Next Stop Basking Ridge:  A Short History of the Basking Ridge Train Station

Original Basking Ridge Station and Freight House. Photo by William H. Broadwell.

Rail service came to Basking Ridge in 1872 when the New Jersey West Line railroad (now NJ Transit) was extended from Summit, NJ.  Back then, the line ended at Bernardsville and Basking Ridge was the next to last stop. 

The arrival of trains soon triggered a development boom on the northern side of the village.  The Conkling Lumber and Coal yard was located on Ridge Street alongside the railroad siding shown on the map.  Later, the blacksmith shop of David Y. Moore (1872-1957) opened down the hill at the corner of North Finley and Dayton St.

1873 Beers Atlas of Somerset County

In the 1890s, a failed development plan west of the station created a multitude of small “picnic lots” which were marketed to city folks who in theory could make use of the railroad to access their land for holiday picnics (See article on Sixth Street). 

The Fire

On April 4, 1911, a fire broke out in the Express room of the station.  The Basking Ridge Fire Department responded with a hose wagon pulled by the horse of Leport F. Dunster (1886-1939). The building, however, burned to the ground except for part of the platform.[1]  The station was soon replaced by the present stucco building, designed in a Spanish colonial style.  A new parking lot was added in the 1960s at the north end of Depot Place.

Basking Ridge 9/11 Monument

9/11

On September 11, 2001, many Basking Ridge commuters left for work and never returned, dying in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.  Their cars sat uncollected that night at the station.  Bernards Township subsequently erected a monument in their memory at the Basking Ridge station.

Superstorm Sandy

In November 2012, the Basking Ridge station played an important part in the area’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy.  Power trucks and their crews from across the country assembled in the parking lot as they worked to restore power to the area.

Pike Electric trucks from North Carolina after Superstorm Sandy
Basking Ridge Station 2025

Interestingly, the present Basking Ridge station was omitted from the National Register of Historic Places when many other Gladstone branch stations (including the newer 1930 Lyons Station) were placed on the list in 1984.

See more on the station at the THSSH Online Collections.

[1] “Basking Ridge R.R. Station Burned,” Bernardsville News, Apr. 7, 1911, p. 4.  Mr. Shipman was the station’s agent.