Built some 25 years before H.B. Smith's arrival in Burlington County , the Greek Revival mansion symbolizes in its buildings and gardens the complexity of its most famous owner.
It was natural that the Native Americans who occupied this part of North America would gravitate to an area with all the natural features of Smithville. They settled on the banks of the Rancocas in this location, which they called Alhumatta. It had everything they needed: The "Ancocas", as they referred to the waterway, which gave them both a ready means of transportation to points downstream, all the way to the Delaware River, and a source of food, as the waterway had an abundance of aquatic life. Birds were attracted to the area, thus providing an additional source of food.
There were woods nearby, for hunting and acquiring material for their daily domestic use. A dry upland area provided the land they needed for their dwellings, and fertle ground abounded for planting food. The indians had not yet discovered the one thing that would lead to their eventual displacement by the colonists: the use of the Rancocas as a source of energy and power during a yet unknown industrial age that began with saw mills and grist mills and grew to factories and foundries.
