Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

JOURNO’S RED BANK HOME IN SPOTLIGHT

rb-fortune-house-3-061213-500x375-3324407T. Thomas Fortune, below, will get a month of honor in February. Meantime, efforts to save his home on Doctors Parker Boulevard continue. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

t-thomas-fortune-176x220-7600669No sharp elbows were thrown. The words ‘Maple Cove‘ weren’t even mentioned.

In her first working session as a member of Red Bank’s otherwise all-Democrat borough council Wednesday night, Republican Cindy Burnham‘s debut act was to introduce a resolution designating February as T. Thomas Fortune Month in the borough.

The anondyne measure won unanimous approval, and opened up a discussion of where things stand with the house that Fortune lived in a century ago.

“It just kills me” that Red Bank Regional students walk past the house every day but “know nothing” about the activist journalist who lived there, said Burnham, who works as a substitute teacher at the school.

She said designating the month in Fortune’s honor “would be a great thing” in light of the fact that it’s nationally recognized as Black History Month.

Fortune, born a slave, grew into a crusading journalist and publisher as a fierce critic of Jim Crow laws and attitudes. He’s widely credited with popularizing the term “Afro-American” to denote people of African heritage.

Fortune’s home, at 94 Doctors James Parker Boulevard, was known as Maple Hill when he lived there from 1901 to 1911. It’s listed as a National Historic Landmark because of its association with Fortune, who was visited there by Booker T. Washington and other early civil rights luminaries.

Long vacant and deteriorating after years as a private residence and bakery, the house has been the subject of a preservation effort dating to 20007. Last year, it became the subject of renewed speculation that it might be sold and demolished, prompting a renewed preservation effort that envisions turning the structure into a cultural center and community hall.

‘We’re hoping someone will come along with a very big wallet and buy it” so it can be saved and restored, said Councilman Ed Zipprich, who’s been involved in the effort from its early days.

“The borough can’t afford it,” said Mayor Pasquale Menna, who confirmed, in response to a question from Councilman Art Murphy, that the property would come off the tax rolls if it were to be acquired by a non-profit entity.

Sarah Klepner, a leader in the T. Thomas Fortune House Preservation effort, said the group was “negotiating with” the Vaccarelli family, which owns it. She said the group had raised $4,000 in donations in recent months.

“It’ll take a million to fix it,” said Murphy, a homebuilder.

Klepner, a former freelance reporter for redbankgreen, said turning the house into a cultural and community hub would “meet a need that exists anyway” and attract visitors from out of town, boosting Red Bank’s stature.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...
WHAT? NO redbankgreen NEWSLETTER?
Apologies to redbankgreen newsletter subscribers: the daily email hasn’t gone out for two days because of technical issues.
RED BANK: TIRED OF SKEETERS?
RED BANK: Tired of mosquito bites every summer? Monmouth County has a free program to help eliminate skeeter breeding grounds.
SEA BRIGHT: POLAR PLUNGE FOR ST. JAMES, OTHERS
Hundreds braved the wind and sea on Sunday at 1PM in support of St. James Elementary School, and other Catholic schools in the area. The eve ...
RED BANK: RBR CLAIMS TITLE
RED BANK: Watch pure joy as the RBR boys basketball team celebrates its first B North championship in 17 years.