During the 1930s and 40s, Burnt Mills in Bedminster boasted a summer hotel, the Hartfeld House, run by Solomon Hartfeld / Hartfield (1866-1947) and his son Isadore (1890-1976), Jewish immigrants from Austria. The hotel was built on the old Paulison farm along the North Branch of the Raritan River, above the current Burnt Mills Road bridge.
Hartfeld House made headlines in 1931 when an unidentified worker, who had been recently hired, was found dead there from alcoholism.
The hotel closed in the 1940s but became the first home of the Matheny School in 1946. The school moved to Far Hills in 1949 and then to Peapack.
The old hotel was subsequently torn down and by 1956, only the foundations were visible. Burnt Mills nursery later operated on the site.
