History of Byram Township

Sussex County, New Jersey

Villages:

Roseville

Stanhope

Waterloo

Geology:

Byram has more than two dozen lakes and ponds and is known as "The Township of Lakes".

1700s  --  Waterloo was known as Andover Forge.

late 1700s  -- school in Waterloo (now gone).

before the Revolutionary War  -- the Byram family, surveyors, settled in the area.

1798  --  after separating from Newton, Byram township established. The township was named in  honor of the Byram Family.  The head of the family at this time was Jephthah Byram (who is buried in Sparta Cemetery).

1798-1957  -- Byram's borders changed six times.

1825 to 1831  -- Morris Canal build.  It went through Waterloo and east toward Stanhope

1834  --  Thomas Gordon said that Andover Forge was located on the north bank of the Musconetcong River at the juncture of Lubbers run.

1842  -- a new school opened in Waterloo.

1848-1849  -- a mule road constructed from Andover Mine to Waterloo.

c. 1850  --  the Sussex Railroad began at Waterloo where it tied in with the Morris canal and the Morris and Essex Railroad. 

1898  --  Hopatcong seceded from Byram Township.

1900  --  the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad leased the 30 acre Frenche's Grove on Cranberry Lake and created an amusement park

1901  --  an even newer school opened in Waterloo. 

1903  --  the Pavilion was a hotel built by the railroad for overnight guests to the amusement park on Cranberry Lake.

1904  --  Stanhope seceded from Byram Township.

c. 1907 photo  --   a view of Waterloo shows the canal basin, tow path, general store, Methodist church, mill and private dwelling, and stage stop.

1907 photo  --  massive piers supported a wooden walkway leading from the train to the new amusement park on Cranberry Lake. The amusement park had a miniature steam engine to pull a small train for passengers. 

1910  --  the hotel was destroyed by fire.  It was not rebuilt. 

1910  --  157-acre Lake Lackawanna was created in Byram out of three farms totaling over 800 acres.  Bungalows quickly popped up in the area that later were converted into year-round abodes.

1964  --  Waterloo Village was opened to the public through the efforts of Percival H.E. Leach and Louis D. Gualandi.

early 1990s  -- the Rutan log cabin in Frankford Township moved to Waterloo Village in Byram Township. 

Sources:

Byram Township Historical Society.  Byram Township.  http://byramtwp.org/upclose/history/Byramhistory.htm

Wayne T. McCabe. 2003. Images of America: Sussex County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Press.