Summit Historical Society President Patricia Meola gave a 45-minute lecture on the History of Summit from A to Z. President Meola covered topics from Summit’s history, where each letter in the alphabet represents a person or place connected with the city’s history.

Summit Historical Society President Patricia Meola gives a 45-minute lecture on the history of many Summit homes, the residents who lived there, and more.

Early on the morning of June 6, 1780, there was an incredible explosion originating near the wagon trail that ultimately became Morris Turnpike/Rte 124, in Summit. The explosion came from the “Old Sow” cannon, fired by the cannon master, Richard Swain, a member of the New Jersey Militia. It was fired to alert George Washington’s Continental soldiers, bivouacked at Jockey Hollow, in Morristown, that New Jersey was being invaded by about 6,000 British and Hessian troops.

America’s Centennial year of 1876 arrived with the ringing of church bells at midnight, January 1, in the small village of Oxford, New York. People rushed out of bed thinking there must be a terrible fire. A couple of weeks after the patriotic celebrations my grandmother, Kate Hull Bundy, was born to Nathan and Ella Bundy on January 16th.

At the end of Evergreen Road in Summit, NJ, was an impressive sign stating:  
                              The Summit Home For Children       
                                The Chesebrough Foundation

I don't believe it was ever called "The Summit Orphan Asylum" after it was built.  Most of the children living there had at least one parent, as I did when I lived at The Summit Home from January 1943 to January 1947.

The 1741 Carter House is not only the oldest building in town and the headquarters of the Summit Historical Society, it is the city's local history museum and home to a vast archive of research materials available to the public year-round.

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She became know as Summits's " Mother of Recreation," while he was noted New York attorney and football hero during his days at Yale who later prided himself on his civic activism.

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by Patricia E. Meola

A long-time local resident has been honored with the Rocky Marciano award for lifetime achievement by his hometown in Italy.

Aldo Curiale of Whittredge Road, a lifetime member of the Summit Historical Society, grew up in San Bartolomeo in Galdo part of Benevento. He arrived in the U.S. in 1970...

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Georgianna Klingle Holmes was a woman of many interests and ahead of her time.  A philanthropist and artist, she founded the Arthur Home for Destitute Boys (later The Blind Babies Home) on Pine Grove Avenue in memory of her son, Arthur, who died at age eight after being bitten by a rabid dog.  Georgianna was also a prolific writer and poet, writing under the name of George Klinge.

Accounts of Summit's early days rarely fail to mention Nicholas D.C. Moller, who is described as a wealthy New York merchant who moved to town in the 1850s, bought up extensive acreage in West Summit and cut Kent Place Boulevard through his properties. Few other details are provided. Curious to know more about Moller (the house I live in was built by his son Fredrick on land inherited from his father), I delved into the Summit Historical Societies archives, conducted extensive research on-line and sought the guidance of an historian at Mystic Seaport. Through these efforts I was able to to uncover more about Moller and his Family.

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Tucked away in a cramped space in the Summit Fire House on Broad Street is an aging icon of the city's past. Chemical Engine No.1 ,as it is known, became part of the city's lore and tradition when it was purchased in 1927 from the Seagrave Fire Apparatus Company of Columbus Ohio. The new fire truck was officially designated as a 750 gallon combination pumping engine and hose car with water tank. The price was $11,500, according to an official of the Summit Fire Department comparable engines of today are in the $500,00 to $700,00 range.

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In 1909, a Newark firm called the Civic Publicity Co. published a softcover guide to Summit. most likely to be used by real estate agents and builders. The booklet describes the city as "an ideal suburban home town." and features photos of schools houses of worship, hotels, businesses and municipal buildings.

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When it was announced that new office building called thee Claremont Corporate Center would be built on the site of the Risk mansion on the corner of Morris and Springfield avenues a reference was made to the fact that the stone structure would be preserved, noting that it "it was the residence of a prominent physician of the day who was a pillar of early Summit  civic life." Even a cursory look into the history of the  Risk name reveals this is quite an understatement.

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In 1927, Summit's local newspaper - The Summit Herald - called for the formation of an Historical Society.  Two years later, on the evening of Feb 4, 1929, a group of citizens met in the office of Judge Arthur W. Hicks on Beechwood Road and decided to form such a Society.

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Although little know today in her time Marguerite Gabrielle Courtot was regarded as one of the screen's greatest beauties, starring i many of her seventy-three films from 1913-1924.

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Patrick Joseph Kelly (Pat) came into this world on July 31, 1891. He was born in Summit. Pat had three sisters (Katherine, Mary, and Esther) and a brother (Nicholas). Their home was located at 242 Morris Avenue.

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by Robert A. Hagerman

Arther James Cotterell (Art) has played and important role in the history of Summit for the past seventy-none years. As a family man, a teacher, a Summit High School baseball coach and as past president (twice) of the Summit Historical Society, his dedication, his value system and his integrity continues to be felt in the minds of the students and the people who have known and worked with him throughout the years.

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"It is worthwhile to make a deliberate effort to keep up the reading of noteworthy books... In following the written thoughts of his own age, each man's individual life is enriched and deepened... Thinking along with a great thinker brings, as it heritage, a surer poser of thinking for oneself."

The above quote was written by Miss Mabel R. Haines (Summit Librarian 1913-1914) for the Summit Herald in one of her columns of book reviews entitled: "The Library Shelf."

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Perhaps many of you have seen the truck of Thomas W. Fish Landscape Nurseryman Inc. around town of have even had Tom plant flowers, shrubs or tress on your property over the years. He has been in business since 1977. But did you know that the Fish family has had a presence in the Summit area for the past century and a half?

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One of the foremost historic building ins downtown Summit was designed and built in 1893-1894 and is located on the northwest corner of Springfield Avenue and Kent Place Boulevard. Today is houses Winberie's Restaurant & Bar on the street level and the Renaissance Church on the upper level.

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The time is the summer of 1928 and over at Memorial Field in Summit there is a hight school sophomore who is paling for the semi-professional Summit Red Sox of the Lackawanna Baseball League. This young athlete, who is creating quite a bit of interest playing with players who are older and have a great deal more experience some former professionals, is Joe Medwick of Carteret High School.

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While there wasn't an area know as Summit during the American Revolution (Summit was not officially established until 1869) there is an area in present-day Summit which played a very important role in the conclusion of the War For Independence. The action at the area of the present-day Municipal Golf Course was the site of a hoax perpetrated by General George Washington which kept the British commander, General Sir Henry Clinton, headquartered in New Yourk City, fearful of possible moves by Washington.

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Although this winter has not been one for ice skating, years ago when climates were conducive to skating throughout the season Summit was know for a unique ice skating pond called "Deafy Lee's" which was located at the southeast corner of Morris Turnpike and Summit Avenue.

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How many people do you know who have lived in Summit for 97 years since 1909? One choice is G. Morisson Hubbard, Jr. The G. is for George, but Mr. Hubbard is know to most people as simply "Morry"

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Born in Middlesex, England on November 9,1840, John N. May, Sr. could not have envisioned in his early life the influence he would ultimately have in his chosen horticultural industry, nor the fact that he would fulfill his destiny in Summit, New Jersey. The child of an English gardener, he became interested in the art of raising and grafting roses at an early age. His reputation was such that the owner of a large Madison, New Jersey estate hired him from England in 1874 as head gardener. By 1880, Mr. May had entered horticulture on his own, purchasing an eleven acre property on Pine Grove Avenue in Summit, where he established the largest nursery in the city, invented the rose green- house and propagated many new varieties of roses. He became one of the foremost growers of ornamental flowers in the United States and founded a number of industry trade groups still in existence today.

Back in the 1930's, Summit High School athletics enjoyed a period of almost unlimited success, winning championships in football, basketball, and baseball year after year. Throughout this period, two names that were constantly in the newspapers were Arthur "Lefty' Vivian and Robert "Bull" Brydon, as they led the teams to championships every year that they were in high school. Both were all-state baseball players. Both were stars as they played in college. And both were good enough to be signed by major league teams, Vivian by the Yankees, Brydon by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Both went into the Marine Corps in the early stages of World War II and, sadly, both had their careers cut short by the war, Vivian being killed in the South Pacific in 1944, and Brydon suffering serious wounds, also in the Pacific, which kept him from continuing on to Ebbets Field after the war.

If you happen to drop by the Carter House (home of the Summit Historical Society) some Tuesday morning between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon, you will probably run into one of our long time dedicated volunteers and former board members - Shirley Wight Keeney. She is "Miss Knowledgeable" when it comes to the history of Summit, and her volunteer service to the entire community has been outstanding over the years.

On January 21, 1931 Edwin Scott Votey passed away at his home at 64 Prospect Street in Summit. He was 74 years of age and had lived on Prospect since 1910. Before that Votey lived on Tulip Street. Surviving him were his widow Annie, two daughters and a son.
 

As we approach Memorial Day we should take a moment to remember all those from Summit who fought and died for their country. Those who made the ultimate sacrifice numbered a total of 106 in the four major wars that were fought in the twentieth century.