The New Jersey Museum of Agriculture was an American agriculture museum, located in North Brunswick,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, and focused on the evolution of agriculture in New Jersey. The museum's exhibits included farm tools and machinery, household implements, scientific instruments, trade tools, farm vehicles, early electrical appliances and a general store. Other displays told the story of important agricultural crops in New Jersey, including

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

cranberries Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry m ...

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es,

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

and

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...

es.

History and operations

The museum opened in 1990 and was located on the campus of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences of Rutgers University at 103 College Farm Road. It featured the collection of Professor Wabun C. Krueger, including the Deats plow, patented in 1828 by John Deats of

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,Hiram Deats Hiram Deats (April 12, 1810 – November 22, 1887) was an American businessman from Hunterdon County, New Jersey. He was known for manufacturing agricultural equipment, especially the Deats plow, and became the first millionaire in Hunterdon Co ...

. The museum was closed in 2011 due to state budget cuts. Part of the museum's collection of photographs of farms and barns in

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

and Mercer Counties were donated to the Monmouth County Archives.

Building

After closing, the land and the 30,000 sqft building reverted to

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

and used for several years as classrooms and storage. From 2016 - 2019, the George Street Playhouse leased the building while their original location was razed for the construction of the downtown

New Brunswick Performing Arts Center The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center is a complex in New Brunswick, New Jersey's Civic Square government and cultural district, in the United States. Construction for the US$172 million, 23-story multi-use property began in 2017 and was comple ...

. In 2019, Rutgers announced plans to convert the building into a state-of-art Makerspace /

Hackerspace A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, ...

hosting a variety of tools, CNC equipment, woodshop, metal fabrication, 3D Printing, textiles, commercial kitchen, and arts&crafts. In addition to serving University students, it will be available to public memberships similar to a gym model.

References

{{authority control 1990 establishments in New Jersey 2011 disestablishments in New Jersey Agriculture museums in the United States Buildings and structures in New Brunswick, New Jersey Defunct museums in New Jersey History museums in New Jersey Museums disestablished in 2011 Museums established in 1990 Museums in Middlesex County, New Jersey Rutgers University University museums in New Jersey Tourist attractions in New Brunswick, New Jersey

History and operations

Building

See also

References