How Did Montrose Park and Seton Hall-Area Streets Get Named?

John Gorham Vose—for whom Vose Avenue was named—was a New York City lawyer who bought some land off Scotland Road in the late 1800s. He sold most of the land to New Yorkers coming to live near the Mountain House spa in the area that later became known as Montrose Park.

 

More areas were established in Montrose Park by Thomas Kingman—who Kingman Road is named for—in 1891. Kingman envisioned that people coming to live in Montrose Park would have neither interest nor time to build their own homes. Thanks in part to Kingman’s efforts, Montrose Park thrives today.

 

Connecting Montrose Avenue and Berkeley Avenue is Halsey Place, which is named for Henry B. Halsey, who sold lumber and coal materials. Halsey was also a member of the South Orange Field Club and was related to the founder of Southampton in Long Island.

 

Nearby is Turrell Avenue, named for George Turrell, which runs from Seton Hall to Scotland Road. Turrell developed a system by which milk could be bottled and shipped within 20 minutes of milking. He then started a road repair plan that was used by the town and later became Village President.

 

Across Scotland Road from the South Orange Library is Connett Place, which is named for Eugene Connett, who had roughly seven acres of land around Connett Place and the library. His land had so many trees and flowers that people called it a private park, and from 1894 to 1896, he was Village President. He was also a sports author and publisher as well as assistant president at the New Jersey State Highway Commission. He donated some of his land to be used for the library.

 

Located a block away from Grove Park and close to Connett Place is Fielding Court, named for Charles Fielding, who was an active member of the board of the South Orange Methodist Episcopal Church. Self Place, connecting Turrell and Irving avenues, is named for Edward Self, who was Village President from 1888 to 1889. He lived on a farm in close proximity to Seton Hall and supplied the university with dairy products.

 

Speaking of Seton Hall, the university has been educating students for over 150 years ever since it relocated from Madison to South Orange because the latter had more churches. Today, College Place and Seton Place are named for Seton Hall, as is University Court.

 

Near Irvington Avenue is Coudert Place, named for William Coudert, who was the first Village President of South Orange. Nearby, Cameron Road and Cameron Field are named for the Rev. Lewis Cameron, a former clergyman at Saint Andrew’s Church of the Holy Communion. Cameron gave the Village land to make a playground. Today, that land is Cameron Field and is the nerve center of community recreation programs, especially in the summer.