Know That?
A continuing series where we post a new historic tidbit about Bernardston, now know as Bernards Township. These tidbits are courtesy of The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills, located in the historic Brick Academy in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Do you have a “Know that”? Feel free to post your own.
Did you know?
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#6 – Coming Soon
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#5
1972 – The Hills Development Company and Toll Brothers built New Jersey’s largest residential development at the time: 1,880 units in Bernards Twp. 3,200 in Bedminster (5,100 total), consisting of 610 Mt. Laurel units, single family homes and commercial sites on 1,500 acres over 20 years.
Another Hills tidbit. Did you know that Liberty Ridge, a section of The Hills Development in Basking Ridge and Bedminster, is named in memory of the Revolutionary War patriots who built the nation’s first artillery school on Schley Mountain, known also as the Pluckemin Artillery Encampment, America’s first military academy and forerunner to the West Point Military Academy? IT’S TRUE.
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#4
The Bernards Township famous oak tree has a concrete core. Really.
In 1923, an organization was formed called “the Friends of the Oak Tree” to save the historic 600 year old oak tree in the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Churchyard in the center of Basking Ridge. The tree had a threatening disease and there was consideration to tear down the tree that once stood over General Washington while he passed through the township during the revolutionary war.
The Friends worked to clean the tree of its disease, leaving space inside its core for four men to stand in its trunk. Three tons of concrete were poured into the cavity where the disease was carved out. The concrete remains inside the tree today.
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#3
Goltra Drive – Named for James P. Goltra (1792-1871), farmer, judge and builder of the Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church
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#2
1972 – The Hills Development Company and Toll Brothers built New Jersey’s largest residential development at the time: 1,880 units in Bernards Twp. 3,200 in Bedminster (5,100 total), consisting of 610 Mt. Laurel units, single family homes and commercial sites on 1,500 acres over 20 years starting in 1972.
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#1
1760 – May 24 – Witnessed by Francis Bernard Esq, Charters the Township of Bernardston (Bernards Township) 250 years old in 2010 giving the right to choose a constable, oversee the poor, oversee the Highways, and to enjoy the rights, liberties, and immunities.