From Estell family home to veterans museum

A house beside the glassworks story

Atlantic County dates the Daniel Estell House to 1832. The Noyes Museum's Estell tour says Joseph West built it as a wedding gift for his sister Maria and her husband, Daniel Estell, who operated the nearby glassworks. It gives Rebecca Estell Bourgeois Winston as Daniel's granddaughter and the last family resident. A county historic-site listing repeats the gift account but calls Maria's husband “Joseph Estell,” conflicting with the house's name and the Noyes account; the identity has not been checked against a deed here. The county records a Colonial Revival remodeling in the 1920s. A visit can be paired with the glassworks remains in Estell Manor Park, where the family's earlier industrial venture is interpreted on site.

Atlantic County describes Rebecca as Estell Manor's first mayor and the first woman mayor in New Jersey; the Noyes Museum dates her election to 1925. That makes the building a place to ask how a family home became part of civic history, as well as a starting point for the wider glassworks landscape. Atlantic County museum history; Noyes Museum tour.

A second life as a museum

Atlantic County acquired the house in 1993, rehabilitated it, and opened the veterans museum to the public in 2017. The collection draws on artifacts and personal memorabilia donated by Atlantic County veterans and families, covering service from the Revolutionary War to modern conflicts. Thus the visit moves between the history of the building and the accounts preserved inside it. The county renamed the museum for Robert L. Frolow in November 2025. Its announcement identifies him as a Vietnam veteran and the county's first director of Veterans Services. Museum; county renaming announcement.

Plan a combined stop

Use the museum's own public address, 189 State Highway Route 50, Mays Landing, NJ 08330, rather than the nearby park address. Atlantic County locates it about a quarter mile south of the Estell Manor Park and veterans cemetery entrance. Its current visitor page lists Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; check that page or call (609) 909-7305 before setting out. Group tours are by appointment. The house can anchor a short loop with the park's glassworks site and the Bethlehem Loading Company sign tour. Those park stops have their own trails and access guidance.