The Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum
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2024 Jun July 2025 Aug 2026

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    We don't know about you, but we are ready for a cr We don't know about you, but we are ready for a crisp autumn night in the cemetery... Summer is quiet around the museum but we are busy behind the scenes planning for fall 2025! 

SAVE THE DATES! 

Moonlight Tavern Night 9/20
Ghosts of the Past 10/5
Spirit Quest with Dustin Pari 10/10
Four Centuries Hearth cooking & Cider Pressing Demos 10/18 & 10/19
Spirit of Rahway Lantern Tours 10/24 & 10/25
...And a themed Masquerade on 11/1

Watch this space for details! Tickets will be released late summer!
    Another newly scanned photograph from 1915! Floo Another newly scanned photograph from 1915! 

Floodwaters submerge a portion of Hazelwood Avenue in Rahway following heavy rainfall on August 4, 1915. 

The photographer stands on Hazelwood Avenue east of Main Street, facing east toward a low-profile bridge in the background that spans the South Branch of the Rahway River. The bridge is slightly elevated from the street and therefore remains above the floodwaters. It features what appear to be simple concrete parapets on both sides which are approximately four feet high. A group of people stands along the right-side parapet. Floodwater has risen high enough to reach the hubs of carriage wheels visible near a wood-frame carriage factory on the left. Pavement, sidewalks, and curbs are completely submerged. Two individuals, possibly older children, stand mid-frame in the floodwaters. This image was published on page 1 of The Rahway Record on August 6, 1915. A handwritten reminiscence is inscribed on the photograph's reverse side.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Transcription of handwritten note on reverse:
Rahway, N.J.
Corner Hazelwood Ave and Main St
Part of porch on left was Webers home next was Webers Carriage Factory where I and other boys would visit – next was George Fries House next was his Coal Office.–
My grandfather David Brooks Clark lived on
William St a block away. When they had floods
like this in this picture, Grand Pop had a row boat
He would row people across this flooded water

C. Clark
    The #Rahway fireworks were amazing last night, and The #Rahway fireworks were amazing last night, and we were lucky to have the best view in town! 

This morning, we hosted the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence beside the grave of NJ signer of the Declaration, Abraham Clark. 

Want to join us next year in the tavern yard? Become a member today! https://www.merchantsanddrovers.org/become-a-member/
    The Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum has been p The Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum has been painted a few colors over the years. Here is a photograph from 1936 showing the building in white. The yellow buff color you see today is the original color that dates to circa 1795.
    Rahway at work! Here is an early 20th century phot Rahway at work! Here is an early 20th century photograph of an office within Quinn & Boden, a book printing company in Rahway, New Jersey, featuring Mr. Quinn (far left) along with four other staff members. 

Thank you to our volunteers who are sorting, scanning, and cataloging our vast photograph collection. This work is invaluable in helping to preserve Rahway's history!

#njhistory #historyisfun #Rahway
    Another from the vault! The Rahway Water Works bui Another from the vault! The Rahway Water Works building!

A two-story Second Empire-style brick building, part of the Rahway Water Works, stands at the center of the image, with an attached single-story wing and at least one additional building partially visible behind it. Architectural details include arched windows and doorways, dormers, and a mansard roof. Ivy climbs the facade and also covers a low wall extending toward a curved walkway. A tall cylindrical standpipe, likely constructed of iron plates, rises behind the buildings; a Sanborn Fire Insurance map, published a decade later in 1923, records a standpipe at this site with a 500,000-gallon capacity and an elevation of 26 feet above the business district. (Previous Sanborn maps did not include this area of the city.)
    Another treasure from the archives! Here is a copy Another treasure from the archives! Here is a copy of a handwritten 18th-century deed of sale dated March 5, 1759. David Watkins, of the Borough of Elizabeth in the County of Essex and Province of East New Jersey, executed this deed, transferring a 42-acre tract of land to John King for £46. 

The property, situated within the bounds of Elizabeth Town, is described with precise measurements using "chains" and "links," marking boundaries by trees, posts, and other landmarks. 

The document was witnessed by Samuel Frow Eles and John Smith Eles, and it bears Watkins’ signature and seal.

We would like to extend a very special thank you to our Collections Volunteers for their dedication to the cataloging, digitization, and preservation of New Jersey History! 

#njhistory #Rahway #historicpreservation #thisplacematters #historyisfun
    Here is an exterior view of Stricker Bros. grocery Here is an exterior view of Stricker Bros. grocery store at 160 Main Street, Rahway, New Jersey, between Cherry and Lewis Streets (address number at the time; the address scheme has since changed). The brick building features a storefront with large glass display windows flanking a recessed entrance, accessed by a single step rising from the sidewalk. An awning advertises “Teas & Coffees” and “Butter”, with the store name prominently displayed.

The store’s signage and the clothing styles suggest the photograph dates to circa 1910-1920. #Rahway #thisplacematters #njhistory #rahwayishappening
    Another from the newly scanned archives! Eleven Another from the newly scanned archives! 

Eleven men stand in a line in front of five automobiles parked along a paved street in Rahway, New Jersey. Four of the cars bear hand-painted signs reading “RAHWAY, N.J. TO VENICE–NOKOMIS FLORIDA,” in preparation of a real estate development sales project... The automobiles are open touring cars from the early 1920s, with rear-mounted spare tires and collapsible tops.#Rahway #njhistory #historyisfun #rahwayishappening
    A little rain won't stop us! Visit our Tag Sale fr A little rain won't stop us! Visit our Tag Sale from 9 am to 2 pm today! Jewelry! Kitchenware! Treasures! Stop by and visit us!
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    MDTMA - 1632 St. Georges Ave - Rahway, NJ 07065 - (732)381-0441 *** Mailing address: PO Box 1842 - Rahway, NJ 07065

    Funding is made possible in part by the following: New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State, through a grant administered by the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Department of Parks & Recreation; the Union County Board of County Commissioners HEART Grant Program; New Jersey Council for the Humanities; RSI Bank Foundation of the Community Foundation of New Jersey; a Rahway Chamber of Commerce Business Improvement Grant; and numerous individual donors. Restoration of the historic Merchants and Drovers Tavern structure is currently funded by capital grants from the New Jersey Historic Trust, New Jersey Cultural Trust, and Union County.
The mission of the Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum is to preserve the historic Merchants and Drovers Tavern and Terrill Tavern structures; develop the site as a museum; preserve and interpret local history in partnership with the community; and serve as an educational, cultural, and historic resource.