DENNISVILLE — The third Saturday in December is nigh, which means an opportunity to enjoy a house tour featuring centuries worth of history.

This time each year a minimum of 10 beautifully decorated 18th and 19th century historic homes, as well as several public buildings and two churches, are open to the public during the annual Historic Dennisville Christmas House Tour.

The event, which is scheduled from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, serves as the premier fund raising event for the Dennisville Historic Home Owners Association.

Tickets are $10 and will be sold at the Dennisville Post Office, 24 Hall Ave. in Dennisville the night of the tour only, beginning at 4:30 pm.

Greeters will distribute programs and get tour goers started on their way. Houses open at 5 p.m. The Post Office will be open for stamp sales as well.

Events scheduled include

• Soup and sandwich supper at the South Dennis Trinity United Methodist Church beginning at 4 pm until food runs out ($8 adults, $3.50 children under 12).

• Refreshments and comfort stations at the Dennisville United Methodist Church Social Hall.

• Sunnyside Up carolers will perform throughout the village.

• Book signing by Alice Belanger McGuigan of her illustrated “Historic Dennisville: A Walking Tour” at the Capt. John Douglas House – 1830.

• Dennis Volunteer Fire Company – will be open with equipment (new and antique) on display. Hot drinks available here.

• For further information visit www.dennistwp.org/dhhoa.htm or contact Jack Connolly at (609) 861-1338 or at Dennisvillechristmashousetour@verizon.net

This year’s feature house is the The Crawford House – c. 1810

The Crawfords were an important presence in northern Cape May County by the late 18th or early 19th century, when family members owned numerous parcels of vacant land in the area as well as properties with buildings. Around 1810, Eleazer Crawford bought this year’s feature house from the Johnson family, who had long held title to the land it stands on and probably constructed the main part of the dwelling. It was common during the 19th century for wealthy families to rent out properties in and around the village to workers’ families. These included the employees of shops, farms, sawmills, and shipyards, which at their peak, in the 1880's, hired more than 150 people. Newspaper accounts of the day often referred to the house as the “Crawford Tenant Cottage.”

The Crawford family presence dates from the late 18th / early 19th century in old northern Cape May County. The Crawford family members owned numerous properties in the area including both vacant land and lots with structures on them. Eleazer Crawford, Sr. bought “this year’s feature house” from the Johnson family for his son to live in. The original structure was most likely built by the Johnson family as it traces back to the time when the Johnson family owned the land. Eleazer Crawford, Sr. owned property at the landing—a storefront. His son, Eleazer Crawford, Jr., did not own land but took over the business and became a successful businessman in the area.

In the 19th century it was common for wealthy families to own numerous properties around the village which they rented out to worker families. These families included workers from the shipyards, shops, and farms and sawmills. At their peak in the 1880’s, the shipyards employed over 150 people. The Eleazer Crawford Tenant House, or the Crawford Tenant Cottage as it was sometimes called, was one of these houses.

Newspaper accounts of the day included the following references to the Crawford House: “William Treadway has moved from the Parker cottage to the Crawford Tenant cottage” (Star of the Cape – 1879), and “Eleazer Crawford has a new roof put on his tenant house” (CM County Gazette - 1881). And in fact, the name on the 1872 Beers Map is Mrs. Crandall—a tenant at the time.

In the late 1960’s Ray and Jane Dixon moved the house from across the street, adjacent to the old 1 bay fire house, to its current location. M. Jones House Movers of Leesburg, N.J. performed the move. M. Jones’s son, Marvin and his wife, Connie, currently reside in the Dennisville Historic District in the Mary Dalton House just down the street from the Crawford House. A more modern rancher now sits on the Crawford House’s original site. The Crawford House was transformed from a standard I-house configuration with a rear lean-to/shed roofed addition, to a saltbox by the Dixons.

Dennisville is a superbly preserved village with a rich 18th and 19th century maritime history and has excellent examples of houses from the 5 major building periods that span from the early 18th century to the early 20th century.

Many of the early settlers were gentleman land owners and merchants evolved in the lumber trade with the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington. By the early 19th century the village had become the residence for many bay/sea captains and ship builders in addition to shop keepers. Ships were built and launched at Dennis Creek Landing until the late 19th century.

Cedar shingle mining, a unique and short lived industry, occurred in the nearby swamps. In the late 19th century Independence Hall was re-roofed with shingles mined and cut by two local tradesmen, then shipped from Dennisville to Philadelphia. The first post office in Cape May County was located at Dennis Creek Landing in 1802. In 1848, however, Dennisville lost out to Cape May Court House in its bid to become the County Seat.

The House Tour / Student Peer Leader Partnership was initiated in 2008. The program was very successful and very well received by tour visitors and is planned to become a staple of the House Tour.

In addition to increasing the number of volunteers for the smooth operation of the tour, the students are exposed not only to the living history of the antique homes in which they help but they also learn a little about the operation of the House Tour and experience some of the benefits and rewards of volunteerism. For more information visit www.dennistwp.org/dhhoa.htm