Where-To-Go Wednesday - Thomas Warne Museum

What: Thomas Warne Musem 

Where: 4216 Route 516 

            Matawan, NJ 

Who: All ages

The Thomas Warne Museum is the historical society of Madison - Old Bridge Township, NJ. The history of the township goes back over three hundred years. It was originally part of Perth Amboy and later part of South Amboy. When South Amboy was broken up into smaller townships, it was renamed Madison Township, and later in 1976, the name was changed to Old Bridge. 

Items on display in the museum include pottery, fossils, a large selection of arrowheads, various tools, and more. There is a whole exhibit on the cold war years which includes a lot of information about the Rosenberg spy case which allegedly has a slight connection to the township. Another interesting exhibit is related to the Morgan Munitions Depot explosion. The Morgan Munitions Depot, also known as The T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant, was an ammunition plant located in nearby Sayerville during World War I. On the night of October 4, 1918, it was blown up causing massive destruction and death.  Even to this day, they continue to find debris from the explosion nearby. It has never been conclusively proven whether the explosion was caused by worker error or German sabotage. An item in the Thomas Warne Musem's collection related to the explosion was featured in an episode of The Travel Channel TV Series, Mysteries at the Museum. 

The entire one-room Cedar Grove School is a part of the Thomas Warne Museum. The school which housed 1st through 8th graders through 1947 was originally the location of the museum. However, a display gallery was later added to the museum. Now, the schoolroom is within the museum, and it is pretty much set up just like it would have been when kids were attending the school although not all of the numerous artifacts located within the schoolroom are necessarily related to the school. 

There is no fee required to visit to the Thomas Warne Museum. The Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM or Monday through Friday by appointment only. For more information, go to www.thomas-warne-museum.com. 

Tune in tomorrow for Theater Thursday.