CULTURAL RESOURCES INVENTORY MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY PHASE III: Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, Dover, Madison, Montville, Mount Arlington
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CULTURAL RESOURCES INVENTORY MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY PHASE III: Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, Dover, Madison, Montville, Mount Arlington Principal Investigators: Jennifer B. Leynes Kelly E. Wiles Prepared by: RGA, Inc. 259 Prospect Plains Road, Building D Cranbury, New Jersey 08512 Prepared for: Morris County Department of Planning and Public Works, Division of Planning and Preservation Date: October 15, 2015 BOROUGH OF MADISON MUNICIPAL OVERVIEW: THE BOROUGH OF MADISON “THE ROSE CITY” TOTAL SQUARE MILES: 4.2 POPULATION: 15,845 (2010 CENSUS) TOTAL SURVEYED HISTORIC RESOURCES: 136 SITES LOST SINCE 19861: 21 • 83 Pomeroy Road: demolished between 2002-2007 • 2 Garfield Avenue: demolished between 1987-1991 • Garfield Avenue: demolished c. 1987 • Madison Golf Club Clubhouse: demolished 2007 • George Wilder House: demolished 2001 • Barlow House: demolished between 1987-1991 • Bottle Hill Tavern: demolished 1991 • 13 Cross Street: demolished between 1987-1991 • 198 Kings Road: demolished between 1987-1991 • 92 Greenwood Avenue: demolished c. 2013 • Wisteria Lodge: demolished 1988 • 196 Greenwood Avenue: demolished between 2002-2007 • 194 Rosedale Avenue: demolished c. 2013 • C.A. Bruen House: demolished between 2002-2006 • 85 Green Avenue: demolished 2015 • 21, 23, 25 and 63 Ridgedale Avenue in the Ridgedale Avenue Streetscape/Bottle Hill Historic District: demolished c. 2013 • 21 and 23 Cook Avenue in the Ridgedale Avenue Streetscape: demolished between 1995-2002 RESOURCES DOCUMENTED BY HABS/HAER/HALS: • Bottle Hill Tavern (117 Main Street): HABS NJ, 14-MAD,1; compiled after 1933, 2 photos, 8 measured drawings (1417-0039) • Jonathan B. Bruen House (250 Main Street): HABS NJ, 14-MAD,4; compiled after 1933, 3 photos, 24 measured drawings (1417-0048) • Andrew Miller House (105 Ridgedale Avenue): HABS NJ, 14-MAD, 2; compiled after 1933, 4 photos, 13 measured drawings; part of the Bottle Hill Historic District (1417-0133) and the Ridgedale Avenue Streetscape (1417-0134) • Daniel Sayre House (31 Ridgedale Avenue); HABS NJ, 14-MAD, 3; compiled after 1933, 2 photos, 11 measured drawings (1417-0075); part of the Bottle Hill Historic District (1417- 0133) and the Ridgedale Avenue Streetscape (1417-0134) RESOURCES LISTED IN OR DETERMINED ELIGIBLE FOR THE NATIONAL REGISTER BY THE NJHPO2: 18 1 Documentation gathered, including completed investigative memorandum can be found in the “Lost Sites Documentation” file, located at the Morris County Planning Office, Morristown, New Jersey. One additional site, 85 Green Avenue, was included in the current survey but demolished prior to report publication. 6-1 Alert Social Club/Madison Eagle Offices Bottle Hill Historic District (James Park, 1-105 (41 Kings Road) Ridgedale Avenue) HPO ID # 3991 HPO ID # 4204 NR Reference # 05000614 Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Madison Civic Commercial District (Main Street HPO ID # 380 and Waverly Place) HPO ID # 2139 NR Reference # 89002115 Madison Masonic Lodge (170 Main Street) Madison Public Library and the James Building HPO ID # 4732 (Kings Road) NR Reference # 07001405 HPO ID # 2140 NR Reference # 80002512 Mead Hall (Gibbons Mansion) (36 Madison Methodist Episcopal Church (24 Madison Avenue) Avenue) HPO ID # 2142 HPO ID # 4433 NR Reference # 77000897 NR Reference # 08000364 Old Main Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Ridgedale Avenue Footbridge (Ridgedale Railroad Historic District (NJ Transit Avenue over NJ Transit Morristown Line, Morristown Line) Milepost 25.9) HPO ID # 3525 HPO ID # 238 Rose Memorial Library (Madison Avenue) Samson Avenue Bridge (Samson Avenue over HPO ID # 2143 NJ Transit Morristown Line, Milepost 24.96) HPO ID # 237 Sayre House (31 Ridgedale Avenue) Alfred Searing House (13 Prospect Street) HPO ID # 2144 HPO ID # 3987 NR Reference # 80002513 Twombly Estate (Madison Avenue) Union Avenue Bridge (Union Avenue over NJ HPO ID # 2145 Transit Morristown Line, Milepost 24.39) HPO ID # 236 Webb Memorial Chapel (23 Green Avenue) Wisteria Lodge (153 Madison Avenue) HPO ID # 4587 HPO ID # 5095 RESOURCES NOTED IN THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION ELEMENT MORRIS COUNTY (HPEMC): 15 The Borough of Madison is in Region “C” C43 Bottle Hill Tavern, 117 Main Street C44 Bruen House, 250 Main Street C45 Burnet House, Rosedale Avenue C46 Cecilhurst, Route 24 at Morris Place C47 Drew University, 36 Madison Avenue C48 Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Station, Kings Road C49 David Howell House, 47 Madison Avenue C50 Lathrop House, Madison Avenue, West of Loantaka Way C51 Main Street District, Green Village Road, Main Street, Waverly Place Area C52 Madison Presbyterian Church (Masonic Temple), 170 Main Street C53 Luke (or Andrew) Miller House, 105 Ridgedale Avenue C54 Rose Greenhouse Site, Shunpike at Stonehedge Lane 2 Resources with National Park Service and/or NJ Historic Preservation Office determination. 6-2 C55 Ephraim Sayre House, 31 Ridgedale Avenue C56 Toll Gate Site, Main Street, N.E. Corner of Rosedale Avenue C57 United Methodist Church, 24 Madison Avenue MUNICIPAL HISTORICAL COMMISSION: Yes. LOCALLY DESIGNATED/REGULATED RESOURCES: • Bottle Hill Historic District • Madison Civic Commercial Historic District • Luke Miller House, 105 Ridgedale Avenue • Sayre House, 31 Ridgedale Avenue • Madison Masonic Lodge, 170 Main Street • Gibbons Mansion (Mead Hall), Drew University • Webb Memorial Chapel, 19 Green Avenue • James Park, Madison Avenue • James Library, 9 Main Street • James Building, 2 Green Village Road • First Baptist Church of Madison, 36 Cook Avenue • Cole Park, 1334 Greenwood Avenue • Central Avenue School, 50 Central Avenue • Madison Train Station, 47 Kings Road • Hartley Dodge Memorial Building, 50 Kings Road • Rose Memorial Library, Drew University HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN IN MUNICIPAL MASTER PLAN?: Yes. HISTORICAL SUMMARY: Madison Borough was formed in 1889 from Chatham Township, but its origins date back to the arrival of the first European settlers to the area in the early eighteenth century. A settlement known as Bottle Hill developed during the colonial period at the intersection of modern Kings Road and Ridgedale Avenue; the name Madison was not adopted until 1834. The Morris & Essex Railroad, completed three years later, connected Madison to Morristown and the greater New York area. New commercial and residential development followed the railroad, particularly in the post-Civil War period, when Madison also became the center of a large rose- growing industry. During the early to mid-twentieth century, most of the large estates that had formed a notable part of Madison’s residential development were subdivided for the construction of more modest, middle-class suburban neighborhoods. ADDITIONAL FACTS: • First Library: 1900 • First Post Office: before 1855 • First Police Department: 1890 • First Fire Department: 1881 6-3 • Elected Morris County’s First Female Freeholder, Margaret D. Baker: 1932 LOCAL HISTORY SECTION: Yes. MUNICIPAL WEBSITE: www.rosenet.org SOURCES: Madison Borough Website (www.rosenet.org); Acroterion; HABS; NJ Historic Preservation Office Website (www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/1identify/lists/morris.pdf); Morris County Department of Planning & Public Works, Division of Planning & Preservation; RGA Survey; William Parkhurst Tuttle, Bottle Hill and Madison, 1916. 6-4 6.1 SETTING Madison Borough is comprised of 4.2 square miles in the southeastern part of Morris County. Main Street bisects the municipality in a northwest-southeast direction and serves as the commercial and institutional center of the Borough. The former Morris & Essex Railroad (now the NJ Transit Morristown Line) follows a similar route, crossing Main Street near the Borough’s center. The railroad facilitated the transformation of Madison from a rural village into a commuter suburb during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Borough is located on a ridge that extends in a northwest-southeast direction through the area (see Figure 6.1). The ridge is flanked by the wetlands of the Great Swamp on the southwest and the Black Meadows/Troy Meadows on the northeast, outside of the municipal boundaries. In general, Madison is characterized by suburban development featuring tree-lined streets and sidewalks. The older developments are located near the center of town, surrounding the historic downtown, with post-World War II neighborhoods primarily located in the southern and eastern sections of the Borough. The Forest Reserve and Zuck Arboretum, both located in the western section of the municipality on the campus of Drew University, provide open space within the suburban environment, as does Memorial Park in the Borough’s eastern end. 6.2 HISTORIC OVERVIEW Madison Borough was formed in 1889 from Chatham Township. It was one of several village areas set off as independent boroughs from Chatham Township during the late nineteenth century; others included Chatham Borough and Florham Park (Snyder 1969:191-192). The first European colonists arrived in the vicinity of Madison during the early eighteenth century (Cunningham 1967). Natives of New England, these settlers arrived by way of Elizabeth and Newark, establishing small hamlets, “while the entire surrounding region was an unbroken wilderness” (Aikman 1882:187). Many followed the Minisink Trail, an important Native American path that would provide a vital link between the iron mines in western Morris County and the urban markets of Newark and Elizabeth to the east (White 1979:25). Historical accounts suggest that Kings Road in Madison roughly follows this old Native American trail. A settlement known as Bottle