History of Kinnelon Borough
Morris County, New Jersey
Communities:
the gated Smoke Rise Community a gated community built around the Kinney estate.
the Fayson Lakes Community the still rather secluded community that grew up out of a group of summer bungalows.
Meadtown centered around the former Mead family farm (where now is located the Kinnelon Mall on Route 23).
History:
pre-colonial times the Lenni-Lenape Indians lived in the area, primarily in the Pompton Valley.
1695 Arent Schuyler bought property in what is now Bergen, Passaic and Morris counties.
1700's Arent Schuyler led the first white settlers, mostly Dutch, to the area.
17th & 18th centuries the Meads purchased land in the Meadtown area and the Stickles and Cobbs in the Smoke Rise area.
The Fredericks family bought land from the Cobbs patent and establish a farmhouse and cemetery in Fayson Lakes.
1740 ---Pequannock Township included Kinnelon, Riverdale, Montville, Butler, Lincoln Park and other communities.
early 1700's iron forges and furnaces built. Kinnelon was the home of the Great Charlotteburg (also known as the Charlottesburg) Furnace Tract.
By 1770 one seventh of the world's iron came from this region.
Revolutionary War the iron forges and furnaces produced weaponry for Washingtons army. (The ruins of an iron furnace lies under the water of the Pequannock Reservoir just south of Smoke Rise's North Gate.)
Post-Revolutionary War the iron industry declined and farming became the major industry.
1800's ---- in contrast to the valleys, the hills of the area remained undeveloped and Kinnelon was seen as somewhat backward with poor education, services and roads.
By 1880 there were three schools in the area.
1883 Francis S. Kinney a wealthy manufacturer of Sweet Caporal cigarettes, purchased a lot of land from Hubbard Stickle. Kinney also bought 5000 acres in the Smoke Rise section. Kinney built a four-story house overlooking Lake Kinnelon.
One-third of the people in the area were employed by the Rubber Comb and Jewelry Company, managed by William Kiel, located in Butler.
1887 some notable family names of the age were the Smiths, Millers, Rickers, Deckers and Meads.
early 1900s a lot of manors were built.
World War I (1914-1917)
post-World War I Morris Kinney with his lifelong friend, John Alden Talbot, returned from the service.
1921 Kinnelon saw the growth of a movement to separate from the rest of Pequannock Township because the citizens saw their so-called backwardness as the fault of neglect from the Township. Milton Untemeyer, who owned a large estate on Sawmill Road, and Francis Kinney helped found the town.
1922 Kinnelon Borough incorporated. The first Mayor was Warren Kinney. The community was named for Francis S. Kinney, founder.
1923 a native stone, central two-room school erected on Kiel Avenue to replace the ancient one-room schools in Meadtown and Brook Valley.
1920s -- Kinnelon was a refuge for clandestine distilleries. Here was a speakeasy hideaway in Prohibition times. The 1920s dine-and-dance bungalow with stained glass windows has been transformed into an attractive lakeside pavilion. The speakeasy was located on the old Canty estate and today is the refreshment hall of Silas Condict County Park. It still has its mirrored mahogany bar, band stand, and ice cream parlor.
1927 Frank Fay, Jr. planned a summer community to be called Fayson Lakes. He purchased the old Frederick farm and lake from the Kitchell family. He offered his first log cabin to Colonel Charles A. Lindberg as a promotional gimmick. Lindberg never responded, but the publicity attracted many people to the summer community.
1931 Mr. Fay elected Mayor.
1937 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) completed work on a reservoir for the Borough of Butler on land in Kinnelon east of Kakeout Mountain, flooding an old roadway connecting the two boroughs.
1939 Kinnelon's police department established.
1945 Morris Kinney died; he left his estate to John Talbot. More expensive homes were built in the Smoke Rise Section of Kinnelon.
1949 State Highway Route 23, skirting the boroughs northern border, completed.
1955 a Planning Board created.
1955 the borough's first municipal building constructed. (Located behind the Kiel firehouse.)
1957 the Stonybrook school opened its first wing.
1960 a development plan adopted and new roads and schools built and services improved.
1966 the new municipal building dedicated.
1976 The Borough of Kinnelon Historical Commission established. The Commission recommends to the mayor and council which historic sites should be preserved. It also administers a local museum in the historic L'Ecole House (a.k.a. the Meadtown Schoolhouse) on Kinnelon Road. The museum is open Saturdays from 11 A.M to 3:00 P.M.
Sources:
Lucy Meyer; http://www.kinnelon.com/htm/Community/History/Intro.asp;
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=18731
Rob Seman; A Day in the Life: Northeast Morris County, Tuesday, August 19, 2003. The Daily Record; http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/dayinthelife/northeastmorris/