History:
The Crane-Phillips House is a quaint, charming, Victorian cottage in the architectural style of Andrew Jackson Downing, the first American architect. The museum offers visitors a rare glimpse of what life was like for a modest family in the Victorian era of opulence. It illustrates the late 19th century as the "era of invention" and highlights inventions that changed everyday life for the average person by way of the house's second owners, the Phillips family. Henry Phillips was one of the first inventors of the modern kitchen range hood and his brother, Dr. Charles H. Phillips, was the inventor of Phillips Milk of Magnesia.
"The Little House on the Rahway", as the Crane-Phillips House is known, was first built about 1840 by Josiah Crane as a honeymoon cottage for his son, Josiah Jr. The Crane's were the first settlers to come to the area in the early 18th century (1715), build mills on the river and establish a farm on the west side of the Rahway River. Josiah Crane Jr. sold the property in 1867 to Henry and Cecelia Phillips, who lived there until Henry's death in 1911. It was Mr. and Mrs. Phillips who built most of the cottage in the Downing style.
The Cranford Historical Society has been in the middle of a major restoration project to restore the museum to much the way it looked in the late 19th century, modernize and upgrade, and create new and better permanent exhibits including an authentic late 19th century kitchen. The project's completion will transform the "Little House" into a living history museum where costumed docents help bring visitors back in time. The museum will continue to feature permanent and changing exhibits that depict three centuries of local history as it relates to the history of New Jersey and the nation.
The Crane-Phillips House features an outstanding collection of Native American artifacts, Revolutionary War and Civil War artifacts, other arms and armaments, 19th century tools and farm implements, a charming little Victorian parlor and "Kate's room", a Victorian girl's bedroom circa 1870. Changing exhibits include major displays from the Society's extensive antique clothing collection.
The Crane-Phillips House Museum is on the National and State Register of Historic Places and was named an "American Treasure" by the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1999.
The Museum is open Sundays, September through June, 2-4pm, and has a regular schedule of widely varying programs.
