[chaba]
the Center for Historic American Building Arts
preservación para el pueblo
Preservation for the People
 Bring Back The Nail House!This Little Building is Huge! Help us restore and reclaim this icon of Bridgeton's industrial and working class heritage. |  Cohansey Riverfrom the Bridgeton Bluffs |  Ferracute Office Building |  Waterfront Park |  Downtown's pocket park |  Candlelight ProcessionFor the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Commerce Street Bridge |  Pocket Park at night |  View of Sunset Lake from Piney PointBridgeton's City Park |
We are an open circle of cultural and multicultural activists--some young, some seasoned,
all invested in sustainability.
For us, historic preservation is creative, futuristic work.
We are not out to freeze the past, but to model
people-centered “placemaking” as a path to green,
sustainable, culturally & economically diverse
housing and neighborhood improvement.
We dare to think this is also a path to jobs creation...quality of life ...environmental justice and economic reinvestment.
​
We pour our energies (and yes, our love) into this
small New Jersey city because it tells an amazingly rich story of the making of America--working and
middle-class--farming and industry--native
& immigrant--over four centuries. ​
...And because, with the largest historic district
in the state, this same small city enlarges
the challenge and the potential impact
of everything we do. JOIN US!
Our intergenerational children's book--
in English and Spanish....
WINNER!! : PRESERVATION NJ
NEW PRESERVATION INITATIVES AWARD 2021
Now selling out its SECOND PRINTING! Purchase your copy... ($25 copy) or gift one to your favorite little (or BIG) 'historian'
for the holidays!
Thank you, Brittney!
CHABA has been fortunate this past year in having Brittney Ingersoll, MA
(recently-named new Curator of the
Cumberland County Historical Society), as our
Nail House "Historian in Residence."
We want of course to thank Brittney, but also all those who attended her Library talks over the course of her 'residency' year.
Check back here soon for links
to these talks as audiofiles!
...and additional thanks to the
Cumberland County Cultural & Heritage Commission, for the funding that made our Nail House residencies possible!
(and to the Bridgeton Public Library
that provided the pro-bono venue
for her talks).
Other "Nail House as Time Machine" Showcase Events
Watch this space for updates
on Nail House events for Fall 2022!
BRIDGETON
BRING BACK THE NAIL HOUSE
HISTORIC DISTRICT
Named for the tiny bridge that has straddled the Cohansey River here since 1716, Bridgeton has been the seat of New Jersey’s rural Cumberland County since before the Revolution.
It is steeped in a marinade of precolonial, colonial and postcolonial histories and cultures.
CHABA has been collaborating with the City of Bridgeton (which owns the Nail House--the little building at the entrance to Bridgeton CIty Park) to make essential repairs. They have made this historic 'founder site'
accessible again and
extended its active life.
We are committed to assuring that this key contributing structure can keep telling not just the story of the city itself but of the park--a gem of public space and one of the largest urban parks in the state.
We are expressing CHABA's commitment to the work of promoting environmental justice in this community and beyond.
JOIN US!
Linocut of the 'Nail Mill Office' (below) by Bridgeton artist
James Cox 1935
Bridgeton’s architectural range is encyclopedic: from cabin to castle, high Victorian to classical revival to modernist. The Historic District itself includes an amazing number of individual architectural gems, many designed by noted architects.
CONTACT US FOR MORE INFO
OR TO VOLUNTEER
ReVisioning New Jersey's
Largest Historic District
55 West Commerce Street
(working address for 2022)
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
need more info--or need help?
Contact us:
Eng/Esp: 856-369-1300