Preserving Bernardsville's History Continues 20 Years Later

BERNARDSVILLE, NJ — It's been 287 years since the Borough of Bernardsville was first settled along the Mine Brook stream in 1736.

Keeping its history alive while educating others, the Bernardsville's Historic Preservation Advisory Committee is continuing its mission 21 years later.

"Founded in 2002, Bernardsville's Historic Preservation Advisory Committee is dedicated to the promotion of historic preservation through planning, outreach, conservation, education, public programs and events," according to bernardsvilleboro.org.

The Borough has a storied history. Did you know that Bernardsville was originally called Vealtown?

"It was one of several small farming and trading hamlets that formed at crossroads and loosely clustered around the slightly larger town of Basking Ridge," according to the Committee's Historic Downtown Walking Tour.

It wasn't until 1872 after the arrival of the railroad that the town began to really grow. Wealthy New Yorkers came to the Borough to purchase land and build their luxurious summer residences.

Those homes required workers to maintain the property and then businesses began to crop up to serve the families visiting.

Then the retail and commercial centers boomed in the 20th century bringing a supermarket, specialty stores and later on banks and restaurants.

Over the years the Committee has worked hard to preserve the borough's history by following up on its ongoing initiatives including:

• Identification of more than 100 historic structures in Bernardsville
• Assisted the 2009 registration of the Olcott Avenue Historic District
• Identified the SHSD Olcott Building roof replacement to be eligible for a $377,000 grant from the Somerset County Historic Preservation Grant Program in 2009
• Prepared a walking tour brochure of the Olcott Avenue Historic District in 2015, available on-line at this website
• Identified Dunster-Squibb Property as a historic resource; supported its purchase by the Borough in 2008. Arranged for nomination of the property to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in 2013.
• HPAC has applied for annual grants since 2010, to the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission, Historic Preservation Grant Program. This effort has raised almost $800,000, towards the rehabilitation of the Dunster-Squibb Property Buildings.
• Helped establish the Friends of Historic Bernardsville Inc., a non-profit 501(C)(3) which is responsible for alternate fund-raising for the Dunster-Squibb Property. A lease of the property is anticipated.
• Assisted with arranging Borough funding for a thematic, multiple property nomination to the NJ and National Register of Historic Places called "Somerset Hills Country Place Era" 1870-1940.
• Prepared a well-attended exhibit in May of 2016, of the Bernardsville downtown district and held at the Bernardsville Library.
• Currently working on development of a Bernardsville Downtown Historic District Walking tour brochure.
• HPAC regularly comments about historic preservation issues on local development applications for the Planning and Zoning Boards.
• HPAC collaborates with the Bernardsville Library History Room and local residents' interest in historical issues.

For more information on the Committee and its members visit bernardsvilleboro.org.

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