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    Vernon Township
    Vernon Township
    Vernon Township
    Ebook167 pages1 hour

    Vernon Township

    By Ronald J. Dupont Jr.

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    About this ebook

    Vernon Township, located in the mountains of Sussex County, has grown from a town of farmsteads, mills, railroads, and schoolhouses to one of busy highways, lake communities, mountain resorts, and housing developments. Vernon's evolution from agriculture and industry to subdivisions and recreation, presented here in vivid historical photographs, will fascinate longtime residents, newcomers, and visitors alike. Vernon Township reveals a rare glimpse of the community in its early days.

    From Ice Age mastodons to Colonial taverns to the Playboy Club Hotel, Vernon Township covers the vast sweep of the community's rich and diverse heritage. This tour of Vernon's past includes antique images of homes, farms, stores, taverns, businesses, schools, churches, and industries. Also depicted are the evolution of local transportation from horse to train to automobile, notable past residents, and the growth of recreation from summer camps to fine hotels. Many of the unique historical views, some of which were reproduced from the original glass-plate negatives, have never before been published.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateOct 23, 2002
    ISBN9781439628553
    Vernon Township
    Author

    Ronald J. Dupont Jr.

    A lifelong resident of Vernon Township, Ronald J. Dupont Jr. has researched and written on the region's history for more than twenty years. A past president of the Vernon Township Historical Society, he has written numerous articles on local history, as well as Vernon 200: A Bicentennial History of the Township of Vernon, New Jersey, 1792-1992, the most comprehensive history of the town.

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      Book preview

      Vernon Township - Ronald J. Dupont Jr.

      own.

      INTRODUCTION

      In the autumn of 1792, citizens of the northern part of Hardyston Township submitted a petition to the governor to establish a new town where they lived. Traveling south to Hamburg to conduct town business was time-consuming and inconvenient for them, and the governor and legislature agreed. On November 19, 1792, Vernon Township was born.

      Encompassing everything from rough mountain terrain to fertile, well-watered valleys, our topography defined our history. In the 1700s and 1800s, prosperous farms dotted the valleys, and water-powered mills turned raw materials into finished goods. In the mountains, deep mines produced iron ore for furnaces and forges, and forests were leveled for timber and charcoal. Limestone was quarried in the valleys and was used by farmers and masons. In the little villages that grew up where main roads intersected, stores and taverns tended the local trade. Schools and churches were erected to serve the community. The arrival of the railroad led to new growth in Vernon, with limestone and farm products shipped out and summer visitors shipped in.

      It was the automobile that opened the next chapter in Vernon’s history. Proximity to the great metropolis made Vernon a place for people to escape the sweltering urban streets, providing camps, boardinghouses, small hotels, and summer homes. Better roads prompted development of more than a dozen summer lake communities.

      By the 1930s, recreation was an industry in Vernon, and it has been ever since, particularly with the introduction of ski resorts and hotels in the 1960s. With our proximity to the artistic community of New York City, some of our summer residents have been notable indeed.

      Vernon began as a small town of villages in mountains and valleys. It has grown—sometimes painfully—into a semirural enclave of housing developments, mountain resorts, and open-space preserves. This is the history documented in the photographs that follow.

      More than 40 of the photographs in this volume were taken by one photographer, A.J. (Alvah Jackson) Bloom (1865–1945), a professional who operated out of Andover, and later Hamburg, from the 1890s through the 1930s. Bloom was a prolific and skillful photographer; his images show thoughtful composition, crisp focus, and perfect exposure. Thankfully, many of Bloom’s glass-plate negatives survive and are owned by local historians and collectors. Most of the Bloom prints in this book were produced by Art Jordan of the Antique Photo Store using original negatives from his collection.

      Many of the early postcards in this book were published by two township merchants, Charles T. Mott of Vernon and Frank A. Mingle of McAfee. Both of these men published a series of postcards of their respective villages from c. 1906 to 1907. Their own businesses were, of course, prominently featured, but they also captured views of other businesses, schools, churches, and scenes. S.K. Simon Company published a series of white border postcards c. 1915, and in the 1950s, Bucky McDonnell photographed and published a color series of Vernon and Highland Lakes postcards. We should be grateful to them all for the photographic record they produced.

      For me, these photographs produce contrary impressions. The Vernon Township of old seems impossibly different and as vanished as ancient Rome. Yet so much is still there, with so many of the old buildings, landscapes, and places surviving the tornado of the 20th century. It is so different, yet so much the same. Such a contradiction is probably to be expected of Vernon, where population has grown tenfold in 40 years, yet where there is more protected open space now than ever before.

      Choosing the photographs that appear in this book was an unenviable task. For every photograph selected, there were two more for which there was either no time to borrow or space to print. For every photograph owned by the Vernon Township Historical Society or by collectors, there are untold more sitting in shoe boxes and attics. As such, these photographs are presented merely as highlights of what was readily available, featuring quality over quantity. For omissions of notable pictures and places (and there are many), I apologize to all. I encourage anyone with historical photographs of Vernon to contact the Vernon Township Historical Society, so that our visual heritage can continue to be preserved and shared for future generations.

      One

      HOMES AND FARMS

      ORIGINAL RUSTIC. This Pochuck Mountain log cabin was probably built by Atkinson Park c. 1837, and it stood near the intersection of Glenwood Mountain Road and Parks Lane. Log houses, common in Vernon from c. 1730 to c. 1900, were built first out of frontier expediency and later as inexpensive housing. The Park Log House stood until 1992 when, threatened with demolition, it was studied and dismantled by the Vernon Township Historical Society and Montclair State University. (Courtesy Vernon Township Historical Society.)

      HARDSCRABBLE FARMING. Seen here is a 1930s side view of the Park Log House, illustrating its log construction. Few areas could be less conducive to farming than the rocky summits of Pochuck Mountain. However, by the mid-1800s, many small mountain farms like this one produced hay, livestock, timber, and other agricultural goods. (Courtesy Nancy Krauss.)

      THE YANZER HOMESTEAD (AND BARBERSHOP). Herman Yanzer operated a barbershop on the lower level of his small house on Route 94 opposite Gary’s Vernon Lodge c. 1900. Said to be one of the oldest structures in Vernon village, the structure still stands. (Courtesy the Antique Photo Store.)

      THE HOUSE ON THE HILL. This September 1883 photograph by J. Percy Crayon shows the William Parker farm on Sisco Hill, on the right where Route 515 heads up from Breakneck Road. William D. Parker sold the house to son-in-law Grant Sisco, who was town

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