History of Vernon Township

Sussex County, New Jersey

mid-1700s  --  McAfee first settled. 

1871  --  the arrival of the railroad in McAfee.  Quarrying and limestone burning developed quickly,.  The limestone was quarried on the Chardavoyne farm in McAfee. 

c. 1880  --  a creamery was built along the recently laid tracks of the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway. 

early 1890s  --  Simpson's Hotel located in McAfee.

1894  -- the creamy along the railway was replaced by another building. 

1906  --  the New Jersey Lime Company was working a massive limestone quarry. 

by World War I  --  the limestone in McAfee was only being quarried for use in the blast furnaces of the Bethlehem Steel Company in Pennsylvania. 

1920s  --  the Simpson's Hotel was owned by L. C. Ruban. 

1930s  --  after a major fire the Hovencamp's Hotel (formerly the Simpson's Hotel) was dramatically altered and called the George Inn.  (It still stands.) 

1965  -- the Great Gorge Ski Area began full operation as the first ski facility in Vernon Township.  There is an almost 1,000 foot drop down Hamburg Mountain here. 

early 1970s  --  completion of Route 80 west to Sussex County opened the county to fast population growth. 

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