Alonzo Depue House on Old Mine Road in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Old Mine Road Historical Buildings
The Alonzo Depue House is located on Old Mine Road in the northern section of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on the New Jersey side of the park. Depue, born in 1871, was a prominent citizen of the area who worked as a school teacher for fourteen years and served on the local Board of Education and as the Sandyston Township Treasurer. He also recorded weather data for the U. S. Weather Service every day from 1914 until his death in 1962.
The exact date of the Depue House’s construction is not known. It was originally part of a larger farm that is referred to as the Nyce-Depue Farm. John Nyce purchased land from Isaac Auken in 1810 and from John Loder in 1813, but whether he built the house or if it came with the land purchase is not known. Historians therefore date it to anywhere from the late 1700s to the early 1800s. The house was originally a one-room building that was enlarged by a second addition, but when this work was done is also unknown. Historians attribute the expansion to Nyce, but all that is known for sure is that a house of some size did exist when he died in 1842.
From the front of the house, there is no way to differentiate between the two sections. However, the right section of the house (middle chimney to right chimney) is wider back-to-front than the left section (left chimney to just before the center chimney). There also used to be an entire wooden frame addition on the back, but that is no longer standing.
Rear of the Alonzo Depue House when the wooden extension still existed (Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Nyce-Depue Farm, Old Mine Road, Hainesville, Sussex County, NJ. New Jersey Sussex County Hainesville, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/nj0137/.)
The house and farm remained in the Nyce Family until it was sold to Elisha Depue in 1857. Elisha couldn’t make the mortgage payments, and in the 1870s it was sold at auction to the Trustees for Support of Public Schools of New Jersey. The organization then sold it to Benjamin and George Depue. The house eventually ended up property of George and his wife Mary, and when they died their seven children inherited it, one of whom was Alonzo. The last occupants were Alonzo, who died in 1962, and his sister Lura, who died in 1965. It has been unoccupied since.
Old photo of the Alonzo Depue House (Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Nyce-Depue Farm, Old Mine Road, Hainesville, Sussex County, NJ. New Jersey Sussex County Hainesville, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/nj0137/.)
The Depue Family was the last private owner of the house before the United States government purchased the property in the early 1970s in preparation for a lake that would soon flood the area when the Tocks Island Dam was completed. The project was cancelled in 1975, and the government ended up with hundreds of abandoned buildings on its hands, including the Depue House, all of which became part of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
The Alonzo Depue House is in poor condition and not open to the public.
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Last updated on February 5, 2024
