Documents

Physical Collections

The collections listed below are housed at the Brick Academy.  The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills (THSSH) continues to add to its document collection.  If you would like to see our collections, please Contact Us to make arrangements.

  • Maps & Surveys
  • Images: Photos, Postcards, Slides
  • Scrapbooks
  • Books: Yearbooks, Ledgers, Minute Books, out of print books
  • Subject Files
  • Property Files
  • Local Family/Genealogy Files
  • Historical Society Files
  • Ephemera (paper artifacts)
  • Framed items
  • Oral histories
  • Special collections

Books

Original 1888 Brick Academy Student’s School Books Come Home

Donated to THSSH by Michael Scheuereman, the great, great, great grandson of William Scheuereman, a Basking Ridge resident and Brick Academy student, two antique books by D. Appleton and Company of New York, printed 1888, came home to the Brick Academy!  Take a step back in time and come see these great pieces of our local history.

Publications

Walking Tour of Basking Ridge

A great way to see some of the most noted historical sites in and around the downtown Basking Ridge area.

Published 2004

Click below to view or download this booklet.



Somerset County
Historic Sites & Districts (2009)

A fantastic 59 page book including sketch drawings, town by town listings, and stories about all of the state and nationally registered historical assets in Somerset County, New Jersey.

Click below to view or download this booklet.



The History of the Presbyterian Church

The Presbyterian Church, Basking Ridge, NJ – A History 1717-1968
by Dorothy Loa McFadden, Mildred Van Dyke and Eileen Luz Johnston

Click below to view or download this booklet.



Cemetery Records from the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church

Stories of Some Interesting People Buried in the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Cemetery by George Fricke

Click below to view or download this booklet.


Documents

The History of Bernards Township Street Names

Ever wonder why a street is named the way it is? Learn about the history of almost every street name in Bernards Township.

Click below to view or download this document.



A Town In Transition – Basking Ridge in 1940

In 2005, the Historical Society of the Somerset Hills was given a manuscript written by Basking Ridge resident Janet Carswell in 1940 when she was a college student.

Not only does the paper contains charming descriptions and views of the town as it was at that time, it also includes some fascinating analysis about the population by Ms. Carswell, along with some humorous vignettes.

The images are especially interesting, for they provide a visual snapshot of the village when it was just on the cusp of a period of unprecedented growth.

Stop by the historic Brick Academy to read this remarkable paper.

Bernardsville History

Historical Timeline 1723-1951

Click below to view or download this document.



Kate Macy Ladd (Natirar)

Reproduced Brochure- Includes history, photographs and descriptions of the services and estate grounds.

Also, see what Somerset County is proposing as a master plan to preserve Natirar and the new Somerset County Park proposal.

Click below to view or download this booklet. (20 pages).



Natirar Master Plan

Also, see what Somerset County is proposing as a master plan to preserve Natirar and the new Somerset County Park proposal.

Click Here to view or download this document.

Natirar Building Survey.

Click Here to view or download this document.

Olcott Avenue District History

Olcott Avenue is named after Frederick Pepoon Olcott (1841-1909), a Bernardsville mountain colony resident who was president of the Central Trust Company in New York which later was merged with JP Morgan. Olcott owned a Bernardsville estate which included the area including the Somerset Hills Country Club.


View or download the complete Olcott Ave Historic Nomination Report


View or download the photographs/map/historic photos file (46mb)

1872 Schoolhouse rules and Punishments

One of our favorite documents of punishments for both Teachers and Students back in the 1890s. For purchase at the THSSH bookstore.

Videos

Cemetery Walk through – 2012

https://www.youtube.com/embed/N7ZRYlBgVcEThirty five Revolutionary War Soldiers are buried in this cemetery:

Benjamin Alward
John Ayres
Nathaniel Ayres
John Baird
George Bockoven
John Boylan
John Brees Sr.
John Brees Jr.
Stephen Brees

John Carle
Jonas Carle
Hugh Colwell
Daniel Doty
William Doughty
James Finley
John Hall
Samuel Johnson
Alexander Kirkpatrick

David Kirkpatrick
James Kirkpatrick
Edward Lewis
Thomas Logan
Gavin McCoy
Jonathan Miller
John Parker
Samuel Reynolds
Israel Rickey

Thomas Riggs
Peter Sharpenstine
David Simpson
Henry Southard
James Thompson
Jonathan Whitaker Sr.
Jonathan Whitaker Jr.
Stafford Wilson

Maps

Map – Basking Ridge Village – 1873

From the Atlas of Somerset County, New Jersey, published by Beers, Comstock & Cline, 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1873.

Map – Bedminster Township 1873

From the Atlas of Somerset County, New Jersey, published by Beers, Comstock & Cline, 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1873.

Map – Bullions Tavern aka Liberty Corner 1781

Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Map – Bullions Tavern aka Liberty Corner 1781

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

From the Volume set “The American Campaigns of Rochambeau’s Army 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783. Translated and Edited by Howard Rice and Anne Brown, Princeton University Press, Brown University Press, 1927

Map – Bullions Tavern aka Liberty Corner 1781

From the Volume set “The American Campaigns of Rochambeau’s Army 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783. Translated and Edited by Howard Rice and Anne Brown, Princeton University Press, Brown University Press, 1927

Map – Liberty Corner Village 1873

From the Atlas of Somerset County, New Jersey, published by Beers, Comstock & Cline, 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1873.

Map – Bernardsville & Madisonville 1873

From the Atlas of Somerset County, New Jersey, published by Beers, Comstock & Cline, 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1873.

Map – Bedminster’s Lesser Cross Road 1873

Bedminster 1873
From the Atlas of Somerset County, New Jersey, published by Beers, Comstock & Cline, 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1873.

Map – Pleasant Valley c.1880

(W. Millington/Millington/Lyons-Bernards Township) what looks like the junction of Valley Road and Stonehouse Roads today (see Baptist Church icon)

Map – Greater Bernards Township c.1875

From the Atlas of Somerset County, New Jersey, published by Beers, Comstock & Cline, 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1873.

Map – Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church Graveyard

Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church Graveyard Map – Oak Tree Area
CementeryCemetery Burial Records/ Maps – Presbyterian Church, Basking Ridge
See if you have ancestors from the region. 700+ plot records!
Cemetery Records from the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church

Map – Peapack Village c.1850

Then part of Bedminster.

From the Atlas of Somerset County, New Jersey, published by Beers, Comstock & Cline, 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1873.

Map – Thortons of the East West Jersey Region c.1700

John Thornton’s massive atlas of maritime charts covering the entire nautical world. On this copper-engraved early English nautical chart includes soundings in New York harbor, Delaware Bay, and off shore. The diagonal lines are early colonial boundaries. The beautiful hand-colored outline and wash coloring is original.

North and South New Jersey (or East and West Jersey in colonial times) have always differed in some respect—geographically, politically. The northern areas were settled by the Dutch, and had a commercial focus strongly oriented toward the New York City market. The southern part of the state was settled by Swedes along the Delaware, and was a more rural farm-based economy linked to Philadelphia markets. The Dutch eventually took over the Swedish colonies, and those were subsequently taken by the English. The royal province of New Jersey was established by the English in 1702. During the American Revolution, New Jersey was a crossroads of conflict.

Research References

Moguls, Millionaires, Statesmen, Captains of Industry, Financial Giants, Media People, Society Figures, Politicos known about the Somerset Hills Area

From the archives of Inside the Brick Academy –
September 2002 Throughout the year, distinguished residents who live/lived in the Somerset Hills will be listed. Then, as now, the area’s serene beauty and wholesome life style have attracted the rich, famous, and outstanding people. – Click Here

New Jersey Digital Highway

The New Jersey Digital Highway is a statewide portal to the digital collections of the state’s libraries, museums, archives, historical societies and other cultural heritage organizations.  Books, manuscripts, newspapers, and other print materials,  photographs, audio/video media, maps, and images of three-dimensional objects are all included. New Jersey Digital Highway is hosted by the Rutgers University Libraries on behalf of the participating cultural heritage organizations. Click below to access THSSH’s digital collection.

AT & T – A Crack in the Bedrock

NY Times January 14, 1996 – Part of the Downsizing of America Series and what it meant to Basking Ridge and the rest of the Somerset Hills – Click Here

The New York Times

“Thinking of Living in” Series

Wikipedia

Local Historical Societies

 

libraries

Municipal Websites (Official)

Copyright and Reproduction/Use Policy

THSSH seeks to promote education and appreciation for the value of historical documents and materials through public use of its collections, including images, manuscripts, maps, ephemera, etc. Access to the archives is provided to all researchers on an equal basis. Reproduction and use of items from our collections is subject to the following general guidelines and to the U.S. Copyright Law, which governs the use of copyrights material. Allowing the use of materials or supplying a “fair use” copy is not an authorization to publish. Learn more.