the Center for Historic American Building Arts
Preservation for the People !
CHABA
At CHABA, we believe preserving our past is a critical foundation for a vibrant and sustainable future.
We honor Bridgeton’s evolving historic identity over three centuries, and foster a community
united by the realities of both cultural persistence and cultural change.
Need help repairing or restoring an historic house? Call US First! 856.221.3280 Leave a message. Someone will get back to you FAST
With the help of a restoration grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust, CHABA is assisting the City of Bridgeton
in preserving the 'Nail House'--surviving home of the former Cumberland Nail & Iron Works, set directly at the entrance to Bridgeton City Park, and among the earliest industrial ventures in South Jersey.
This remnant of Bridgeton's former industrial might is one of the region's most storied places,
holding the remarkable hidden history of its relationship to that green resource of the park.
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It is an important story for us now, and it's a story we want it to go on telling.
With restoration support from City, County and State--and the ongoing personal contributions of
the people of Bridgeton and surrounding communities, CHABA also promotes the Nail House's educational use,
providing tours for school children of every grade, and support for history and environmental programs
at the college level. Defying the setbacks of the pandemic, our nearly-completed repairs have
already enabled this little building to be a hub of social and cultural activity again,
and return to life as the ceremonial entrance to one of the largest urban parks in the state.
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Look for our heavily-illustrated intergenerational children's book, This little building is huge.
Already a State-award-winning as well as local classic, it tells the 200-year "grunge to green"
story of the Nail House in colorful down-to-earth language, and is available in both English and Spanish!
"CHABA brings people together and makes our community stronger AND more beautiful!
I'm proud to support their mission" - Nadia Albizu
Bridgeton is named for the tiny bridge that has straddled the Cohansey River here since 1716, and has been the seat of New Jersey’s rural Cumberland County and the hub of its commercial activity since before the Revolution. Steeped in a marinade of pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial histories and cultures, layer on layer, its culture has flavored the South Jersey region for centuries.
A premier example of an Arts & Crafts home on Bridgeton's west side.
Scenic view of the Cohansey River flowing through Bridgeton, NJ.
The large historic district, with over 2,000 individual properties spanning
three centuries, has an
encyclopedic architectural range --from cabin to castle, high Victorian to classical revival to modernist.
It also includes an amazing number of
individual architectural gems, many designed by noted architects.
CHABA has been collaborating with the City of Bridgeton and the New Jersey Historic Trust to make essential repairs to the 1815 first home to the Cumberland Nail & Iron Works, a 'founder site' that helped launch Bridgeton as an industrial powerhouse. Now--In this post-industrial era, we are not only making it accessible and usable again, but telling its stories--of ironmasters and ironworkers, of course--but also of its 'grunge to green' transformation in the 20th century into a resource for recreation and culture at the very entrance to Bridgeton City Park.
We know we can reclaim and 'adaptively reuse' historic places in the social and cultural life of our communities, and not just keep them alive but make them beacons of environmental practice for the future.
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A flyer for a 'maker' event at the Nail House.
The Nail House is conveniently located on the edge of the Downtown AND at the entrance to Bridgeton City Park--
both popular community destinations
