=Allaire Village and Park= Allaire Village is a living history museum located within New Jersey's Allaire State Park in Wall Township, New Jersey. Originally established as a site to mine bog iron by a company owned by James Peter Allaire. Allaire Village and its existing buildings are now operated by a non-profit organization - Allaire Village, Inc. Historic interpreters work using period tools and equipment in the blacksmith, tinsmith, and carpentry shops, while the old bakery sells cookies, and general store serves as a museum store. The church building is frequently used for weddings.

=History=

Allaire Village's is the history of a particular geological formation and the man who was drawn to it because of his business needs. In the course of his ownership, James Peter Allaire created a thriving community centered on the bog iron industry, which was just one of his business concerns. Allaire owned a brass foundry in New York City, a stream packet line and various steamships that, together, gave him the resources to control his business from the raw materials to the finished product. The Historic Allaire Village that remains today reflects the ideals of James P, Allaire and of the industrial era that flourished between the end of the War of 1812 and the years just before the Civil War.

The rise and fall of Allaire’s business enterprises encompasses the period from 1822-1855, commonly referred to as the Jacksonian Era, during which began industrialization and mechanization on a large scale, and the rise of urban and rural industrial communities, reform movements such as temperance, anti-slavery, free churches and free schools. Through Allaire’s constant search for financing and capital the difficult economic times can be felt, particularly the Panic of 1837, the first economic depression to disrupt this nation’s economy.

Although the restoration of the Village is not yet complete, the buildings that remain, the interpretive programs based on a multitude of available primary records, and even the landscape make Allaire Village a rare resource. Through them, visitors are able to experience and better understand the forces that shaped New Jersey’s industrial power in the early 19th century.

During the War of 1812, an embargo on British products and goods caused businessmen like Allaire much difficulty in perocuring the resources needed for America’s fledgling industrial base. For Allaire, the embargo created a scarcity of iron stock necessary for his manufacturing operations and led him to look at acquiring a satisfactory means of assuring a steady, inexpensive supply of raw materials. What initially interested Allaire in the property now know as Historic Allaire Village was the presence of significant quantities of bog iron ore. This bog ore, so called because of its formation in marshes and swampy areas, was a valuable resource in America before the discovery of vast ore deposits in the mountains of Northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Unlike the latter ore, bog ore is easily accessible and requires no deep shaft of trip mining to get it. More significantly, bog ore is a renewable resource when minded and utilized with care. It is produced when rain water leaches out humic and tannic acids and carbon dioxide, which is produced as a part of the natural life-cycle of microorganisms in the soikl. Part of this leachate consists of iron particles from deeper in the soil. As the water passes through these areas of loamy soil, also called marl, it deposits a solution of iron carbonate which rises up to the surface. His iron carbonate then combines with the surface soil and, over time, hardens into a solid mass. This process only takes about 25 to 35 years, making it an ideal, almost perpetual resource for industry but only if reated with respect. If the ore bed is left undeveloped and unpolluted, the beds can be minded indefinitely. Farther south in New Jersey. The operators of furnaces were forced to purchase ore from Staten Island, New York, because the ore beds had been over-mined.

As his business grew and production increased, so did Allaire's need for raw materials which, in his case, was primarily iron. At the time, the United Kingdom was the largest manufacturer and exporter of iron in the world, but, as a result of the war of 1812, high ad velum tariffs had been placed on the British commodity. At one point these import tariffs reached the astounding figure of 130 percent. Allaire was forced to find a more economical means of securing the raw materials he so desperately needed.

In 1822 Allaire's long time friend and business associate Benjamin B. Howell wrote to him about a small forge on the upper fringes of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Howell had been leasing the property form its owner, William Newbold, where he operated the Monmouth Furnace. Howell wrote Allaire, "The furnace, as you know, is situated in a pleasant and good country.and I think this country wants only to be known to render it a place of much greater moment.As a situation for a furnace it possesses many great advantages."

Upon the advice of his friend Allaire purchased the property from Newbold on 27 April 1822 for a cost of $19,000. Unfortunately Allaire was unable to raise the necessary capital quickly enough to meet the terms of his purchase agreement. Newbold subsequently sued Allaire in the New Jersey Supreme Court for Breech of Covenant. This would be the first of many legal battles into which Allaire would enter during his ownership of the property. With the contract satisfied, his legal difficulties behind him and the transfer of ownership complete, Allaire took full possession of the property by early 1823. Over the next few years, Allaire would make many improvements to the site, repairing existing buildings and constructing new ones. The isolation of the site also forced him to consider the development of a self sufficient community, one that would eventually include a blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, bakery and grist mill, a boarding house, larger homes for workers and their families, mills and factories, a school and church and a general store.

Immediately after purchasing the Howell Works site, Allaire spent much of his time there working on development plans; however, the needs of his Allaire Works would summon him back to New York. Once back in the city, he shifted his attentions to the business of marine engine manufacturing and only went to the Howell Works as business required, hiring a fulltime general manager to oversee the operations in New Jersey. It is unsure exactly when Allaire relocated his family to the Howell Works property, installing them in the largest house on the property, and some evidence indicates it may have been as early as 1824. However, we do know by 1834 the Allaire family had relocated form their Cherry Street home to the Monmouth County property. At the time of the move, Allaire's wife's health was increasingly deteriorating. Also at this time a devastating a cholera outbreak was sweeping the world and, between 1832 and 1833, New York was hit. The hardest hit area of the city was the Lower east Side where the Allaire family lived. This provided the impetus for Allaire to remove his family to the more healthful climate of South Eastern Monmouth County.

With operations in full swing at the Howell Works furnace, Allaire found himself with the need for a constant flow of supplies and products in and out of the small Village he had created so he set out to improve transportation between his new property and the New York City works, as well as to the markets directly. He leased land at the Eatontown Dock, now known as Oceanport, on the Navesink River, to build a carriage shed. From here he could store and lade farm goods, pig iron and cast iron wares onto vessels under his own control for delivery to New York. On the return trip, the ships would bring whatever supplies were needed by the Howell Works, the surrounding community and the Allaire family. In time, Allaire's seaboard holdings would include enlarged warehouse and wharfage facilities at Eatontown Dock and similar facilities in Red Bank. Allaire is even credited with running the first regularly scheduled steam packet passenger service between Red Bank and New York. Early plans to build a small railroad to one of these facilities never materialized, however, due to a chronic lack of liquid capital that would plague Allaire's business empire for years to come.

While [James Peter Allaire is often overlooked by the history books, his legacy lives on. From his founding of the first free public fire company in Manhattan, to his dedication to providing free and equal education to the masses, to his introduction of the first apartment buildings to the United States, to his advancements in marine navigation and travel, which would change the world forever, Allaire's contributions to humanity can not be overlooked. Therefore, it is the goal and purpose of Allaire Village, Inc. to educate the visitors to the Historic Village, which bears his name, on the life and times of Allaire, the Allaire Works Company and the Howell Works Company.