2024 Virtual Tour: Four Centuries in a Weekend at the Deserted Village

Welcome to a virtual tour of the 2024 Celebration of Four Centuries in a Weekend at the Deserted Village of Feltville.

Feltville’s Four Centuries celebration is part of a county wide celebration showcasing 38 historic sites across the County of Union, in New Jersey. The year 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the annual county-wide event. The Deserted Village of Feltville goes all out on the celebration every year, offering hayrides, children’s games, cider pressing and opening the Visitor’s Center. Some of the historical figures associated with the Village show up to chat with visitors: David Felt, John Willcocks, Roberto de la Selva, Anna Molloy Walsh, and Sarah Felt Toby.

I was pleased to be able to present on my continuing historic research again this year, and to co-lead the afternoon tours with David Felt, the founder of Feltville. Dan Bernier has been channeling David Felt for so many years that nothing can make him break character during the weekend.

Many thanks to friends who came out to the event: Carol Welsch, Ellen Vastola, Janine Garland, and the Fabulous Schryba brothers, Paul and Bill. Special thanks to Janine, Paul and Bill for taking pictures, which you can see here, along with some of my pictures.

Extra special thanks to County Commissioner Bette Jane (BJ) Kowalski, who comes out to Four Centuries every year and supports the Village in so many other ways, including helping find funding for the restorations and maintenance there!

It was also great to catch up with many of the multiple year volunteers for the event! I love seeing you every year, and love seeing how well you all work together to make all our visitors happy.

Click on the images to enlarge.

 

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People are what really make Four Centuries in a Weekend come alive. David Felt, Roberto de la Selva, Sarah Felt Toby, Anna Molloy Walsh, and John Willcocks were all available in the flesh for visitors to chat with.

This year I didn’t get around the village so much to take photos of the many volunteers staffing the event, but they are amazing!

And the visitors were so engaged!

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My friends and I took pictures of various of the buildings in the village.

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It is hard work to maintain a historic village! There are 10 buildings that always need some kind of work, which must be done with costly historically accurate materials. The village’s infrastructure of water, sewer, power and other infrastructure had to be totally revamped, and the results are mostly invisible to the visitor, even though we all enjoy the benefits of them.

The Deserted Village has been fortunate to receive funding from numerous sources, including the Union County Open Space, Recreation & Historic Preservation Trust Fund and the New Jersey Historic Trust.

Last year visitors were able to see the results of grant funding in the totally restored exterior of the Murals Cottage and partial restoration of the exterior of House 4. This year, I was pleased to learn that additional grant funding will soon allow further exterior restoration efforts, including more work on House 4, new roofs on three other cottages, new flooring and other work at the barn along with enhanced parking there, and painting of the Church/Store. And, perhaps most exciting, the Church/Store Visitor Center will get more permanent exhibits!

Here are some shots of buildings which will receive attention.

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In case you don’t remember, the murals cottage is the one where Nicaraguan artist Roberto de la Selva painted the only murals he is ever known to have done. Roberto’s preferred art form was sculpture and bas-relief. I love seeing how beautiful the cottage looks after a complete restoration of the outside. Please make a point of visiting if you are in the village and go out onto the back part of the wrap-around porch, and look out over the bluff towards the Blue Brook.

The interior of the cottage will take longer to restore, since the ultimate aim is to make it into an art museum centered around Roberto. That will require considerable planning and funding.

In 2024, Roberto was charmingly and colorfully channeled by Michael Guadagnini.

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Masker’s Barn is the only Deserted Village building which was not built by David Felt, as David himself is quick to point out on the tour (as channeled by Dan Bernier, David Felt shows up for every Four Centuries event). I get to hang out at the barn and do my presentations there. The barn, and the adjacent outdoor seating area, are very popular to rent for events, including dozens of weddings, and are already booked through much of 2025.

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Along the way, the Deserted Village has lost some buildings and other features, but traces are still visible.

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There were two tractors on display this year. I don’t know what their origin stories are, but the kids (and the adults) loved them!

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The Deserted Village has been the site of a number of wonderful Eagle Scout projects. These are just a few of them.

Little Free Library – Melanio Nistal, Troop 23, Elizabeth: This is a variation on the popular Little Free Libraries found elsewhere. It contains historical materials about the village, which visitors can read during visits there. All materials get returned to the library, before the visitor leaves.

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Cemetery – Michael Ondrey, Troop 83, Kenilworth: Michael Ondrey worked with renowned archaeologist Dr. Richard Veit to determine the boundaries of the original cemetery at the Deserted Village. The cemetery dates back to the time of the original European colonists, the Willcocks and Badgley families, and also includes burials during the Feltville era at the village. The gravestones were moved at one point, and the original location for the cemetery was unknown until now.

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Windows – Katrina Yapczenski, Troop 168, Union: Many of the buildings at the Deserted Village are currently unoccupied, and come in for quite a bit of vandalism. Katrina Yapczenski is covering windows in vacant buildings with plywood. Each window is then fitted with a decorative plastic cover which looks like a lovely curtained window. This will protect the buildings.

 

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Pergola benches – David Pattathil, Troop 177, Mountainside: Masker’s Barn is a very popular event venue, especially for wedding. The outdoor pergola recently got lovely new benches, courtesy of David Pattahil’s Eagle Scout project, where  weddings can be celebrated outdoors.

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Another recently completed Eagle Scout project was Farm Tools Restoration – Etan Sidhu, Troop 177, Mountainside. I didn’t get pictures of this project.

As noted above, there are numerous other projects scattered across the village. Dan Bernier, of Union County’s Department of Parks and Recreation, is the person to contact if your Eagle Scout candidate is looking for a project.

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Every year I get to lead guided tours on both days along with David Felt, who returns to the village for the weekend.

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The Deserted Village sits in the Watchung Reservation, the largest park in the Union County Park system. It is all too easy for me to get focused on the history and forget how beautiful the place is. These are just a few photos I took of the many beauties offered there. A note: I happen to love dead trees left standing as wildlife habitat, and I have always loved tree fungus.