World Fence News

Those who live in historic pres- ervation districts often are required to abide by strict guidelines on fence replacement to maintain the character of the neighborhood. Two homeown- ers in Cape May, N.J., Ron and Becky Inverso, recently found themselves in that situation, and decided to take things to a whole new level by creat- ing a new fence constructed from the actual picket fence that surrounded in- ventor Thomas Edison's Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory in 1876! The achievements that Edison produced at the Menlo Park laborato- ry, located southwest of Newark, are ingrained in American history and the annals of science. They are too nu- merous to detail here, but one of Ed- ison's first major inventions at Menlo Park was the phonograph, followed by the electric light bulb. The task of meticulously restor- ing the materials while paying special attention to maintaining their authen- ticity went to Dennisville Fence Com- pany, a family-owned and -operated residential and commercial firm serv- ing southern New Jersey since 1952. The fence reconstructed by Den- nisville Fence measures 191 lin- eal feet, and is 32" in height. In all, 585 pickets were re-purposed for the fence, one 3' wide single gate and one 8' wide single gate. Forty-six 4x4 treated posts sup- port the fence, and prior to installation they were wrapped with 1" x 6" ce- dar boards in Dennisville's own cedar fabrication facility and painted white. Dennisville Fence Company mar- keting manager Marc Einbinder picks up the story from the historical stand- point: "Our customer met an antique dealer in the Oley, Penn. area who was selling old fence pickets," Ein- binder said. "It turns out that these pickets were originally from Thomas Edison's estate/laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. "The picket fences around the laboratories were to keep cows out, since Menlo Park was located in the country near a neighboring farm. "Eventually the property was abandoned, and the buildings de- teriorated until they began to fall apart one by one. In 1928-29, Henry Ford, who had be- come a close friend of Edison, decided to construct a replica of the Menlo Park complex at Greenfield Village, near Dearborn, Mich. The surplus fencing not used in Dearborn was stored in a barn owned by Dr. Donald Shelley, the executive director of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village," he said. A fence of time and place After over a century, picket fence from Thomas Edison's Menlo Park laboratory now graces Cape May, New Jersey estate Surplus fence pickets from Thomas Edison's Menlo Park, N.J. laboratory were acquired by two Cape May, N.J. homeowners and re-purposed at this beautiful historic residence. A plaque commemorating the project (see photo on page 6) was installed on the fence by the proud owners. (Dennisville Fence Co. photo) "When Dr. Shelley's wife died, Pook and Pook Auctioneers of Down- ington, Penn. took over his antique furniture collection, and a local an- tique dealer bought the Edison pick- ets. The dealer put them up for sale and that's when our customer in Cape May learned of them and bought them. He had them transported back to New Jersey and contacted Dennis- ville Fence to see if we could use them to make a new fence for the prop- erty in Cape May," Einbinder said. "The Edison pickets are pine, and the homeowner had them painted white. The posts are standard pressure treated, but we wrapped them in cedar which was also painted white. The top and bottom rails are cedar and painted white as well," he said. Interestingly, Dennisville Fence president Earle S. Collins IV notes that, at the time, the Inversos already had a contract for a new cedar fence for the property. Then they reached out to see if the fence could be constructed from the historical pickets instead, to which he replied, "Absolutely!" "Honestly the installation went off amazingly," Collins said. "The posts took two days to set and we returned 10 days later to install the sections and the two gates. Due to the profes- sionalism of my brother and company co-owner, Erik Collins, and all of our in-house employees who had a hand in this project, everything came out perfect." Dennisville Fence is no stranger to out-of-the-ordinary projects, and Erik admits that every year the com- pany takes on a half dozen "special" jobs that utilize either very high end or extremely unique materials. "The Cape May project hits close to home with us, as Thomas Edison was an amazing inventor and we re- spect and appreciate that as we con- tinue to invent and patent items that are used nationally by fence pro- fessionals, general contractors and homeowners every day," he said. (For example, Dennisville Fence holds 10 patents and trademarks. Some of their most familiar products resulting from these patents and trademarks are list- ed at the end of this story.) "It was a no brainer to us to try and help Mr. and Mrs. Inverso fulfill their vision. I think it's awesome be- cause it's really cool to be involved with such a nice project using materi- als that are at least 100 years old. "Being able to take part in this project was not only a pleasure, but also very rewarding personally, Dennisville Fence is no stranger to out-of-the-ordinary projects, and Erik admits that every year the company takes on a half dozen "special" jobs that utilize either very high end or extremely unique materials. continued on page 6 JANUARY JANUARY JANUARY 2018 2018 2018 JANUARY 2018 JANUARY JANUARY JANUARY 2018 JANUARY 2018 JANUARY 2018 JANUARY JANUARY JANUARY 2018 JANUARY Celebrating our 34th year of publication • Visit us online at www.worldfencenews.com

• Cover