The February issue of Inside the Brick Academy, THSSH’s official newsletter,  was mailed to members last week.  In addition to the annual report covering 2025, the issue contains new research that’s worth a look.  On Page 5, W. Barry Thomson writes about Elias Boudinot, a founding father, who bought a farm in Basking Ridge (now

The Memoir of Eliza Susan Morton Quincy (1773-1850) includes a vivid description of Basking Ridge, NJ, during the Revolution.  Excerpts from the memoir were published in the Somerset County Historical Society Quarterly (Vol. 1 & 2) in 1912 and 1913.  The Basking Ridge Historical Society reprinted these excerpts in a booklet for the Bernards Township

The Basking Ridge Oak Tree next to the Presbyterian Church was perhaps the most photographed site in New Jersey’s Somerset Hills. Recently, an old image of the tree was discovered in a Basking Ridge Fire Company scrapbook at the THSSH Archives.      The society was not familiar with this image.  It does not appear to

An early photo (c.1906) of the teacher and class from Burnt Mills School in Bedminster Township, NJ. The photographer was Peapack-Gladstone resident, Edythe Lane Van Doren (1885-1974). Burnt Mills school was a one-story school in the hamlet of Burnt Mills near the intersection of Burnt Mills and Cowperthwaite roads. On a map of Somerset County

A stone wall provides a nice place to rest in this early 20th century photo titled “On the Road to Bernardsville.”   The location may be North Finley Avenue on the curve near Fox Hollow Trail.  The direction is looking south toward Basking Ridge.  The stone wall is no longer there and may have been part

This distinctive folding card table features 1950s advertising on top. A square in one corner reads “Property of Peapack-Gladstone Junior Woman’s Club”, which apparently produced the table through Mathers Advertising Card Table Plan, which advertised in another corner (See 1950 advertisement for Mathers card tables below). Local organizations, like the P-G Junior Woman’s Club sold

Merry Christmas from THSSH! This year’s vintage card features an angel with a violin. The note on the reverse dates it to 1907 which corresponds to the divided back to separate the message from the address. The U.S. Post Office authorized divided-back postcards in 1907. The card bears no stamp or postmark and may never

During our continuing digitization efforts, we found this photograph of the Brick Academy in Basking Ridge, NJ, in a Fire Department scrapbook. The building started life in 1809, as the Basking Ridge Classical School and later became a Bernards Township public school. In 1904, it was auctioned off to the Ancient Order of United Workmen

Who knows where this impressive gate is?  Hint:  It still stands on a main road in the Somerset Hills. We’ll post the answer in a few days. ANSWER:  The gate is found on Route 202 in Far Hills.  Going north toward Bernardsville, it is on the right before you get to Lake Rd.  The gate

Bedminster was once a major center for the sport of polo.  The Burnt Mills Polo Club was founded by W. Thorn Kissel (1885-1960) in Far Hills in 1929. Mr. Kissel served several years on the governing board of the United States Polo Association. In 1930 the Burnt Mills Club bought Four Furlong’s farm on Burnt