Crane, Israel, House

About this property

The Crane House and Historic YWCA is a federal-style home located at 110 Orange Road in Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey. The house has had a rich history and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 14, 1973, for its significance in architecture, conservation, and industry. The Crane House was built by Israel Crane in 1796 on Old Road (now Glen Ridge Avenue) in Cranetown, which is now the southern part of the Township of Montclair. The house stayed in the Crane family until 1920, when it was purchased by the YWCA. The YWCA used the house for offices, dormitories and as a social center for African American women and girls for 45 years. In 1965, the house faced the prospect of demolition. Local residents committed to its preservation organized and the house was moved from Old Road to 110 Orange Road, its current address. The Crane House and Historic YWCA is one of the few remaining federal mansions in northern New Jersey. It currently operates as the Crane House and Historic YWCA, which is open to the public for tours. The Crane House and Historic YWCA neighbors two other buildings with historic significance: the Clark House, which houses the Albert Payson Terhune library, and the Nathaniel Crane House, which houses a General Store collection, schoolroom, and gift shop. These buildings are also owned by the Montclair History Center. Israel Crane (b. 1774) was a direct descendant of the Crane family, which founded Cranetown in 1694. He was an enterprising businessman, successful in several industries including cider, cotton and wool production. In 1801, he and a partner leased a site in Paterson, New Jersey, for one of the first mills to use the power of the Passaic River. In 1806, Crane organized a group to build the Newark-Pompton Turnpike, an industrial toll road of which he later became the sole owner. It was a direct route from Newark, New Jersey to outlying areas, including Cranetown. Today, Bloomfield Avenue, which runs West from Newark through the Township of Montclair into Verona, New Jersey, is part of the original Newark-Pompton Turnpike. Another section has evolved into Route 23, which extends to Port Jervis. The Israel Crane house has gone through several generations of history. In 1796, Israel Crane had the house built for his family and him. The house was the standard of New Jersey wealth in the Montclair area (this area previously named Cranetown) would have looked like. Documentation shows that Israel Crane owned at least five enslaved individuals: Bill, Joe, Jack, Bett, and Dine. By the time one of his sons, James Crane, took on the ownership of the house, society had changed around them. According to census records, there is no documentation of James Crane owning enslaved individuals, instead hiring indentured servants. Many of his servants were Irish, not uncommon at the time. James went on to make changes to the structure of the house, incorporating many Greek Revival elements including columns in the front; a flat, rectangular roof; and door jambs. James died in 1882. A 1900 census shows that Phebe Crane, James Crane's wife, had been living there with three of her unmarried daughters who were in their 40s and 50s. After Phebe died in 1902, their three daughters sold the house.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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