In 1870, Mary (Lewis) Goltra (1832-1896), a recent widow, built the house at 156 South Finley Avenue, Basking Ridge, NJ, perhaps with the assistance of her father-in-law, James P. Goltra. A farmer and local builder, James constructed the Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church in the late 1860s. Eventually, the house was owned by Mary’s daughter, Margaret
... Learn more
Maple Lawn, seen here in a c.1913 postcard, still stands at 30 East Craig Street in Basking Ridge, NJ. It is an impressive Victorian house in the Second Empire style featuring a Mansard roof. Architectural surveys (c.1990s) and John C. Smith’s historical map of Basking Ridge date the house to around 1865. However, the building
... Learn more
Basking Ridge made big-time society news in 1901 when a runaway New York heiress hid out at the Washington House for several days. Helen Bloodgood, age 18, the daughter of William Bloodgood of the American Felt Company disappeared from her 83 Irving Place home in Manhattan on September 19, 1901. The New York World reported
... Learn more
The house at 70 North Finley at the corner of Ridge Street in Basking Ridge has more history than most. The 1873 Beers Atlas of Somerset County shows it belonged to D. A. Minard (Dayton A. Minard), an investor who owned lands near the new Basking Ridge railroad station. The Rev. Peter S. Dagnault, the
... Learn more
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
... Learn more
Millionaires with mansions weren’t the only people who created postcards featuring their homes. Frank and Myra Boppe of Basking Ridge had this colorful one made sometime around 1913. The house was probably built around 1900 and is still standing at 36 North Maple Avenue. The Boppes bought the house and farm which they called “Glenside”
... Learn more
Somerset County (NJ) opened the Lord Stirling Manor archaeological site to the public on Saturday, June 21. William Alexander (1725-1783), known as Lord Stirling, was an American general during the Revolutionary War and owned the large estate in Basking Ridge (along Lord Stirling Road). The county is partnering with Monmouth University and Hunter Research to
... Learn more
This class photo from the Brick Academy in Basking Ridge, NJ, is interesting on several levels. Although faded, the photograph shows students and teachers from the 1890s when the Brick Academy was used as a Bernards Township public school. Today, when students from Bernards Township and Bernardsville visit the building on their class trips, they
... Learn more
A real picture postcard mailed Sept. 10, 1907 shows Spring Vale, the home of David Y. Moore (1872-1957). Moore was Basking Ridge’s last blacksmith and his house still stands at 58 North Finley Avenue, corner of West Craig. Moore’s blacksmith shop stood at the corner of Dayton St. and North Finley, and was razed in
... Learn more
Archive staff recently found this classic photo of old Bernards Township Public Works equipment. An unknown photographer snapped the photo on Sept. 24, 1948, behind the old Maple Avenue School in Basking Ridge, NJ. The small dump truck and Galion roller both bear the lettering “Bernards Township” on their sides. A young boy sits on
... Learn more
