Howell Works - Later History

Later History

In 1850, James Allaire was forced out of the management of the Allaire Iron Works in New York by his erstwhile business partners, and retired with his second wife Calicia and their only son Hal to the former Howell Works property. After Allaire's death in 1858, ownership of the property passed first to his wife and later to their son Hal.

Hal Allaire lived as something of a recluse, leaving the property largely unchanged but lacking the funds to fully maintain it. As the derelict buildings gradually fell into disrepair, locals dubbed the location "Deserted Village".

After Hal Allaire's death in 1901, the property was purchased by W. J. Harrison. Harrison sold it in 1907 to Arthur Brisbane, then the world's wealthiest journalist, for the sum of $68,000. Brisbane leased the Deserted Village to the Monmouth Council of Boy Scouts for twenty years. Following Brisbane's death in 1936, his widow bequeathed the property's 10,000 acres (40 km2) to the State in 1941, in accordance with her late husband's wishes. It thereby became known as Allaire State Park.

In 1957, a group of locals established an organization for the restoration and maintenance of the old Howell Works Company site, which they renamed Allaire Village. The non-profit organization, Allaire Village Inc., runs the historic site in conjunction with the State of New Jersey as a tourist and educational facility.