Shore Grafix
CORNELIUS LOW HOUSE MUSEUM
1225 River Road, Piscataway
732-745-4177
TTY: 732-745-3888
New Expanded Hours:
Wednesday–Friday: 10am–4 pm
Open until 8 pm, Thursdays in
June, July and August
Saturday and Sunday: 12–4 pm
The Cornelius Low House, a two-story stone house built in 1741, is now
the Middlesex County Museum, presenting ever-changing exhibits about
state and local history, with related school, outreach and public programs.
Cornelius Low, a wealthy merchant of Dutch ancestry, was a leading
citizen of Raritan Landing, a port community on the Raritan that flourished
between 1720 and 1835. The Cornelius Low House is listed on the state
and National Registers of Historic Places. A major restoration of the Low
House was completed in 1996.
Museum admission and all programs are free and open to the public.
The first floor of the Low House is fully accessible for visitors with limited
mobility, and a captioned video of second floor exhibit areas and large
type and Braille guides are available. Sign language interpreters are
available for all public programs with two weeks advance notice. School
and group visits are by appointment only.
Text CULTURE to 56512 for Living History Interpreter schedules.
34 www.magazinevolume.com/DiscoverMiddlesex
GREAT BEDS
LIGHTHOUSE
The area off the southern end of Staten Island, where
the Raritan River joins the Arthur Kill, has long been
known for its oyster beds. Oyster skiffs no longer ply
the waters of Raritan Bay to harvest, but Great Beds
Lighthouse, named for the oyster beds on which it
stands, continues to watch over the area, sending forth
a flashing red light every six seconds.
The 42-foot tower is composed of five iron sections and
tapers upward from a diameter of 30 feet at its base. A
sparkling fourth-order Fresnel was installed inside the
decagonal lantern room, and on November 15, 1880,
it cast its first beams of red light out over Raritan Bay
with a focal plane of fifty-seven feet.
Keepers left the tower for good in 1945, three years
after the Fresnel lens had been replaced with an
electric beacon. Great Beds Lighthouse was placed on
the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Courtesy of Perth Amboy
THE METLAR-BODINE HOUSE MUSEUM
The Historical Museum of Piscataway Township
1281 River Rd., Piscataway, 732-463-8363
www.metlarbodinehousemuseum.org
The Metlar-Bodine House is a state and national registered historic site that serves
as a historical and cultural museum for the Township of Piscataway, one of the 50
oldest towns in America and the fifth oldest community in New Jersey. The house
has played a significant role in the community, representing the town’s 350-year
history through its location along the Raritan River, its superb New Jersey vernacular
design, the unique story of its owners and occupants and the important collection of
local memorabilia housed within its walls.
The museum was established as a collecting institution in 1979 by the Fellowship
for Metlar House and the Township of Piscataway. The historic site, its original
section built in 1728 with 19th-century additions, is treated as the largest artifact in
the collection. The collection includes over 1,000 artifacts with Central New Jersey
provenance, attributed to towns once part of the original land grant.
Photo Courtesy of Middlesex County Office of Arts and History
/www.metlarbodinehousemuseum.org