I learned yesterday that the owners of the old Rake house on Sandbrook-Headquarters Road had taken down the remains of the house after it had been gutted by fire. This is disappointing, as it appeared that there was enough of the old stone walls to incorporate into a new building. Clearly not everyone sees the value in preserving such things. You can see a picture of the house and get the story of the fire here.
Rake
John Rake, originally Johannes Recher, was present in Amwell Township as early as 1760.
Else Rake
Some time ago I wrote a series of articles on the Rake Cemetery in Delaware Township. You can find the first of them here. In the second post (here), I mentioned that both John and Else Rake did not have gravestones in this cemetery, even though they were the first owners of the property. I also speculated that Else Rake, might be buried in the Rockafellar Cemetery in East Amwell. I have since learned that is not the case.
The Rake-Sergeant House
This past month there were several fires in southern Hunterdon County, all of them accidental. One of those fires gutted a house that I had researched many years ago, so I, along with current and past owners, feel somewhat heartbroken that this lovely home has been destroyed. It is located a short distance south of the village of Sand Brook, along the Sand Brook-Headquarters Road.