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The Old Barracks Museum
Project Type: Comprehensive Phased Exterior and Interior Restoration; Adaptive Use; Feasibility Study; Historic Structure Report The Old Barracks was constructed between 1758 and 1762 to provide winter quarters for British army troops and their officers during the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution, the Barracks housed Hessian troops, loyalists, and refugees, and was the scene of one of the engagements that culminated in the pivotal victory of George Washington and the Continental Army over British forces the day after Christmas 1776. After one wing was demolished in 1792, the Barracks was converted to residential and institutional uses. In 1899, the newly formed Old Barracks Association purchased half of the surviving structure and created the Old Barracks Museum. During the period between 1914 and 1917, the State of New Jersey acquired the remainder of the building, reconstructed the missing wing, and restored the entire building in a Colonial Revival style treatment. The Old Barracks Museum is a state historic site operated by the Old Barracks Association.  View of the Officers’ House (right) and northern range of the Soldiers’ Barracks, c. 1990. The facade and roof of the Officers’ House were restored by JGWA in the mid-1980s, removing a stone facade and heavy graduated slate roofing that had been installed in the early 20th century, and replicating the original Flemish bond brick facade and wood shingle roof. Trim was repainted from a Colonial Revival white scheme to Spanish Red as based on evidence from surviving wood trim found on the structure. The Soldiers’ Barracks in this view retains the slate roofing, two-story porch supported on posts, 12-over-12 sash and Colonial Revival paneled wood doors and frames, and white paint scheme installed in the c.1914-1917 restoration.
  
John G. Waite Associates, Architects and its predecessor firms planned and restored The Old Barracks in phases. Following preparation of a historic structure report and a comprehensive program study, the roof and façade of the Officers’ House (1761-1762) were restored in the first phase of work, followed several years later by reconstruction of the original eighteenth-century interior room plan. Restoration of the Soldiers’ Barracks (1758-1759) included restoration of the roof, chimney stacks, porches, windows and doors, and portions of the façades to their original appearance. Interior restoration work included recreating period soldiers’ barracks rooms and designing spaces for educational activities, visitor orientation, museum quality exhibits, museum shop, and a collections care and storage facility. New mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, electrical, telecommunications, and life safety systems were also introduced. The Barracks Lot was enclosed with a recreation of an eighteenth-century board fence, and the level of the parade ground was lowered and the surface restored to recreate its original eighteenth-century appearance. |
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