Bernardsville
POPULATION: 6,597
INCORPORATED: June 9, 1924
INCORPORATED: June 9, 1924
LAND AREA: 13.1 Square MilesEMERGENCY SERVICES: 9-1-1
POLICE: Borough Hall (908) 766-1481
FIRE: Mine Brook Rd. 9-1-1
MUNICIPAL BUILDING: 166 Mine Brook Rd. (908) 766-3000
LIBRARY: 2 Morristown Rd. (908) 766-0118
POST OFFICE: Quimby La. (908) 766-1481
ZIP CODE: Bernardsville: 07924
BOARD OF EDUCATION: 25 Olcott Ave. (908) 204-1930
TRANSPORTATION:
Bernardsville Train Station(Depot) (908) 221-0418
Lakeland Bus (973) 366-0600
NJ Transit (800) 772-2222
NEW RESIDENT INFORMATION: Welcome Wagon Club of Somerset Hills (908) 604-5944
ATTRACTIONS/HISTORICAL SITES: Municipal Pool (908) 221-9869
YOUTH RELATED ACTIVITIES: Bernardsville Recreation Department (908) 766-2546
DISTANCE TO:
New York City: 39.9 miles
Newark Airport: 30.7 miles
Meadowlands Sports Complex: 32.9 miles
"Bernardsville, formerly known as `Vealtown,' was originally part of Bernards Township. James Alexander, Surveyor-General of East Jersey, and his assistant, John Parker, were largely responsible for establishing legal claims to the land of Bernards in 1717. Although the real founding father of the Bernards community has never actually been identified, James Pitney is believed to have been the first permanent settler. 1730, Pitney owned and sold a tract of land, 123 acres beginning about a mile southwest of the present Borough of Bernardsville and stretching northwest, before he moved to Mendham. The community was officially named Bernardsville in 1840, after Sir Francis Bernard, colonial governor of New Jersey. The great stone mills of the area were built during this decade. Bunn's Mill, now the location of the Borough Hall, was operated in 1844 as a grist mill and sawmill, cidermill and distillery. In 1871, the railroad reached Bernardsville, the last stop on the line for 20 years. This brought out George I. Seney, the man who completely changed the town's character. Seney, President of the Metropolitan Bank of New York, loved the area and he and his friends came and stayed. It was the beginning of the construction of the large mansions and estates, many of which still exist, and also the creation of the `mountain' society, a region of spacious estates. As a result, the railroad was extended to Gladstone in the last 1890s."
