1760 Joseph Turner House

1760 Joseph Turner House. Union Forge Heritage Association. , This part of the tract owned by Philadelphia businessmen William Allen and Joseph Turner, who founded Union Iron Works in 1742. Allen and Turner's "Union" spanned over 10,849 acres encompassing many surrounding municipalities including today's High Bridge and Union Township. Most notably, during the Revolutionary War, the works produced cannonballs for the continental army. They also made farm implements, horseshoes, and other tools., This parcel, containing the 1760 house, the springhouse, meadow, and nearby jockey hollow farm became known as union farm west. The operations superintendent for the union iron works resided in the original house. This small stone structure totaled four rooms with stone walls and heavy hand hewn timber floors and roof. after the iron works ceased operation in 1781, Joseph Turner became owner of the Union Farm parcel as well as the house., The farm would later be inherited by the chew family including turner's neice, Elizabeth Allen Oswald chew and her husband Chief Justice Benjamin Chew. In the early 19th century, the Carhart family purchased the vacant farmstead, which became part of their 200 acre farm. in the 1830s, Charles Carhart expanded the home with a wood framed Greek Revival addition. the large tenant farmhouse contained a grand parlor and foyer on the first floor and three bedrooms upstairs., In the 1960s, the state of new jersey took ownership of the house and property for the construction of spruce run reservoir. Remarkably, from 1830 to the present, the turner house has survived essentially intact. It retains many of its interior features including wide plank floors, trim work, chair rails, mantels, and fireplaces., The Union Forge Heritage Association leases and manages the home as a museum and is currently restoring this historic and environmentally significant property. The Union Ironworks was the direct ancestor of the Taylor Wharton Company, one of the oldest companies in the United States. since 1973, this Turner Chew Carhart Farmstead has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.