Many estates in the Somerset Hills were grander, but few had as colorful a history as Bernardsville’s Stonemere. The mansion was built around 1905 for James E. Hulshizer (1869-1921) of Jersey City, president of the New Jersey Title Guarantee and Trust Company.  Hulshizer and his family vacationed at the Somerset Inn on Mendham Road north

Basking Ridge lost a treasure when Interstate 287 came through the Somerset Hills.  The Card House, dating to colonial times, stood on the north side of West Oak St., just to the east of Harrison’s Brook.  In the early 1800s it was home to the family of Daniel Henry (1774-1850).   Later occupants were the Card

Construction of the Rockaway Valley Railroad, which crossed the Somerset Hills, concluded in 1892, and the route remained in service until 1914. Predominantly used to transport peaches, the railroad struggled financially from its inception due to the unreliability of peaches and the lack of major city connections. A peach blight actually occurred soon after the

In 1900, a house stood where the tennis/pickleball courts now are on West Oak Street in Basking Ridge, NJ.  This vintage photo looks east along West Oak and up the hill toward what is now Brownlee Place.   On the 1873 Beers map of Somerset County, the house was shown as the property of Dr. Whitnall

Class photo from Liberty Corner (NJ) School.   The flag appears to have 46 stars, which would date the photo to around 1912, the last year that flag was in use.   Hazel Bird (b. 1900) is fourth from the left in the back row (with large bow-tie).  At that time, most graduates from Liberty Corner who

Ledyard and Florence Blair were known for their equestrian skills, but especially for their award-winning talent in driving horse-drawn carriages and road coaches, as evidenced by their memberships in, respectively, New York’s Coaching Club and Ladies-Four-In-Hand Driving Club.  The four Blair daughters were also skilled equestriennes—riding both sidesaddle and astride—and learned at a young age

Charles Engelhard, Jr. (1917-1971) was an American industrialist and resident of the Cragwood Estate in Far Hills. Many writers mention that Engelhard may have been the model for Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger and recount the lavish parties Charles and his wife Jane threw for friends and neighbors. But Engelhard was a successful businessman and expanded the

Today’s photo shows Charles Pitman Bird (1856-1933) and his father John Watson Bird (1825-1902) checking out a new carriage around 1901 near Minebrook Road in Liberty Corner, NJ . The carriage was purchased from the Ballantine & Van Fleet Carriage Mfg. Co. of Somerville for $40 (see receipt). Ballantine & Van Fleet operated at 200-210

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

This old postcard from the Society’s archives tells a great story–more like three stories.  Back in 1906, someone named Mattie (probably Martha E. Boyle Fenner of Peapack) decided to write to her sister Mrs. Philip Koechlein (Floretta Boyle Koechlein, 1877-1966) in Liberty Corner where the Koechlein family later operated a store. Click on the photo