The Historic Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC) is a branch of the Township of Long Hill government created by resolution in 1997 and revised by Ordinance in 2015. Members are appointed by the Mayor and Township Committee for the responsibility of all matters concerning historic preservation and research.
HPAC’s responsibilities include research of any matter of historic significance to the Township, reporting and advising on any matter of historic preservation to the Mayor, Township Committee, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment and any department of local or regional government requesting or requiring input or information.
Hickory Tavern Presentation
In addition, HPAC maintains and updates the Township Historic sites survey.
Historical Artifacts Wanted
The Township of Long Hill is a repository for archive documents and can be accessed through the Town Clerk (908-647-8000 x 201). HPAC, in conjunction with the Town Historian and Archivist, collects and maintains Long Hill Township related historical artifacts and memorabilia. HPAC will preserve the material, acknowledge the contributions and make arrangements for them to be displayed to the public. If anyone is interested in donating items, please contact us at LHTHPAC@outlook.com.
Master Plan Historic Element
A PDF for the 2020 Draft of the Historic Element can be found here (Link for Master Plan Historic Element)
Historic Plaque Program
This program is sponsored by Long Hill Township and administered by the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC). Its purpose is to highlight and let the public know about the township’s rich history, instill a sense of community pride and encourage the preservation of historic resources in our township. To view a listing of current plaques, please see the Historic Site Survey link above.
Plaque Program Information – Marking History
Plaque Application form
Long Hill Township – A Little Piece of Heaven on Earth!
By the Long Hill Twp- Historic Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC)
Long Hill Township has always been a pleasant place to live, to raise a family, and enjoy life. Large portions of the Township are parklands along the meandering and pristine Passaic River and in the beautiful Great Swamp Wildlife Refuse (a national Wilderness Area), of which sections are a Registered National Natural Landmark, the latter two created by Acts of the United States Congress!
The earliest residents were the Lenni-Lenape Indians of the Algonquian Tribe. European settlers came in the early 1700s and in the 1870s the beginnings of what the Township is today with the arrival of the railroad that took residents to and from Newark, Hoboken, and NY City.
Long Hill Township was originally Passaic Township when it was created by the state legislature on March 23, 1866 and it was so named because it shared much of its border with the Passaic River.
Five Communities Comprise Long Hill Township
The Township consists of five communities: Gillette, Homestead Park, Meyersville, Millington, and Stirling. Gillette was named in 1871 by George Howell, the civil engineer who surveyed the right of way for the railroad, Homestead Park was named in 1920 by developer L. Preston Gates, Meyersville is the oldest settlement, settled in the 1600s, Millington was settled in the 1730s, and Stirling was settled in 1740 and was named about 1871 in honor of General William Alexander who was known as Lord Stirling, the Earl of Stirling. He was a Major General in George Washington’s Continental
Incredible Facts about Long Hill Township
Historically a rural area, Long Hill Township has contributed much to nation over the years starting with George Washington’s Revolutionary War General William Alexander.
America’s Father of Botany, John Torrey who loved and lived in Stirling is buried in St. Vincent’s Cemetery at the end of Elm Street. One of his first works was his pioneering book Catalogue of Plants Growing Spontaneously within Thirty Miles of the City of New York (published in 1819). It gained him worldwide fame and acclaim. He was also the first US Assayer in NY City and was one of the original members of the National Academy of Science of the United States, being so named by an Act of the United States Congress in 1863.
The Nobel Physics Prize winner for 1956 was William Bradford Shockley Jr. of Millington who with two other Bell Labs scientists co-invented the transistor. He actually sketched the diagram for the first transistor on his kitchen table in Millington. The transistor is a vital and irreplaceable component in every computer, cell phone, TV, automobile, and in thousands of machines. Without it, they would not exist and our lives would be very different today.
The rough drawings for that first transistor were handed to Robert Mikulyak, a Bell Labs technician who lives Stirling. He actually built it and for more than 50 years had it in his Elm Street garage. When the Smithsonian Institute recently learned the first transistor still existed, they asked him for it and he graciously donated it to them! It is now proudly displayed in Washington DC.
America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, was awarded to Meyersville resident Doctor Lena F. Edwards in 1964 and the highest military honor, the Medal of Honor, was awarded to Jack Jacobs, a Viet Nam war hero residing in Millington.
The world famous Leo the Lion, whose head and roar appear at the beginning of MGM movies, lived at and is buried on the former Phifer’s Animal Farm on Morristown Road, Gillette near the railroad.
The Township had an air strip in the 1920s, which was on Nash’s farm in Millington. A highlight of that air strip was being able to take an exhilarating, death defying ride on weekends with the famous barnstormer Red Rhodes in his old World War I open cock-pit Curtis Jenny bi-plane. The cost was $1 a flight, a lot of money, but to some this adventure of a lifetime was worth it, not to mention the bragging rights.
Bibliography
Long Hill Township history was compiled from files of the Long Hill Township Historical Society and the Long Hill Township Public Library.
Current Members:
Fred Hunt, Chairman
Denise Murphy, Vice Chairman
Lori Rozmerski, Secretary
George Armenti
Sharon Armenti Cerchiaro
Carol Prasa
Frank Reilly
Fred W. Schaan
Jocelyn Spelker
Scott Lavender, TC Liaison
Advisors:
Sam Cornish, Town Historian
Phoebe Sharp, Archivist
Other Historic Resources
Long Hill Historical Society www.longhillhistory.org
Bernardsville Public Library www.bernardsvillelibrary.org 908-766-0118
The Brick Academy www.somersethillshistoricalsociety.org/the-brick-academy 908-221-1770
Chatham Historical Society www.chathamnjhistoricalsociety.org 973-635-4911
Morristown and Morris Township Library www.mmtlibrary.org 973-538-6161
Morris County Archives www.morriscountynj.gov
Morris County Heritage Commission www.morriscountynj.gov/Departments/Heritage-Commission 973-829-8117
Drew University Library www.drew.edu/library 973-408-3189
New Jersey Historic Preservation Trust www.nj.gov/dca/njht 609-984-0473
Garden State Preservation Trust www.nj.gov/gspt 609-984-4600
New Jersey State Library www.njstatelib.org 609-278-2640
