Historic Walnford Offers An Opportunity To Explore Local History

BY CHRISTINE BARCIA

Adeep sense of Monmouth County’s history is on display at Historic Walnford in Crosswicks Creek Park, Upper Freehold. Listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, Historic Walnford sits on a 36-acre site that provides a walk-through history.

“We have buildings from three centuries ago on this site,” explained Julie Fenlon, historic site supervisor at Historic Walnford. In addition, the site is home to a 19th century gristmill.

Three gristmills have been in operation at Walnford: the first built circa 1735; the second built in 1822; and the third built in 1872 [into] 1873, according to Fenlon.

The first two mills were powered by water wheels, and a turbine powered the third mill. Crosswicks Creek powered all of the mills at Walnford.

“We still have the turbine, and it is on display near the mill,” she added. Today, the mill is powered by electricity.

“While the power source has changed, the gristmill operates much the same as it did historically. The motor is turned on using a key, like starting a car,” Fenlon explained.

She continued with the steps in the operation of the gristmill: The hopper, a wooden container directly above the millstones, is filled with shelled corn. The corn flows through the hopper to the vibrating shoe, driven by the damsel, feeding the corn steadily into the eye of the runner stone.

The millstones are pieced together from a hard volcanic rock called French Buhr Stone.

The (top) runner stone and (bottom) bed stone are dressed (cut) with a pattern of angled grooves called furrows. The sharp edge of each furrow cuts open the grain and the starch is scraped from the bran (outer shell). The runner stone rotates and the bed stone is stationary.

The cornmeal is then carried up to the third floor where it is sifted through fine, medium and coarse wire screening. The three grades of meal are stored in bins on the second floor.

“We have a hydraulic motor on shed across from the gristmill,” explained Fenlon.

The current mill was used primarily to grind corn into cornmeal for local use and it ran from circa 1873-1917.

The mill is operational today, and public milling demonstrations are provided on Saturdays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. from April through November.

The cornmeal, bran and middlings produced from the demonstrations are sent to Longstreet Farm in Holmdel to supplement the modern diet of livestock.

“We’re here for preservation, not production,” Fenlon said.

Historic Walford dates back to the 18th century, specifically 1734, when the village was centered around a gristmill.

In 1772, Richard Waln, a successful Quaker from Philadelphia, purchased the village as an escape from city life. It offered three mills, blacksmith and cooper’s shops, a large two-family brick house, five tenant houses, farm buildings, 100 plowed acres and two orchards, according to the Historic Walnford brochure. Waln renamed the site Walnford.

In 1799, Waln’s son, Nicolas, and please see HISTORY, page 17 his wife, Sarah, took over the property and oversaw it to grow in both size and population. When Nicolas passed away, Sarah and her daughter, also named Sarah, took care of Walnford. According to the Historic Walnford website, a post office was added to Walnford during this period and with fewer acres to manage Sarah (the daughter) updated the home, built a new carriage house and cow barn, and rebuilt the gristmill in 1873 after a fire.

By the late 19th century, settlement moved west and “local mills became obsolete,” Fenlon said.

In 1907, Richard Waln Meirs and his wife, Ann Weightman Meirs, brought the property into the 20th century. In 1973, after 200 years of occupancy by the Waln family, the Mullen family purchased the property and later donated this historic site to the Monmouth County Park System in 1985, Fenlon explained.

“Seems like everyone here was interested in preserving it (Walnford),” she said.

Other highlights of Historic Walnford include a New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail marker that recognizes “women who had a significant role in shaping Walnford’s development and ensuring its preservation.”

The inscription on the marker notes how generations of women oversaw the mills, farms and building, in addition to rebuilding the gristmill after a fire.

Additionally, an art exhibit, Thrive, which explores the cycles of nature is on display at Historic Walnford.

“It made the most sense that since we are located in a park system our inaugural art exhibition would speak to nature,” explained Romana Schaeffer, museum curator for the Monmouth County Parks System.

Thrive is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through July 7, 2023. Featured artists are Alice Momm, Maureen Bennett, Susan Hoenig and Katrina Bello.

“My work is very much concerned with the nonhuman living world that surrounds us, the passage of time, states of wonder, and a desire to repair,” Momm reflected.

She added that the setting is inspiring “with the beautifully preserved Waln family house, Crosswicks Creek, and still functioning grist mill.”

During the opening of the exhibit, visitors who were local residents “were so happy to see new exhibits and events happening at Walnford,” Schaeffer said.

For more information about the Historic Walnford visit https://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/page.aspx?Id=2541 

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