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Joseph Acoury, Sneh Shah, Reshni Mahtani, Aaron Wong
Our artifact is the Cornelius Low House located at 1225 River Rd, Piscataway Township, NJ 0885. It was built in 1741 and the land for the house was purchased from William Williamson. The owner of the house, Low’s family is originally from Holland and is therefore Dutch. His grandfather eventually left Holland and migrated to the Americas. Cornelius then moved to New York and established himself as a merchant. Cornelius picked the Raritan location to build his house because it overlooked the pier and his warehouse, which he was then able to keep a watch on. The house was built on grounds that are now part of Rutgers University. Our visit to the house sparked an interest in it. Hearing about its dramatic history and its origins exciting all of the members of our group, so making this choice was fairly easy.
The house’s transformation to a museum is very interesting. In 1979, Middlesex County, New Jersey bought the house and grounds. Under the guidance and administration of the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission. The County acquired the Low House to use as a local heritage museum for discussing the history of New Jersey and its context within that of national events. As the home of the Middlesex County Museum, the Low House was established to provide exceptional, educational experiences through the presentation of original research relating significant people, historic places, events and attitudes to the State of New Jersey. At the moment, the Low House is an exhibit of the history of New Jersey diners.
