FREEHOLD – The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders has released the third  installment in its online history project that features the Strauss Mansion and Museum in Atlantic Highlands. It is the only Queen Anne Style building open to the public in Monmouth County. 
 
The two-minute video, featuring the Strauss Mansion and Museum located at 27 Prospect Circle in Atlantic Highlands, is available for viewing at www.visitmonmouth.com/history as part of the county’s “These Historic Places” video series. 
                
The Strauss Mansion is a 21-room house built in 1893 for use as a “summer cottage” by Adolph Strauss, a wealthy New York importer and merchant with offices at 120 Broadway. He was one of a group of friends who all owned brownstone houses on 49th Street in New York City where they spent the winter months. They all put up large houses in the rapidly developing town of Atlantic Highlands, on newly created concentric circles of streets capping the hill above Sandy Hook Bay. They nicknamed themselves the “49ers,” an echo of their Manhattan home street and also the Gold Rush.
 
“It was built only six years after Atlantic Highlands formed a separate borough, carved from Middletown Township,” said Randall Gabrielan, executive director of the Historical Commission and host of the “These Historic Places” series. “The house has had a number of incarnations.”
                
Designed in Queen Anne style, the house is almost on top of the highest elevation in town. From high floors, there are wide views over the town and hills beyond, to the bay below and along the shoreline stretching to the west, and out to Sandy Hook Bay and the New York skyline.
 
The eccentric roof line has peaks, dormers and gables and a variety of shapes and textures. Its two front towers, unique in town, are circular on one corner and six-sided on the other corner. The house originally was called “The Towers.” A two-story porch wraps around three sides of the house. There are 69 doors and 70 windows, and evidence suggests there were gas-operated fireplaces.
                
“Monmouth County is steeped in history,” Freeholder Robert D. Clifton said. “I am pleased the county’s Historical Commission and Department of Public Information are working together to inform residents about county projects and resources. The county Web site, www.visitmonmouth.com, is fast becoming the best way for residents to access government services, find out what’s happening and see how much history is within our boundaries.”
           
Each of the sites to be featured in a video has been the recipient of the county’s Historic Preservation Matching Grant Program. In 2008, the Monmouth County Historical Commission awarded 25 preservation grants for restoration projects in 18 municipalities.
 
The video series culminates the county’s year-long effort to promote its rich history by focusing attention on the county’s 325th anniversary. The first video featured The Church of the Presidents, located at 1260 Ocean Ave. in the Elberon section of Long Branch, and the second video featured the Ocean Grove Auditorium. Both are available for viewing on the county Web site.

 

The Historical Commission is dedicated to preserving the past and creating a living history. The types of projects eligible for funding are preservation, restoration or rehabilitation of historic structures, usually 50 years or older, and which are accessible to the public. The program covers essentially structural work for projects commonly known as “bricks and mortar” undertakings.
 
The commission grants matching funds on a competitive basis to municipalities and nonprofit organizations needing financial help in the preservation or restoration of historic structures. Each grant application must include a description of the mission, its meaning to history and the significance and the audience it serves.
 
“Upcoming videos will continue to focus on the important historic sites and the work being done to preserve them,” Gabrielan said. “We will set our schedule for 2009 shortly.”
 
For information about the county’s Historical Commission, contact the Hall of Records, Room 201, Freehold, NJ 07728, or call (732) 431-7413. Information can also be found on the county’s Web site at www.visitmonmouth.com.

 

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