Built c. 1710 for one of the city’s original lot holders, the Plume House served as a private residence until 1849, when it was sold to the House of Prayer Church and converted into a rectory. The Dutch Colonial residence exhibits local sandstone and hand-hewn timber framing. The fifth rector of the church, Hannibal Goodwin, invented celluloid film in the house, which was used in Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, an early machine for viewing motion pictures.   

When I-280 was built in the 1950’s, an overpass through Newark was constructed just a few feet away from the Plume House. Over the years, vibrations from the road caused damage to the building. In 2010, the house was listed on Preservation New Jersey’s 10 most endangered sites list. In 2017, NJ DOT completed installation of a stronger piling to absorb more of the shock from the roadway.  

The Trust grant helped fund the repair and repointing of the foundation and masonry walls, roof replacement, and drainage improvements.