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
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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
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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
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The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western train wreck of 1894 is largely forgotten today, but claimed at least 14 lives, 4 of which were from the Somerset Hills. The wreck occurred Jan. 15, 1894 at 8:20 am in the Hackensack meadows just west of the tunnels that go under Jersey City toward Hoboken, NJ. Three cars
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Two Erie-Lackawanna trains wait to be put in service in the Gladstone, NJ, rail yard in this undated color photo (left). These 3,000-volt direct current (DC) cars became a fixture on the line which was electrified in 1930. They were replaced with 25,000-volt alternating current (AC) cars in 1984. Below, trains near road crossing.
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If you missed the recent March to Yorktown event at the Brick Academy, all is not lost. The video of the July 6th panel discussion is now available at: Watch as historians Dr. Robb Haberman and Dr. Robert Selig describe the 700-mile trek of over 4,000 French soldiers from Newport, RI, to Yorktown, VA; their
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New to our Online Collections are the local listings from the Somerset County (NJ) Firemen’s Association Directory for 1937. The members and officers from the following Somerset Hills volunteer fire companies have been indexed: –Basking Ridge Fire Company–Bernardsville Fire Company–Union Hook & Ladder Company (now Far Hills-Bedminster Fire Department)–Liberty Corner Fire Company–Peapack Valley Fire Company
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The May 2025 issue of the “Inside the Brick Academy” newsletter was mailed to THSSH members last week and is available online now. Read the full issue at: May 2025 Newsletter The cover announces the upcoming panel discussion on the March to Yorktown hosted at the Brick Academy by THSSH and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route-New
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A prior posting detailed the efforts of the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Somerset Hills to set up an emergency hospital in Bernardsville during the Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19. The full VNA Annual Report for 1919 is now available (click HERE) in the THSSH Online Archives. The report lists hundreds of names, including officers, trustees,
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Happy holidays from The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills (THSSH)! This year’s card was postmarked in Millington, NJ, around 1907 and sent to Madeline Koechlein (c.1905-1991) of Liberty Corner by her Aunt Lizzy. Madeline later ran Koechlein’s grocery store in Liberty Corner with her brother Phil. The card has an undivided back which indicates
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