Finding the "Father of Maplewood" at Durand-Hedden

While Edward Crawford Balch may be described as the "Father of Maplewood," Miriam Wheeland is the matriarch. Maplewood resident Balch is remembered for crafting nearly 200 houses in his hometown. On Sunday, February 21, the Durand-Hedden House opened its doors on a new exhibit focusing on Balch's life and work in Maplewood. Wheeland, his granddaughter, was in attendance.

The next-to-youngest in her family, Wheeland is the eldest surviving granddaughter. "What Grandpa said was it," she recalled with a chuckle, noting that Balch died when she was six years old. Her grandmother, Kate McKinney Balch, died when Wheeland was 12. "Grandma was a saint," she said.

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From about about 1903 until 1921, Balch built family homes on streets such as Jefferson, Ridgewood Terrace and Ridgewood Road, Clinton, Euclid and Claremont. He hoped to attract families to the community who would contribute to its collective well-being. The Durand-Hedden volunteers identified some 160 Balch homes through deed and permit research. They photographed each of them and mounted the pictures by street. Many visitors looked eagerly for their own homes—or houses they have visited.

"I know that house," said Jennifer Rossi, pointing to a colonial on Ridgewood. "And I've been there and there," she added, studying the photos of Euclid Avenue homes.

Balch modeled the citizenship he hoped to see in his fellow residents. Born in Brooklyn in 1858, Balch was the ninth generation of his family in the United States. He attended public schools in Brooklyn before entering the suit business. He married Kate McKinney in 1879, and their first three children were born in New York City. The final two were born in Maplewood, in the family's first home on Mountain Avenue near Ridgewood Road. When the family outgrew their first home, they built a larger home on the corner of Mountain Avenue and Ridgewood Road. His third house, across the street, was home until Balch died in 1934.

The experience of building and selling homes interested Balch, and he continued to do so until World War I shortages of material and labor halted his production. At the same time, he was active in numerous business enterprises, most notably the ownership of Orange Screen Company, at Park Avenue and Main Street in West Orange. 

Balch was very active in the community. For 45 years, he was a member of Morrow Memorial Methodist Church. He was an organizer of the Maplewood Bank, and the Maplewood Tennis Club (now the Country Club) was founded at a meeting in his home. Balch's success and industry made him well-known in the community.

While the Durand-Hedden House showcases Balch's success in real estate, it reflects not only the "Father of Maplewood," but a husband and a father to an actual family. Photos in the collection show Balch's mother, Balch as a baby, and many photos of his children and grandchildren. Wheeland notes that Balch gave each of his children a house in Maplewood, so the family would remain close-knit. She pointed to a photograph of herself, as a bonnet-clad baby in the center of a family group. 

"I'm the only one left," she said. What remains is Balch's vision made reality, family homes filled with dedicated citizens of Maplewood.