Amy Groome 
Discover Nutley, New Jersey’s small-town American history and hidden treasures at The Nutley Museum. Travel back through time and explore the exciting exhibits, local artifacts, and a Nutley artist’s collection. The Nutley Museum and the Nutley Historical Society honorably discloses Nutley’s history with cherished items from near and far, bringing the past back to life through restoration and preservation. Keep reading to learn more about what the Nutley Museum has to offer.
Nutley: A Hidden Gem
If these walls could talk, a wealth of fascinating knowledge would be shared. The Nutley Museum reveals many stories, events, and secrets. As a person who grew up in this wonderful town, I had quite a fun experience discovering my hometown’s past. I urge you to visit the Nutley Museum and I guarantee you that you will be impressed and delighted.
The Nutley Historical Society and Museum, located at 65 Church Street in Nutley, has an incredible collection of historical objects and art that would be of interest to even the longest Essex County resident.
Read More: A Trip to New Jersey’s 2nd Largest Museum: Morris Museum
About the Museum
The Nutley Historical Society is a not-for-profit institution established in 1945. The Museum Director, John Simko, and the President of the Nutley Historical Society, Domenick Tibaldo guided MG through the old schoolhouse building with a tour of the many keepsakes of this happening town. The welcoming space fully addresses the Nutley education needs historically and culturally.
The old schoolhouse building of the museum is a treasure in itself. The land that the museum stands on was donated to the town by Henry Stager in 1853. Henry Stager’s descendant, Eleanor Slomkowski, currently serves on the Board of the Historical Society in the present day. The original wooden structure was burnt down in 1874, and was rebuilt with the strength of brick, and the school stood tall again in 1874-1875. The school served as a place of education until the 1930s. The restored schoolhouse building and museum gallery opened in 1954.
What to Expect
The Ann A. Troy Gallery holds a collection of historical, enchanting, and thought-provoking items. Ask about the Nutley soldier’s prayer book that was kept close to him in his uniform. An actual bullet is encased with the book at the museum: the bullet hit the prayer book, saving this Nutley soldier’s life during the Civil War.
There is also Annie Oakley memorabilia, including a coin shot by Oakley at the Nutley Amateur Circus. A can’t-miss item is the Narwhal’s tusk brought back by a Nutley Mayor who served as renowned explorer Admiral Robert Peary’s astronomer during expeditions to the Arctic at the beginning of the 1900s.
There is also an incredible collection of toys, postcards, glorious original paintings, and photographs of Nutley landscapes, quarries, farm life, and old Nutley mills. There are photographs of Nutleyites of the past, some very fashionable.
The first Nutley indoor phone booth was used in Guthrie’s General Store, and is now part of the Museum’s collection. Guthrie’s was located on Passaic Avenue, later Highfield Lane, and the only place in Nutley where you could have some ice cream and the newest trend at the time, a delicious ice cream soda. Patrick Guthrie was an Assistant Fire Chief for Nutley, who was fascinated with the telephone, and he convinced the township to send a phone line from Newark to Belleville to Nutley.
The Museum also has over 200 historical books and maps about the history of Nutley and New Jersey in the Alice J. Bickers Library.
But not everything in the museum is old. Artworks and photographs by current and past Nutley residents are also on display. The museum is always on the lookout for new items for its collections, so Nutley-ites with fun memorabilia to share can get in touch with the team.
Nutley Museum Happenings
By request, the Nutley Museum is available for school groups, private museum tours, and the first floor can be used for events hosting up to 70 people. You can find more information about the Nutley Museum from the Nutley Historical Society’s website.
The museum is located at 65 Church Street in Nutley, New Jerey.
The Nutley Historical Society and the Nutley Museum accepts historical donations from past and present Nutleyites while some artifacts are purchased.
The museum celebrates contemporary artists of Nutley and is interested in modern-day artwork and photography.
See More: Museums to Visit in North Jersey
Follow @themontclairgirl on Instagram + TikTok for the latest Montclair updates, sign up for our weekly newsletter here that shares everything you missed each week, and check out our events calendar, which has over 100+ events weekly to peruse.
