A tambourine that belonged to Chief William Arthur Richardson (1872-1935) of Basking Ridge Fire Company No. 1 is a recent addition to the society’s collections.  Richardson moved to Basking Ridge by 1910 from Pennsylvania where he had been a fireman and had started using the tambourine in parades.  He served as chief in Basking Ridge

Structures like this one used to be common across the Somerset Hills. Does anyone know what it is? This photo is fairly recent—February 1971. We’ll post the answer in a few days. ANSWER:   The building is a wellhouse.  Wellhouses covered wells so no one accidentally fell in.  They also provided a framework for a crank

A postcard from 1905 shows the Somerset Inn, located in Bernardsville, NJ. The inn stood on Mendham Road, near Washington Corner Road and became a resort destination for the rich and famous in society after the railroad was extended (1872) to Bernardsville.  Many guests liked the area so much that they later built homes of

The nooks and crannies at the THSSH archives often hold hidden gems, and this empty envelope addressed to Messrs. Honnell and Bunn is a good example.  Honnell and Bunn were grocers in Bedminster village (then called Lesser Crossroads) as early as 1850.  On the 1850 census, Benjamin R. Honnell (1818-1894) and Martin Bunn (c.1812-1887) were

Before the rise of chain pharmacies, the Somerset Hills had many small drug stores.  Somerset Pharmacy was founded in 1893 in Bernardsville, NJ, by George W. Burns (1865-1934).  The store was located on Olcott Square in the spot occupied until recently by Mediterranean Tile.  The original building burned in the 1960s.  This image of the

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