Stillwater Township

Sussex County, New Jersey

1741  --  Casper Shafer built the Stillwater gristmill about half a mile from the present mill location.

1764  --  the Stillwater gristmill to its present site.  It operated until 1840. 

1840  -- Stillwater gristmill stopped operation.

1844  -- the present gristmill, powered by water from the Paulinskill, built.  Near the Stillwater Mill is the Casper Shafer stone house. At that time Casper Shafer was only one of the three inhabitants of Stillwater.

Casper's son, Nathan Armstrong Shafer built Whitehall nearer the center of the village.  Whitehall was by the widow of poet Joyce Kilmer.

Stillwater was and still is an agricultural area.  It is also an area was dotted with lime kilns.  There is an intact mill on Millbrook Road a little more than two miles from Stillwater village.

early 1900s  --  Swartswood Lake was a major resort. Weekenders took the train into nearby Blairstown through the 1940s to stay at such places as the North Shore Inn, The Casino and The Dove Island Inn (now a private home). Later, summer cabins became very popular with the weekenders.

c. 1910 photo  --  show the Stillwater creamery.  In later years, Borden's took control of the creamery. 

1920s  --  the Paulinskill River was dammed to create Paulinskill Lake and many summer residences sprang up.  It is now primarily a year-round community.

Today  --  the Presbyterian Church is the most prominent feature in Stillwater village. Opposite the church is the former Stillwater Academy, an old schoolhouse.  The old schoolhouse is now home to the local historical society museum.

Sources:

Jane Dobosh.  Stillwater. http://www.njskylands.com/tnstlwtr.htm

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