Texier House Open House

A museum of Watchung history, facts and artifacts. Investigate the 5 rooms independently or ask our guides for wonderful tales of the past.

Texier Museum
In the middle of the Watchung circle is a museum full of Watchung history, facts and artifacts. It can be visited during the open house held twice a month, usually the 1st and 3rd Sunday, where volunteer guides are available to show you around, but you can certainly wander through the 5 rooms and become familiar with the collections and memorabilia about Watchung’s past. Plenty of convenient free parking. Masks are required for all visitors and staff.

Notable Exhibits:

• World War I & II items- Operate a preserved hand cranked siren that was meant to warn the residents of Watchung if any Nazi boats had stormed New Jersey shores.
• Artifacts and sports memorabilia of Robert “Bobby” Thomas (Watchung resident) who hit a historic three-run homerun that he hit off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers that put the New York Giants in the World Series, sometimes called “The Shot Heard 'Round the World.”
• Photos and possessions of Charles Aubrey Eaton, clergyman, journalist, U.S. Congressman from NJ and a signatory to the original United Nations Charter
• Original diary of Captain Parlin, who led the first black battalion of soldiers during the Civil War
• Artifacts and photos from the Legend of Watchung Pageant, which was performed in the Watchung Mountains and the Borough between the years of 1911
• Skylight and other items from the Moldenke’s Elsinore Castle that stood on Valley Road and Elsinore from 1900 to 1950
• A history of Watchung and Best Lake. Both lakes, are man-made and were used for industry including ice harvesting during the winter months. 
• Remembrances from Adella (Tibby) Wotherspoon, the youngest (then 6 months old) survivor or the Sinking of the General Slocum in 1904 where 1,021 of the 1,331 passengers died in the NYC’s East River (the most tragic event until the 2001 World Trade). Tibby lived most of her life in Watchung and was active in the Watchung Historical Commission

Admission is FREE and Donations to the Watchung Community Fund are greatly appreciated!