by MCHS Staff
June 15, 2026
From its Revolutionary roots to the prominent local families that called it home, Beverwyck Plantation in what is today Parsippany holds a unique place in Morris County’s history. Purchased in 1750 by William Kelly, and known as “Red Barracks” for the red huts occupied by enslaved workers on the property, the land was sold to Lucas van Beverhoudt in the early years of the American Revolution. Soon after, it became the site of balls attended by General Washington, Alexander Hamilton, the Marquis de Lafayette, and General Nathanael Greene. Remaining locally significant, the plantation was sold by van Beverhoudt’s descendants to John Ogden Condit in 1856, beginning the Condit family’s long residency on the property. Following the death of Florence Bates Condit in 1963, the Beverwyck homestead and numerous household items were bequeathed to Morris County Historical Society (MCHS). While the house was destroyed by fire in 1971, preserved photographs, now in MCHS archives, from the 1960s and the household items depicted in them, now in MCHS collections, capture the long and multi-faceted story of Beverwyck Plantation.
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