Hardyston Township
Sussex County, New Jersey

Hamlets by region:

East Hardyston  --  Snufftown,Willistine (no longer exists), Windham and Canistear; lakes (Beaver, Girard, Stockholm, Tamarack, Summit and Deer Trail)

West Hardyston  --  North Church, Big Springs, Harmonyvale, Hopkins Corner, Beaver Run and Monroe. 

North Hardyston  --  Rudeville, Hardistonville, Scenic Lakes. 

Outstanding Early Families by hamlet:

Franklin Furnace  --  Ames, Fowler, Munson and Rorick; Greer's gristmill. 

Hamburg  --  Haines, Lawrence and Wallings;

Hardyston  --  Beardslee, Cary, Ford, Margarum, Seward and Strait;  John O. Ford developed Windham Forge and Stockholm Forge.  The Fords supplied land for the Methodist church.

west Hardyston  --  cattle and sheep farming done by families Beardslee, Edsall, Monell, Scott, Simmons, Simpson and Rude.  The Beardslee's Mill was located on White Pond Brook. 

Ogdensburg  --  Ogden

1753  --  Sussex County created from Morris County. 

c. 1760  --  end of the French and Indian War. 

early 1760s  --  a fort built on Holland Mountain near the present Rock Oak Lodge.   

1761-1763  -- Josiah Hardy, governor of New Jersey.

1762  -- Hardyston Township was set off from New Town and named in honor of Governor Josiah Hardy. At the time Hardyston Township included all of Vernon, Sparta, Ogdensburg, Franklin, and Hamburg. 

late 1760s  --  growing discontent with the British. 

prior to 1767  --  Col. John Seward, later known as "the Terror of the Tories," settled in Hardyston.  He was the grandfather of William Henry Seward, the U.S. secretary of state under Lincoln. 

1772  --  Vernon created.

Revolutionary War (1775-1782)  -- Col. John Seward helped drive the Tories out of the Snufftown Mountain. 

1790  --  after he left his holdings in Franklin Furnace, John O. Ford built the Windham Forge on the Pequannock River near the border of Sussex and Passaic Counties.    There were also forges in Franklin Furnace, Sharpsboro, Sodom and Sparta. 

mid-1800s  --  David Strait was a wheelwright for settlers heading west. 

earliest known tavern  --  located on the northeast corner of the Route 23-94 crossroads.  It was later replaced by a tavern and lodging in Smith's Hamburg Hotel. 

Alexander Hamilton built the Height's House on the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike near a tollhouse above Silver Lake in the Hamburg Mountains.

1804  --  a stagecoach road was built over the mountain to Hamburg. 

1815  --  the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Sunday school was probably organized at this time. 

1820s  --  people were leaving the area because of hard times.  Many settled around Columbus, Ohio. 

1825  --  George Walther emigrated from Wurtenburg, Germany; he later became a well-known tanner.  George Walther married Phoebe, the daughter of David Strait, a wheelwright at Windham Forge.

1826  --   the construction of the Stockholm Methodist Church was completed (considered the oldest building in Stockholm).   

1845  -- Sparta created.

c. 1860  --  in Stockholm, the Edsall Hotel was known around this time as the Hotel I.  There was the Hiram Utter Hotel (a large boarding house and hotel) close to the train station. 

1860s  -- the Kinkaid Hotel was known at this time as the Snufftown Hotel. 

1870  --  Arrival of the Midland Railroad.  Many cremeries established themselves near the railroads.  The lakes region of Hardyston Township made use of their water resoruce in the ice-harvesting business.  The trip from Stockholm station to Beaver Lake was two miles. 

arrival of the railroad summer vacationers started visiting several large hotels in Snufftown (name changed to Stockholm). The Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike was the main Street in Snufftown.

the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad  succeeded the Midland Railroad. 

late 1800s  --  the Kinkaid Hotel was the most prestigious place in Snufftown.  

1872  --  William S. Longstreet opened up Brown's general merchandise store located near the Methodist church in Stockholm.   

1887  --  in Stockholm, George Walther, who took over the tannery on the upper part of the Pequannock River from Joseph Fleming, died.

c. 1888  --  the two-room grammar Stockholm Schoolhouse built. 

late 1890s  --  the city of Newark bought up much of the land around Stockholm and its population dropped precipitously.

c. 1902  -- there were 9 hamlets with schools in greater Hardyston Township: Franklin, Hamburg, Monroe, Holland, North Church, Hardystonville, Rudeville, Willistine and Stockholm. 

1903  --  the city of Newark purchased the property of the Booth Brothers Knife Works on the Pequannock River (about one-half mile south of the Stockholm railroad station at the intersection of Route 23 and Canistear Road).  The factory moved to Deckertown (Sussex). 

1905  --  a group interested in having a summer cottage purchased Beaver Lake.

before 1910  -- Denton W. Clark provided transportation to the Stockholm railroad station via a horse-drawn carriage. After 1910 Mr. Clark used an open-air bus.

1913  -- Franklin created.

1914  --  Ogdensburg set off from Sparta.

1918  --  in Snufftown, the general store owned by the Lewis family burned down.  George and Anna Lewis then opened the Lewis Hillside Villa. It was later known as Jorgensen's and then Victoria's.

1920  --  Hamburg created.

c. 1926  --  investors from Butler developed Lake Stockholm.  Later hotel owner Edward Kinkaid developed Lake Tamarack after purchasing the area from the Hudson Terminal Ice Company.  An eating place known as the Tamarack Corral was located outside of Lake Tamarack on Route 23.

1947  -- the Crane Company bought Summit Lake from an ice company. 

1950s  --  in Stockholm, Arthur Walther and his sister Sarah lived in the old Walther house until this time. 

1952  --  Ken Henderson bought Deer Trail Lakes. 

1956  --  Scenic Lakes was developed. 

Source: 

William R. Truran.  2004.  Images of America: Franklin, Hamburg, Ogdensburg, and Hardyston. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Press.