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
... Learn more
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
... Learn more
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
... Learn more
During the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) reorganized in the South and spread north including to New Jersey. In the Somerset Hills, there were demonstrations and cross burnings reported in Bernardsville, Basking Ridge and Far Hills in 1923. The resurgent Klan opposed new immigration to the country, especially of Italian and Irish Catholics.
... Learn more
In 1902 C. Ledyard Blair, who was then in the process of completing the construction of his Blairsden mansion in what is now Peapack-Gladstone, NJ, proposed changing the name of Peapack to Westminster. Obviously, the suggestion didn’t go anywhere.
... Learn more
We bet many attics in the Somerset Hills still contain “antiques” bought at Manning’s Auction in Peapack, N.J. Robert “Col. Bob” Manning (1926-1994) founded and ran the business (1972-1988), first at the Kay Memorial Building on Willow Avenue and later on Main Street, Peapack. Residents would flock to the auctions on Friday or Saturday night
... Learn more
Peaches became a major cash crop in the Somerset Hills during the late 19th century. Farmers gained new markets with the arrival of the New Jersey West Line Railroad in Bernardsville (1872) and the Rockaway Valley Railroad in Pottersville and Gladstone (1889-90). Railroads were used to ship peaches and other commodities to cities all along
... Learn more
