Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

New Jersey Historic Trust Affiliated with the Department of Community Affairs

Sally Stretch Keen Memorial Library

Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund
Capital Level I Grant
Grant Award: $85,622 (2022)
Grant Recipient: Sally Stretch Keen Memorial Library
County: Burlington
Municipality: Southampton Township

Sally Stretch Keen Memorial Library is a key contributing resource to the Vincentown Historic District, listed in the New Jersey and National Registers for Historic Places for significance as an agrarian commercial center in rural Southampton Township. The period of significance extends from 1790 to 1935. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, Vincentown was at the height of its prosperity, supporting shops, taverns, a tannery, and grist and saw mills, all of which were integral to the commercial life of Southampton Township. The historic district includes vernacular representations of Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic, Queen Anne, Italianate, Shingle, and Bungalow styles, all with a high level of integrity.

The library was built in 1923, gifted to the community from Mary Irick Drexel and endowed in memory of her mother and prominent local resident Sally Stretch Keen. Designed by noted Philadelphia architects Stewardson and Page, the small, one-room library incorporates elaborate Georgian Revival details including Flemish bond brickwork, quoining, a central front door flanked by sidelights and headed by an elaborate arched fanlight, and a large rear Palladian window.

The 2022 Trust grant will help fund interior and exterior preservation of the Sally Stretch Keen Memorial Library, a key contributing resource to the Vincentown Historic District.


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