A postcard from 1905 shows the Somerset Inn, located in Bernardsville, NJ. The inn stood on Mendham Road, near Washington Corner Road and became a resort destination for the rich and famous in society after the railroad was extended (1872) to Bernardsville. Many guests liked the area so much that they later built homes of
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Rail service came to Basking Ridge in 1872 when the New Jersey West Line railroad (now NJ Transit) was extended from Summit, NJ. Back then, the line ended at Bernardsville and Basking Ridge was the next to last stop. The arrival of trains soon triggered a development boom on the northern side of the village.
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Parking your carriage on Olcott Square in Bernardsville, NJ, around 1908 was apparently no problem. These two are shown in front of the Westlecraft Block, named for local builder Charles Westlecraft. The site is occupied today by The Coffee Shop, Buona Pizza, and other businesses. The Westlecraft Block was built around 1904 and contained businesses
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Many estates in the Somerset Hills were grander, but few had as colorful a history as Bernardsville’s Stonemere. The mansion was built around 1905 for James E. Hulshizer (1869-1921) of Jersey City, president of the New Jersey Title Guarantee and Trust Company. Hulshizer and his family vacationed at the Somerset Inn on Mendham Road north
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In 1900, a house stood where the tennis/pickleball courts now are on West Oak Street in Basking Ridge, NJ. This vintage photo looks east along West Oak and up the hill toward what is now Brownlee Place. On the 1873 Beers map of Somerset County, the house was shown as the property of Dr. Whitnall
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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
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Lyons became a stop on the New Jersey West Line railroad (now NJ Transit) when the line was extended to Bernardsville in 1872. In 1906, the station was a flag stop, meaning trains stopped only on a signal. In 1910, in the case of William J. Kearns et al. vs. The Lackawanna, the NJ Board
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In 1932, Somerset Hills Airport was dedicated, and a commemorative envelope marked the occasion. Postmarked in Basking Ridge, NJ, it went airmail of course! The airport was located on the east side of South Maple Avenue at the corner of Lord Stirling Road. The facility was built on the former Walter E. Fenner (1885-1965) property.
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