Phaedra Trethan|Cherry Hill Courier-Post
LAWNSIDE— "Time has caught up with us," said Linda Shockley, president of the Lawnside Historical Society.
Time is certainly catching up with the Peter Mott House,all 176 years of it.
The museum and historical site identified with the Underground Railroad, is in dire need of repairs and the money to make those repairs. The Lawnside Historical Society, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the history of the only incorporated African American township in the Northeast, is seeking private and corporate donors to complete more than $100,000 in repairs.
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On Tuesday, Shockley and Gloria Goodman, the historical society's financial secretary, showed some of the damage the house has sustained: Water flowing down the roof's cedar tiles pools into the house's bulkhead leading to the cellar. Water marks mar the ceiling in the house's kitchen. Bricks outside are shifting. A hole in the roof is patched with pieces of wood.
"You know those commercials where they show the water flowing over old gutters?" Shockley said. "It's like that." Pieces of shingles broke off in heavy rains or just due to age, wash down the roof and clog the gutters
"It's like any old house," Goodman said. "One problem creates another problem."
The entire roof needs to be replaced, and the cedar shingles needed to maintain the house's original look don't come cheaply.
Nor will the rusting heater or the air conditioning system, which also need to be replaced after more than 20 years.
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Complicating matters, Goodman noted, are the rising costs of construction materials and the supply-chain shortages that might prolong the amount of time it takes to make the repairs, and even drive up the amount of money required to do so.
Lawnside holds a special place in South Jersey history, Black history, and American history: The township's origins are as a place for former slaves, free men and women and emancipated people to settle, live, work and raise families. It's home to a handful of historically significant sites, including the Peter Mott House, Mount Pisgah AME Church and Mount Peace Cemetery, a resting place for 77 Civil War veterans and a place for Blacks to be buried at a time when they were often excluded from white cemeteries, segregated in death as they often had been in life.
The Lawnside Historical Society has hosted educational tours and talks for schools, camps and other groups, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has put those on hold— and cutting off any funds generated from them.
"We've been fortunate to receive some corporate and private support," Shockley said. "But COVID and the age of the house have conspired against us."
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Shockley shared a spreadsheet that itemized the house's most pressing needs and their respective costs. They include more than $8,000 to replace the clapboard on the entire exterior; new shutters at more then $4,400; more than $20,000 to replace allthe windows and their sills, putty and glass; $7,200 or morefor new fencing around the property, which is on a cul-de-sacin the midst of several twin homes; more than $32,000 for the roof; nearly $4,500 for chimney repairs and almost $15,000 for new siding, cornices, gutters and downspouts.
The New Jersey Historic Trust announced, among other grants, $60,607 for the Peter Mott House to make repairs, but Shockley noted that grant must be matched in order to get the funding. (Other South Jersey grantees included the Roebling Historic District; John Lucas House in Gibbsboro; the Hopkins House in Haddon Township; the Emlyn-Physick House in Cape May; Downe Township Union Hall; John Inskeep Homestead in Evesham; Doane Academy in Burlington; Clara Barton School in Bordentown; Newton Friends Meetinghouse and Battlship New Jerseyin Camden; Riverton Yacht Club; Paulsdale in Mount Laurel; Haddonfield Friends School; and the Bridgeton Historical District.)
Shockley grew up in Lawnside; her family came to the borough in the 1950s, but she remembers teachers telling about their own families settling there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
"We knew the stories," she said. "Some of our teachers were descendants of people who came through the Underground Railroad."
She and the other members of the Lawnside Historical Society are hoping the Peter Mott House can remain a way to share those stories with generations to come.
HOW TO HELP
For more information on the Peter Mott House, visitwww.petermotthouse.org/. There is a "Donate" link on the site, or donations may be mailed toP.O. Box 608, Lawnside, NJ 08045-0608.
On Oct. 16, the Peter Mott House will also host a 31st Anniversary Celebration (the 30th anniversary event last year was canceled due to the pandemic) to mark its preservation in 1990. The freeevent, from noon to 2:30 p.m., will include live music, poetry, historic re-enactors and more.
Phaedra Trethan has been a reporter and editor in South Jersey since 2007 and has covered Camden and surrounding areas since 2015, concentrating on issues relating to quality of life and social justice for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. She's called South Jersey home since 1971. Contact her with feedback, news tips or questions at ptrethan@gannettnj.com, on Twitter @By_Phaedra, or by phone at 856.486-2417.
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