box 323

Kingston, NJ 08528

Office: Delaware and Raritan Canal Lock Tenders House, Kingston, NJ

Rockingham Association

PO Box 496,

Kingston, NJ 08528

(609) 683-7132

The Rockingham Association was incorporated in 1964 as the NJ State-recognized, non-profit auxiliary organization to Rockingham State Historic Site.

County:

Somerset County Historical Society

Van Veghten House

9 Van Veghten Drive

Bridgewater, NJ 08807

(908) 218-1281

They maintain a library with an extensive collection of published and unpublished historical reference and genealogical materials focused on Somerset County covering local, state, and national history and inhabitants. They also have available for sale their reproduced map of the municipalities in Somerset County, originally published in 1873, that records the buildings and property owners at that time. In their monthly newsletter, they provide an area for genealogical and local history queries. They are happy to provide assistance to anyone undertaking historical or genealogical research related to Somerset County, New Jersey

Somerset County Clerk's Office

Somerset County Administration Building

20 Grove Street PO Box 3000

Somerville, NJ 08876-1262

(908) 231-7006 (o)

(908) 253-8853 (f)

Keeper of the County records including deeds, mortgages, wills, and liens.

State:

New Jersey Historical Commission

225 West State Street, Fourth Floor

PO Box 305

Trenton, NJ 08625-0305

(609) 292-6062 (o)

(609) 633-8168 (f)

The Commission was created by law in 1967 to advance public knowledge of the history of New Jersey. It consists of four state legislators, the state librarian, the secretary of state, the director of the state Historic Preservation Office, and ten citizens appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the state senate. The Commission has a staff of five. They further the Commission's mission through conferences, publications, workshops, grants, research, consultation, exhibitions, and media projects.

New Jersey Historical Society

52 Park Place

Newark, NJ 07102

(973) 596-8500 (o)

(973) 596-6957 (f)

The New Jersey Historical Society is a state-wide, private, non profit historical museum, library, and archives dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting the rich and intricate political, social, cultural and economic history of New Jersey to the broadest possible audiences.

New Jersey State Archives

225 West State Street- Level 2

PO Box 307

Trenton, NJ 08625-0307

(609) 292-6260 (general information)

(609) 633-8334 (o)

(609) 292-9105 (f)

The State Archives is the official repository for all New Jersey colonial and state government records of enduring historical value.

New Jersey State Library

185 West State Street

PO Box 520,

Trenton NJ 08625-0520

(609) 278-2640 (o)

(609) 278-2647 (f)

Materials available for researchers.

The League of Historical Societies of New Jersey

PO Box 909

Madison, New Jersey 07940

(973) 377-7023

The League of Historical Societies of New Jersey is a non-profit corporation who's mission is to promote and further the improvement, interpretation, and preservation of our historical heritage in New Jersey. The League is the largest grass-roots association in New Jersey history with some 260 member organizations which represent more than fifty thousand members

Bibliography

Local History

• Beers, F. W.Atlas of Somerset County, New Jersey.(New York, NY: Beers, Comstock, & Cline. 1873).
• Brahms, William.Images of America Franklin Township.(Dover, NH: Arcadia Publishing. 1997).
• Clark, Grace, Jessie Havens and Stewart Hoagland.Somerset County 1688-1938.(Somerville, NJ: Somerset Press. 1976).
• Havens, Jessie Lynes.Somerset County: Three Centuries of Progress: An Illustrated History(-:-. 1990).
• Keator, Rev. Eugene H.1710-1910 Historical Discourse Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Six Mile Run Reformed Church, Franklin Park, NJ.(Franklin Park, NJ:-. 1910).
• Menzies, Elizabeth G. C.Millstone Valley.(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 1969).
• Menzies, Elizabeth G. C.Passage Between Rivers: a Portfolio of Photographs and a History of the Delaware and Raritan Canal.(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 1976).
• McKelvey, William J.Delaware and Raritan Canal.(York, PA: Canal Press Inc. 1975).
  Otley, J. W. and J. Keily.Map of Somerset County, New Jersey.(Camden, NJ: Lloyd Vanderveer. 1850).
• Snell, James p., comp.History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey.(Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck. 1881).
• Stryker, Elsie Beatrice and Ralph W. Thomson.Where the Trees Grow Tall.(Franklin Township, NJ: The Franklin Township Historical Society. 1963).
• Terhune, Laura.Episodes in the History of Griggstown.(New York, NY: Albert H. Vela Co. 1976).

New Jersey Architecture

• Aiken, Joan L. Haddonfield Historic Homes: Success Through Historic Preservation(-, -:Harrowood Books. 1991).
• Bailey, Rosalie Fellows Pre-Revolutionary Dutch Houses and Families in Northern New Jersey and Southern New York(-,-: Dover. 1968)
• Gowans, Alan. The Architecture of New Jersey: a Record of American Civilization(Princeton, NJ: -. 1964).
• Greiff, Constance, Mary W. Gibbons and Elizabeth G. C. MenziesPrinceton Architecture: a Pictorial History of Town and Campus(Princeton, NJ: -. 1967).
• Guter, Robert P. and Janet W. Foster.Building the Book: Pattern Book Architecture in New Jersey(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 1992).
• Hand, Susanne C. New Jersey Architecture (New Jersey History Series, No 5)(Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Historical Commission. 1995).
• Groff, Sibyl M. New Jersey's Historic Houses; a Guide to Homes Open to the Public(-,-: A. S. Barnes. 1971)
• Schwartz, Helen and Margaret Morgan Fisher. The New Jersey House(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 1983).

Preservation techniques

An excellent source of information on a variety of topics related to the care and maintenance of historic properties is the series of Preservation Briefs published over the course of many years the National Park Service. There are currently 47 that may be obtained from the Historic Preservation Advisory Commission, State Historic Preservation Offices, or accessed online from the list of titles below.

In addition to these Preservation Briefs, the Technical Preservation Services section of the National Park Service website includes other interesting and helpful information including Preservation Tech Notes, Online Training all versions of The Secretary of Interior's Standards as well as Guidelines for applying the Standards, Tax Incentives, Sustainability

A parallel Park Service site focused on Archeology also includes Technical Briefs, Standard and Guidelines, Databases, other Tools and General Information.