Cragmere Park Landmark Razed
By Jane Vilmar, The Old Station Timetable, October 1980.
By the time this appears in our newsletter, the Education Center that majestically graced the higher elevation at 40 Malcolm Road for so many years will probably have been torn down.
The 3-story structure, one of the landmarks in Cragmere Park, was built about 1914 by the Theusen family. It was a boarding house for many years, and a number of Brooklyn families stayed there during the summer and later moved to the township.
On the grounds back in the early days were a ice house, once part of the Ezra Miller estate; a small pond known as Oweno Lake and a summer house at the edge of the north end of the pond. This was a popular gathering place for many different events, such as firework displays, ice skating and Sunday afternoon tea parties.
In later years, the Theusen brothers, Fred, Chris and George, lived in the cellar of the family homestead.
Eventually the Board of Education purchased the house, and it was renovated in 1957 for the school administrative offices. Last month the school personnel was moved to the Joyce Kilmer School, after it was decided to demolish the house.
Robert Brown, assistant superintendent, recently said “there is no discussion of construction or selling the tract of land at this time. Plans are to grade and seed the land for the time being.”