Explore Moorestown's Architectural History

Perkins Center for the Arts is offering residents a chance to learn about the town’s architecture through lectures and tours this spring.

“We decided to do this because our building is 100 years old,” said Lee Bennett, coordinator of projects and special events at . “We’ve been looking into the building’s history. This building is such an historic landmark in our community.”

The first lecture, , will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. tonight at Perkins. The that coincides with the lecture will be held at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. April 16. Fred Young will present the lectures and host the tours.

Many of the buildings in the town center represent architecture from the end of the Civil War (1860-1865).

The tour, which will begin in front of the , will highlight examples from the lecture.

A second lecture will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. May 6 covering . This lecture, which will be held at Perkins Center, will cover Moorestown’s earliest days, from the late 1600s through the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781. Several buildings from the early 1700s still remain in town.

A tour on will be held at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. May 14. The one-hour tour will begin in front of the Community House.

Lectures and tours are free. To reserve a spot at any of these events, visit perkinscenter.org.

“There’s a lot of interest in the town’s history,” said Bennett. “We’re happy to serve the public’s interest.”

The lectures and tours are just one way Perkins is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Perkins Memorial, originally called Evergreen Lawn, a home built for Alice and Dudley Perkins. The property includes the manor house and the carriage house, which were given to the township in 1965. The buildings were added to the National and State Registers of Historic Places in 1975.

Perkins will also hold A Toast to the Past: Celebrating Evergreen Lawn’s Centennial June 10.

The event, to be held at the Community House, will be a beer-tasting event with selections that would have been available when Evergreen Lawn was built in the early 1900s.

“The theme focuses on the 1900s when the building was built,” said Bennett.

The event will include the history of local breweries, music from the era, an auction that will include handmade beer steins and other items by local artisans.

A Toast to the Past is $75 per person and the event will begin at 7 p.m.

Proceeds from this event will support major facility upgrades for our Moorestown buildings and the ongoing arts education programming and scholarships offered by the Center.