Many people have asked why post all this history stuff on the area you’re calling the Somerset Hills. Well, call it passion. Call it intrigue. Call it local awareness. I think that the main reason is whenever I asked a question about history in the area, the information wasn’t available. I didn’t want to wait [...]

Did you know that portions of the 2004 film The Stepford Wives were filmed in Bedminster (Lamington), New Jersey? Stepford stars in area to film movie remake Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler perform in Bedminster, sleep at Bernards Hotel The Bernardsville News By SANDY STUART , Staff Writer 07/10/2003 BEDMINSTER TWP. – A picture-perfect barn complex [...]

I visited the Town Hall in mid 2006 and the township administrator gave me two articles that she had on file regarding the Peapack Caverns. I’ve scanned and put the documents into PDF format, but will need to get source information on their date and orgin. There’s very little infomration on these caves, and since [...]

by Brooks Betz Two Events: The Hunt and The Steeplechase What’s in a name? Some call it the Steeplechase, some the Far Hills Race Meeting, and some prefer to call it simply ‘The Hunt‘. Whichever name you choose, you’re all partically correct. While the name is offically called the Far Hills Race Meeting it is [...]

Brief Tidbits of Bernards Township Story: #1 05/11/01 Devil’s Tree More Than Just a Tree Me and my friends were all contemplating going up to Devil’s Tree. I had been up there one time before, and a truly weird thing happened. It was about November or December when I was first told about the Devil [...]

Go Figure – It’s true. Founded back in 1932 and situated on 38 acres in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and glad to know that they have a discounted membership for township residents.It’s called a “naturist community for families and couples” (not a nudist colony). They’re members of the prestegious American Association for Nude Recreation. We’re [...]

Basking Ridge New Jersey’s Most Famous Incident:At about noon time on December 13,1776, General Charles Lee (1731-1782), was alarmed by Major Wilkinson while he was writing a letter to General Gates about George Washington in an upstairs bedroom of the Widow White’s Tavern. Widow White’s Tavern, named after Ebenezer White’s wife Mary Brown White, became [...]

PLUCKEMIN ENCAMPMENT AND AMERICA’S FIRST MILITARY ACADEMY Research Notes: May 2005   Notable References: The Dig, Henry Knox Artillery, Henry Knox had some innovative ideas for improving the artillery. At Pluckemin, he put many of his theories to practice. The camp itself was an impressive site that attracted spectators from miles around. In addition to [...]

The name acquired three different spellings. In those days the people in charge of registering land titles and other legal documents spelled names as they sounded. The Bedminster branch became Mellick, the Tewksbury branch Melick, and a few spelled it Malick. There was a standing joke in the Melick family that the Mellicks had enough [...]