Community Corner
'Slave House' Uninhabitable After Fire
The 220-year-old home on Claremont Avenue was first Montclair residence to belong to freed slave.
An early-morning fire Sunday significantly damaged a historic landmark in Montclair known as the "Slave House."
The fire at 369 Claremont Ave. broke out just after 6 a.m. Sunday, according to The Montclair Times, which reported the cause as faulty wiring.
The fire spread from the back of the first story to the second story, the report said, leaving the house uninhabitable.
The house was empty when the fire broke out, and a firefighter was taken to the hospital after falling through the floor and was later released, the report said.
The two-story shingle home is referred to as the "Slave House," or the James Howe House, because it was the first house owned in town by a freed slave.
The house was designated a historic landmark by the Montclair Council in 2007.
The town at one time considered relocating the 220-year-old structure to Orange Road next to the house that belonged to Howe's master, Israel Crane, according to an op-ed in The New York Times.
