The town of Basking Ridge has a history that dates back to the early 1700s when Irish and Scottish settlers came to live on 3,000 acres purchased by John Harrison from the Lenni Lenape tribe.
Over the years, the town has grown in size and stature, its continuing evolution reflected by the homes and buildings found in the area. Many of the earliest structures in town are found in the Basking Ridge Historic District, which encompasses parts of North and South Finley Avenue, North and South Maples Avenue, Lewis Craig Street, and Oak Street.
The district was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. It spans a total of 1,517 acres and includes 166 buildings, one structure, and one object.
Here’s a look at five of the most significant buildings in the district.
- Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge
- The Brick Academy
- Lord Stirling Manor Site
- Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church
- Hattie Whitnall house
Located at 1 East Oak Street, the church was built in 1839 to replace the earlier meeting houses where the congregation had worshipped since the early 1700s. The architecture is in the Greek Revival style, featuring a gold leaf dome and a façade with an impressive pediment. At the northwest corner is a 1907 addition designed by New York Stock Exchange architect George B. Post.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, the church is surrounded by the Old Yard cemetery, where around 35 American Revolution soldiers were buried. The cemetery was home to a 600-year-old white oak, presumed to be the oldest white oak tree in North America, which was cut down only in April 2017.
Officially known as the Basking Ridge Classical School, the Brick Academy was built in 1809 on what is now 15 West Oak Street. Before the building’s construction, however, the school had already existed, established in 1764 by local Presbyterian pastor Reverend Dr. Samuel Kennedy at a farmstead outside the town.
The school closed down after Reverend Kennedy’s death in 1787 but was re-opened in 1795 by Reverend Robert Finney. Reverend Finney built the Brick Academy to accommodate the school’s growing student population.
Today the Brick Academy is the headquarters of The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills. It features a museum on the main floor and a genealogical research center on the lower level. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Lord Stirling was the title of American Revolution General William Alexander and his estate east of the village was known as the grandest in the colonies during that time. Today, all that’s left of the property are two brick buildings believed to have been used by domestic servants. The site has become part of the 950-acre Lord Stirling Park and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
This church stands today at 140 South Finley Avenue as a complex that includes a Modern Gothic Revival sanctuary dedicated in 1968, and the original chapel built around 1853. It is the oldest Episcopal Church in the Somerset Hills.
The older chapel was constructed in the simplified Gothic Revival architectural style and features a steeply pitched roof, shingled buttresses, and a gabled entry door.
Found at 134 South Finley Avenue, this house was built in 1895 on what used to be the site of Fehn’s Bake Shop, which burned down earlier in the same year. The area on which the house was built was known as Baker’s Hill because of the bake shop. The house was constructed in the Vernacular style, which is characterized by the use of available local materials and designs by local builders instead of architects.
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