About the Thomas Warne Museum & Library

Thomas Warne was one of the Twenty-Four original proprietors of “East Jersey” (the Raritan Bay Area). In 1682 Thomas and his father purchased 1000 acres of land between the Cheesequake and Matawan Creeks. 187 years later, in 1869, Madison Township was formed. Thomas’ “little” parcel of land lay at the heart of this growing farming community, and his descendants continued to thrive there.

On a two acre plot of Warne property, in 1820, a one room schoolhouse was erected and dedicated to the education of the area children. It was named “Cedar Grove” and served the town well for 127 years. Through wars, droughts, and the Great Depression thousands of 1st through 8th grade students attended Cedar Grove School. There were some changes over the years, including, in 1885, changing of the building. The original schoolhouse was moved to an adjoining farm, a “New” schoolhouse was erected and time marched on until the school’s closing in 1947.

Now let’s fast-forward a couple of decades to 1964. It was in that year that a group of pioneering residents of Madison Township (Present Day Old Bridge) got together and decided that the two things that their town lacked were an historic preservation group and an educational museum to highlight their efforts. With vision and their own collections of artifacts, research, and memories they created the Madison-Old Bridge Township Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization, and The Thomas Warne Historical Museum & Library. 

(The museum was so named because of it’s location on a portion of Thomas Warne’s 1000 acre parcel of land. It has been reported that Thomas, who had an excellent rapport with the local Native Americans, had built a wigwam nearby in 1685.)

For nearly half of a century the Thomas Warne Museum (housed in the tiny one room Cedar Grove Schoolhouse which in 1999 was expanded to include a display gallery) has been a vital historical site and a source of education and information from the earliest days of the area’s history. The Madison Township Historical Society’s mission is the acquisition and preservation of area history, and the education of our children.

From our newly updated computer systems to aid you in your genealogical and historical research to new programs, living histories, and events…

The Thomas Warne Museum Has Something For Everyone!

STOP BY AND SEE HISTORY COME TO LIFE!

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Thomas Warne Historical Museum and Library

4216 Route 516
Matawan, NJ 07747

(732) 566-2108