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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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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This picture postcard shows Allen’s Hotel in Liberty Corner, NJ, which, based on the sign, was also known as the Liberty Corner Hotel. The card’s undivided back dates the photo to 1907 or before. The hotel occupied the corner where the Exxon station now stands and faced Valley Road. According to the 1850 Somerset County map
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Additional information has surfaced on Reuben Freeman (1827-1912) who was profiled in the May 2024 THSSH Newsletter (scroll to page 3). Reuben was the free black man, born to slave parents in Liberty Corner, who was required by law to work for William Annin (1790-1872) until he reached age 25 around 1852. After that date,
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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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Many of the early landowners of Bernards Township are shown on the Morgan-Hills map of Somerset County from 1766 (see section below). The surveyors spell the township “Barnards” and in 1766, it still had its original boundaries, which included Bernardsville, Far Hills, and Warren Township. The closeup below displays the northeastern portion of the township.
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An early picture postcard of the railroad trestle between Millington and Lyons addressed to Mrs. John Boyle in Liberty Corner. The card has an undivided back which indicates it was printed before 1907, when the post office allowed a divider to separate a message from the address. Mrs. John Boyle was Lydia Annin Boyle (1827-1907),
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Read about Reuben Freeman, a 19th-century African-American resident of Liberty Corner in the May 2024 issue of Inside the Brick Academy, the THSSH newsletter. Born free of slave parents, Reuben was required by law to serve the Annin family for 25 years. Click the link below and scroll to Page 3 to read full article.
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Class photo from Liberty Corner (NJ) School. The flag appears to have 46 stars, which would date the photo to around 1912, the last year that flag was in use. Hazel Bird (b. 1900) is fourth from the left in the back row (with large bow-tie). At that time, most graduates from Liberty Corner who
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Today’s photo shows Charles Pitman Bird (1856-1933) and his father John Watson Bird (1825-1902) checking out a new carriage around 1901 near Minebrook Road in Liberty Corner, NJ . The carriage was purchased from the Ballantine & Van Fleet Carriage Mfg. Co. of Somerville for $40 (see receipt). Ballantine & Van Fleet operated at 200-210
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