Vandals broke into historic Shimer Mansion in Pohatcong Township and spray-painted its walls, an official said.
Seven days before the Pohatcong History & Heritage Society planned to open Shimer Mansion to the public, vandals kicked the door open and spray-painted graffiti on the inside walls.
The Shimer Mansion in Pohatcong Township (Courtesy Photo)Michael J. Margulies, society president and co-founder, noticed the words "You can't lock us out" splattered in black spray paint on the door when he went to the mansion in the 400 block of New Brunswick Avenue on Sunday.
Margulies was meeting with a volunteer cleanup crew readying to get the Phillipsburg-area house in shape for the 21st annual Pohatcong Township Historic House tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
But when he went inside, Margulies discovered the situation was much worse.
Vandals had more messages, on nearly every wall of the first floor.
"They'll tear this place up," one of the messages said.
"You'll Be Okay," said another.
Other walls had peace signs spray-painted on them and various drawings.
Margulies believes a crowd of youngsters thought the house was being demolished and they were going to lose their hangout spot. He was grateful nothing was broken, he said.
Margulies said he reported the vandalism to township police Chief Jeffrey Greenemeir. Greenemeir was out of the office Monday and unable to provide information.
Preserving history
The Shimer Mansion was granted to the Pohatcong History & Heritage Society in May from the Carpenter family, the former owners.
Since then, the society has been working to apply the mansion for entry to the National Register of Historic Places. Prior to the nonprofit organization taking it over, the house was abandoned for more than a decade. It was built about 1850.
"There were 20 years of just neglect," Margulies said.
Volunteers, elected officials and community leaders in small groups all summer worked to clean up the interior and exterior grounds. Next, an extensive restoration project is planned.
Phase I of the restoration project, expected to begin this year, will include stabilization of the building's windows, doors, the roof and structure. That work is expected to be completed next year and the $75,000 cost is being funded by events and county grants, Margulies said.
Phase II is expected to concentrate on more interior work, but plans have not been finalized or funded, he said. When complete, supporters hope the mansion will be the focus of house tours and be used for community meetings and events.
The society wants to give the public a sneak peek of the mansion as a "before" visual snapshot. Then, the public will be invited back again to see the progress during each annual house tour.
"The process of the restoration and engaging the community and visitors with the restoration is as important as the restoration itself," Margulies said.
Graffiti is shown on the door of the Shimer Mansion (Facebook Photo)The society, Margulies said, will attempt to repaint the house and open it in time for this weekend's tour.
"We're going to try," he said.
Social media effort
The society has taken to social media for help in finding the vandals.
On the Pohatcong History & Heritage Society's Facebook page, members began asking the public for any leads.
"Please spread the word that our volunteers are working hard to get this restoration project going and that the kids in the community need to respect this," organizers said. "This sort of thing reflects on our community as a whole. Let's get the message out there, be more vigilant, put a stop to the vandalism and show our community pride!"
Posters expressed sympathy, disappointment and anger over the reported vandalism.
"This upsets me greatly, such a majestic and proud looking home and vandals have to desecrate it and the work being done by its volunteers," posted Rich Allen.
"What stinkers! Sorry they were never taught to respect other people's property!" posted Rosemary Johnsen.
Graffiti with black spray paint inside the house right before we are planning on opening Shimer Mansion up for the...
Posted by Pohatcong History & Heritage Society on Saturday, October 10, 2015
Margulies remains confident the mansion will remain open for the tour.
"We're going to make lemonade out of lemons," he said.
ABOUT SHIMER MANSION:
Online real estate listings say the 3,492-square-foot Shimer Mansion is valued at about $268,000 with five bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The house was constructed by the grandson of Peter Scheimer, who lived in Northampton County in 1850. Scheimer was a soldier during the French and Indian War and bought 200 acres of farmland in 1800 for his son, John L. Shimer. John soon owned six farms and the mansion was constructed by his son, William.
Source: Pohatcong Township Historic Preservation Commission
Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
