The October issue of Inside the Brick Academy is available now and includes a page-one article on the Fenner House in Pluckemin, NJ, where General George Washington is said to have written his report on the Battle of Princeton. The article is the first in a series covering Pluckemin historic houses. For the Bernardsville Centennial,
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The 1766 map of Somerset County, NJ, by Benjamin Morgan and I. Hills shows many of the early landmarks and settlers of Bedminster Township. Bedminster at that time included the Borough of Peapack and Gladstone (created 1912). The surveyors paid close attention to the rivers and mills, which were key transportation and economic features.
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A classic picture postcard of Lamington, Bedminster Township, NJ. The “bird’s eye” view looks north along Cowperthwaite Road. The Lamington Presbyterian Church, founded in 1740 (current church dates to 1826, moved in 1885) can be seen in the distance. On the left, are the steps into Lamington Black Cemetery. Today, a historical monument stands next
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Queen Victoria was crowned Queen of Great Britain on June 28, 1838 and among the thousands of people who turned out was Eli P. Parker of Bedminster, NJ, who paid his own way. This curious story was told by Bedminster historian John A. Powelson (1850-1938) in a 1937 postcard to Basking Ridge historian Nettie Allen.
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Even in the heat of battle, there are moments that unite us as human beings. One such moment occurred on January 5, 1777 in Pluckemin, NJ. British Army Officer Capt. William Leslie, son of a Scottish nobleman, had been mortally wounded by the Continental Army at the Battle of Princeton January 3, 1777. He was
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Bedminster Township was formed in 1749 through a royal charter during the reign of King George II. The original charter is beautifully framed and displayed in the Bedminster town hall thanks to a donation (2019) by Forbes Newspapers (see attached photos). The accompanying writeup says that it is one of only two extant royal charters
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The Lower Mill stood along the Lamington River in what is now Pottersville’s Historic District. The building dated from around 1842 and produced flour till 1915. By the late 20th century, the building was deteriorating and was torn down in 1972. The machinery was saved and used to restore the Cooper Mill in Chester Township.
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Bedminster Book Review: “The Story of an Old Farm” by Andrew D. Mellick is an unassuming title for one of the best history books ever written about New Jersey in colonial and Revolutionary times. The story centers on the farm and modest farmhouse built in 1751 in the heart of Bedminster. Originally published in 1889.
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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
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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
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