Milton Historical Society sells former Thomas home

Milton Historical Society has sold the house adjacent to the Lydia Cannon Museum formerly owned by Carol Thomas, a longtime community fixture.

The society, which had planned to turn the building into a meeting space, sold the property at 214 Union St. after deciding the house was too small and would need renovations to bring it up to code, leading to costs the society did not want to take on. 

Historical society board President Marie Mayor said the sale has been finalized and approved by the board, but she did not want to name the buyer because the transaction has not been officially settled. As of May 13, Sussex County tax records show the property is still owned by the historical society. Mayor said a deal was struck one day after the society put the house on the market. 

The home formerly belonged to Thomas, a founder of the Women’s Club of Milton, who died in 2016. The historical society purchased the property in 2017. 

Mayor said the society is revising its strategy to expand services, looking to better utilize the Lydia Cannon Museum space and make better use of the lot next to the museum at the corner of Union Street and Mulberry Street. 

The garden in front of the Thomas home was turned into a pollinator garden, a project of the women’s club and Milton Garden Club, with plantings, supplies and elbow grease provided by more than 160 volunteers. The garden was officially opened in June 2019. Since the home went on the market, the bench, cat and flags from the garden have been removed. 

Mayor said the garden club was allowed to pick plants from the garden to remove and relocate. She said she felt sad for everyone who worked so hard on the garden, but plans have changed. The society has communicated with the buyers about letting the clubs get as many of the plantings as they can. 

Kathryn Greig, a friend of Thomas who spearheaded the pollinator garden project, said, “I am very disappointed that this happened, but with all the misery about the virus it seems like small potatoes. I feel that we were able to spread the word about the importance of the pollinators and how we need to provide plants for them.”

Greig said while disappointed, she has hopes that the plants in the garden will live on. 

“I think it is best that they stay there and hope that the person buying the house will take care of them,” she said.