Acorn Hall

Acorn Hall. Women’s Heritage Trail. , Acorn Hall was built in 1853 and remodeled in the Italianate Villa style in 1860; the Crane/Hone family lived here from 1857 to 1971. The house and its interiors were preserved through the efforts of the Crane/Hone women. Mary Bolles Crane, Julia Crane Corning, Alice Castleman Hone, and Mary Crane Home (pictured) were all committed to preserving the building. The latter demonstrated her commitment by donating the house and furnishings to the Morris County Historical Society in 1971., Mary Crane Hone was active in local, state, and national politics throughout her life, particularly the World Government Movement after World War II. She was also a preservationist. When work started in 1965 on the Morristown portion of Interstate 287, Mary and her friend Elizabeth Cooke went to the construction site and sat on a steamroller to demonstrate their opposition to this highway in an area steeped in Revolutionary War history., “It’s high time for all of us interested in historic preservation to face up to the fact that the power and the purse are now in the hands of government – at whatever level – and we’ll just have to sully our dainty hands with the political approach if we seriously intend to save anything in this threatened Greater Metropolitan Area..”- Mary Crane Hone, in a 1965 letter. , Acorn Hall is on the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail because of the lasting contributions of women in the Crane family and Hone family to historic preservation in New Jersey., The New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail highlights a collection of historic sites located around the state that represent the significant contributions women made to the history of our state. The Heritage Trail brings to life the vital role of women in New Jersey’s past and present.