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.