Sanborn Fire Insurance maps provide a treasure trove of local historical information and may be accessed free on the Library of Congress website. Originally created to allow fire insurance companies to underwrite properties, the maps provide detailed historical views of many cities and towns. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn05418_002/
Olcott Square, Bernardsville, is shown on this 1909 map. There was a L. V. Ludlow meat market there around 1905 and that may be the meat market shown on this map. The buildings were called the Westlecraft block and burned in 1925. Notice the fire hydrant shown by the fountain in the center of the square. A descendant of that hydrant is still there.


Love those maps. There’s so much information there