About Vernon
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An Historical
Overview
By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Vernon Historical Society
Vernon Township's destiny has always been shaped by its geography. On the east are rough and rugged Wawayanda and Hamburg Mountains. To the west is Pochuck Mountain and beyond lie the Wallkill River and meadowlands. Between the two lies narrow but fertile Vernon Valley.
This geography is a product of the last ice age when a mile-thick glacier plowed over Vernon. When the glacier retreated, it left behind mountains which were nearly stripped of soil at their summits, but valleys which were well watered and fertile. In this post-glacier environment, herds of mastodons still roamed the hills, browsing on the rich undergrowth. The skeleton of one such mastodon was found in a swamp near Highland Lakes in the 1950's, a young female which had become mired in the swamp and perished around 8000 BC The skeleton can now be seen in the State Museum.
Vernon's first human inhabitants came soon after the mastodons had vanished. Paleo Indians were making our valley their home as early as 6000 BC, as testified by the many spear heads and other artifacts that have been found in the township over the years. The Wallkill River was particular attraction for the Lenape Indians, and an Indian cave and burial ground has been found near its banks. the last Indians left Vernon about 1750, pushed out by increasing settlement by European Americans. Some of the names they gave places- Pochuck, Wawayanda - survive as testament.
The main attraction Vernon had for early settlers was its good soils for farming. Most of our early settlers, like Thomas DeKay who came in 1734, were agriculturist, and farming remained the main business of Vernon for another 200 years. Settlement in Vernon increased after the Revolutionary War, and by the early 1790's folks in the valley got tired of traveling to Hamburg (then called Sharpsbourough) to pay their taxes. (At that time we were still just the northern part of Hardyston.) The State Legislature was petitioned, and on November 19, 1792, a new township was born: Vernon Township.
As the decades rolled on, new things came about in Vernon which promoted growth. the iron ore of Wawayanda Mountain was discovered, and iron mines and processing plants began operating at Canistear, Williamsville, Wawayanda, McAfee, and other places. The first mine was opened in the 1790's and the last one closed in the 1880's; but, for that century, Vernon was definitely an iron town. Since few of the owners of these operations lived in Vernon, and their workmen were poorly paid, the financial wealth these mines produced was not seen in Vernon.
By the early 1800's, turnpikes were being incorporated to improve roads in Vernon. The Vernon Turnpike (Rt. 94), Pochuck Turnpike (Rt. 517), and other roads were improved to help farmers and teamsters get their goods to market. It worked; by the mid-1800's, many farmers in Vernon were wealthy men. The small frontier houses of their forefathers were replaced by fine, large farmhouses with many rooms and ornate detail. Some of these historical landmarks survive today; sadly others have been demolished.
The Civil War found Vernon in an era of prosperity brought on by agriculture and iron industry. At that time, Vernonites were predominately Democrats, and in the Presidential election of 1880, Abraham Lincoln lost Vernon Township by a margin of 6:1. Even so, Vernon mustered troops to serve the Union, and a Regiment led by Capt. Daniel Bailey of Glenwood fought battles in Kentucky and elsewhere.
In 1872 the railroad came to McAfee. This was a boon to dairy farming, and also to the limestone industry. Huge limestone quarries were opened in McAfee, which operated until the 1920's. In 1882 the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad came all the way up the Vernon Valley. By now traditional farming, mainly raising grains and livestock, was on the wane in New Jersey. The railroad made it possible for Vernon farmers to continue the shift towards profitable perishable commodities such as fresh fruits and dairy products. These are produced in Vernon to this day.
The early 20th century found Vernon Township less populous than at any time since the Colonial period. The iron industry was dead and the acquisition by the City of Newark of huge tracts of land for the Pequannok Watershed likewise led to a decline in population. This decline was soon to change: the automobile was becoming common and improved roads and bridges made it possible for the urbanites to drive up to the country in only a few hours. The first summer lake community in Vernon, Lake Wallkill, was started in the 1920's. Others soon followed including Highland Lakes in the 1930's and 1940's, Barry Lakes and Vernon Valley Lake in the 1950's, and still more in the 1960's.
A milestone in the transition of Vernon from an agricultural community to a residential, semi-suburban one was the construction of the Vernon Consolidated School (now Walnut Ridge) in 1958. A modern primary school made Vernon a truly attractive place for a family to settle and buy a house. By the 1960's the boom was under way, fueled by Vernon's good access to the city and suburbs below. Since 1960, the population of Vernon has skyrocketed, from about 3,000 then to over 25,000 and growing today.
Vernon's reputation as a place for recreation was bolstered in the 1960's when plans for ski areas and a resort hotel were unveiled by various investment groups. The recreation industry is an important part of Vernon's economy today and will almost certainly remain so long into the future. Another 1960's development that added to Vernon's recreational reputation was the establishing of Wawayanda State Park, one of the first results of the State Green Acres Program.
Today we face the challenges of balancing continued energetic growth with the competing demands of environmental protection and quality of life. Agriculture, a town business for over 250 years, has been challenged by residential and commercial growth. Even so, with farmland preservation and several farmers orienting themselves to retail farming, it seems agriculture will also be with us for many years.
While it is fairly certain that some of our green spaces will eventually be occupied with more housing and shopping centers, it is doubly certain that Vernon will see the preservation of much of its open space - particularly with the establishment of the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge on the town's western border and the protection of the Appalachian Trail along Vernon's northern border.
This is just a brief sketch of where Vernon has been and a few thoughts on where it may go. For some 8,000 years Vernon has been viewed as a beautiful and desirable place to live by different peoples: as a community our highest and most noble goal is to ensure that it remains just that.
Worship
Congregation |
Contact |
Address |
Phone # |
Time of Worship |
Rev. Nicholas Fontana |
60 Sammis Rd., Vernon |
764-1174 |
Sunday |
|
Glenwood Baptist |
Rev. Robert Ingraham |
1863 Rt. 565 |
764-7681 |
Sunday |
Rev. Andrew Meinen |
72 Breakneck Rd. |
764-6877 |
Sunday |
|
Holy Counselor |
Rev. James Crouthamel |
Sand Hill Road |
827-5251 |
Sunday |
Hope Evangelical |
Rev. Paulo Freire |
1574 Rt. 565 |
875-2221 |
Sunday |
McAfee |
Rev. Anthony Scordato |
87 Rt.94 |
827-3345 |
Sunday |
Our Lady of Fatima |
Msgr. Aloysius Busch |
PO Box 242 |
764-4457 |
Saturday
5 pm |
St. Francis de Sales |
Msgr. John Boland |
PO Box 785 |
827-3248 |
Saturday
5 pm |
St. Thomas |
Rev. Steven Steele |
307 Rt. 94 |
764-7506 |
Sunday |
Temple Shalom |
Rabbi Gerald Catano |
Oak Street |
827-5655 |
Friday
8 pm |
Vernon |
Rev. Pat Westover |
PO Box 345 |
764-3188 |
Sunday |
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