Hainesburg, Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersey From the handout given out with the Historic Sites Tour on September 25, 2005. The tour and the handout was prepared by the Knowlton Township [Warren County, NJ] Historic Commission. BEGIN Hainesburg Inn, disembark (Route 94). According to Snell's History of Warren County, "This locality for many years bore the name of Sodom. Whether to warn the dwellers therein of the fate that befell its ancient namesake, or for other and better reasons, we cannot say." The name eventually was changed to Hainesburg - in honor of the village Post Master John Haines, after he made a liberal donation to the local school. A stone grist mill built on the south side of the Paulins Kill prior to the Revolutionary War, no longer survives. In the hey-day of railroading, the Hainesburg Station was the junction of the Susquehanna and the Lehigh and New England Railroads. The Paulins Kill Viaduct at Hainesburg was constructed in 1908 as part of the Lackawanna owned Hopatcong-Slateford cutoff. Engineered by George J. Rays, the seven arch span is 1,100 feet long and 117 feet high. Another bridge at the end of the line crosses the Delaware River and merges with the old line at Slateford Junction. This section, carried by nine arches, is 64 feet above water level and stretches for 1,140 feet. These awe inspiring structures, which opened to train traffic in the winter of 1911, continue to impress as engineering marvels. The beautiful Hainesburg Inn, which dominates the ancient looking village as a stately, expansive Victorian mansion-house, was built upon and incorporated into earlier buildings that have been traced back as early as 1790. Previous owners have speculated that elements of the older portion of the house date back to 1802. Wealthy railroad tycoon Jacon Andress purchased the building in 1873, and substantially expanded the house by adding the third floor and the impressive twin towers that make this mansion so unique. The home has been regularly featured in the publication Weird New Jersey, mainly to claim that the spirit of Andress' young son Gilbert, who died while a child, continues to frolic and play harmless tricks on visitors to the house. Through the years, this wonderful old home has been a disco, bar, antique shop, restaurant, and ice cream parlor. In the early 1990's the grand old building had fallen into disrepair, but thanks to the foresight and efforts of recent owners, the mansion has been restored and maintained. It is currently the home of a retail shop. END The following is an application formulated by the Knowlton Township Historic Commission in an attempt to get Hainesburg, Warren County, New Jersey classified as a historic place. Abraham LAKE (16.) spent at least the years 1841 through 1858 (and probably longer) in Hainesburg keeping a hotel. BEGIN NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approved No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page 1 Hainesburg Historic District, Warren County, NJ ________________________________________________________________________ SIGNIFICANCE: The Hainesburg Historic District possesses significance under Criterion A (for a "pattern of events or historic trend that made a significant contribution to the development of a community, a state or Nation") and Criterion C (because it "represent[s] a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction") in the area of community development for the period c. 1825-1925. The village is a locally significant example of the small agglomerate settlements that proliferated throughout the region in the 18th and 19th centuries to serve its dispersed agricultural population, but which experienced limited growth in the face of competition from communities with better transportation access. Hainesburg exemplifies the distinctive linear form that such settlements often took in New Jersey during that period, a pattern characterized by development occurring mostly along one road around one or more focal points with individual buildings rather closely spaced on small lots with short setbacks. Although the mill and tavern which provided its original focal points have not survived and individual buildings have been altered in varying degrees, the district's character defining features (linear plan, tight spacing, short setbacks) remain intact, as do "key" resources, like the church, store and cemetery, along with many dwellings, two truss bridges, and mill and tavern sites. Having achieved its present form c. 1825-1925, Hainesburg is the best surviving example of such a settlement in Knowlton Township. Three smaller 19th-century communities in the township, Knowlton/Kill Mills, Polkville and Centerville, which appear to have been nascent expressions of the settlement type, have not survived in a recognizable form. Knowlton's three other 19th-century settlements, Delaware, Columbia and Ramsaysburg, represent two other development types, Delaware and Columbia, have speculative rectilinear grid plans, and Ramsaysburg exhibits a dispersed irregular pattern. The proposed district also possesses under Criterion C (for "the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction") in the areas of architecture and engineering for two resources, which have been determined to be individually eligible. The late 19th-century Andress House is a good local example of Second Empire/Queen Anne architecture, and the Station Road bridge over the Paulins Kill (bridge #2101312) is a locally significant example of a "remarkably complete pin-connected pony truss bridge erected in 1896 by the Havana Bridge Company." In addition, archaeological resources relating to the area's 18th and 19th-century industrial development and material culture also may be present in the environs of district buildings and at the sites of its gristmill and tannery. Although pioneer European settlement occurred along the Paulins Kill in what is now northern Warren County by the mid 18th century, the village of Hainesburg did not coalesce until the start of the 19th century. Early settlement there centered around grist and saw mills located on property acquired by William Haines from James Baird in 1789. (1) William Haines, after whom the nascent community was named, sold a half interest in his mills and plantation to Joseph and Jonathan Hill in 1789, and after Haines' death in 1897 the Hills obtained full title to the property. (2) By the early 1800s, the settlement had acquired a tavern. In 1804 Mahias Cowl was operating a tavern in a "dwelling at Hainesborough near General Hills Mills," and in 1816 James Ridgeway received a license to keep a tavern at "Haines Burge."(3) Upon General Jonathan Hill's death in 1816 his property, which encompassed a pre- Revolutionary stone grist mill, saw mill powered by the Paulins Kill and a dwelling was sold at auction to Fred Snover and George Schloch. (4) In 1827 Andrew Smith bought 45-acres from John Walker and the next year built a hotel and tavern known as the Mansion House, which probably replaced the earlier hostelry. Smith purportedly lived in a small one-story frame house across the street and erected a storehouse in the mid 1830s. (5) By 1834 Hainesburg contained grist and saw mill, tavern, store and a half dozen houses. (6) A Methodist Church was built in 1842, although its existence was not noted in the 1844 state history which mentioned the community only in passing as comprised of a few dwellings. (7) The community grew considerably during the middle decades of the 19th century, expanding linearly along what is now Route 94. Andrew Smith sold the land he had owned for more than 30 years to Jacob Blair in 1843. Blair then sold to the Beck brothers. The brothers, who were farmers, subdivided the property southwest of Yards Creek into lots that resulted in the construction of new houses and other buildings. A large tannery was established along the river near the mills during this period; it was destroyed by fire circa 1849-50 and rebuilt by Aaron Kizer with an even larger operation. (8) While the community also was called Sodom, possibly due to the tavern located there, in the 1830 and 1840s, the name of Hainesburg was formally adopted upon the establishment of a post office in 1850. (9) By 1860 Hainesburg contained a cooper shop, carriage shop, blacksmith shop, store, hotel, Methodist church, school, gristmill, tannery, and more than twenty dwellings, and by 1874 a few more houses, including a parsonage, had been erected and the community's linear pattern firmly establsihed. (10) The Blairstown Railroad (later known as later the New York and Susquehanna Railroad) running from Hoboken, NJ to Buffalo, NY, passed through Hainesburg in 1876 and a railroad station was built near the tannery and grist mill. (11) However, the new rail linkage proved to be only a limited stimulus to the local economy, and the community grew slowly after its mid 19th century spurt. In 1881 Hainesburg contained a Methodist Episcopal Church, a schoolhouse, hotel, store, two blacksmith shops, grist, chap, and saw mills, a wool carding shop, railroad station, 2 wheelwrights, a post office and a physician. (12) Six years later the community was described in a county directory as An "old time" village... named in honor of 18John Haines, one of the pioneer settlers of the place. It has a church store, blacksmith shops, post office, hotel, grist mill and depot of the N. Y. & S. R. R. Also some other small business places. (13) Nevertheless, Hainesburg continued to prosper in the late 19th century. George Adams replaced the tannery with a saw mill in 1881 and also built a frame grist mill on the west side of the old stone mill. Jacob S. Andress, owner of the general store constructed a mansion as a home for he and his wife as well as a new general store in 1881.Andress was listed in an 1886 Knowlton Township directory as a merchant. (14) The Methodist Church constructed in 1882 was destroyed by fire in 1891 and rebuilt the next year. (15) A pin-connected pony truss bridge was erected to carry Station Road Paulins Kill in 1896. (16) The 20th century witnessed the community's gradual disintegration as a service center. The 1906 state industrial directory noted that Hainesburg's railroad connections and telegraph and telephone service and described it as a good location for manufacturing. (17) However, by that time the community's industrys had ceased operation. While a new general store was built opposite the Andress house in 1910, two years the Hainesburg Hotel was destroyed by fire. (18) The improvement and paving of local roads beginning in the early 1900s, coupled with the proliferation of automobiles and trucks during the period, lessened the dependence of neighborhood residents on local services and negatively impacted local enterprises. The main road through the village was paved and improved as a state highway circa 1923, work which included including straightening out its right-of-way, mostly between the Hainesburg Cemetery and Yard Creek, and removal of several agricultural buildings and stone walls. (19) As residents could more easily travel elsewhere for shopping and entertainment, local businesses declined, and the post office finally closed in 1960. A gas station was established, and the Andress mansion was converted into to a hotel catering to motorists around 1935. (20) Hainesburg exists today as an enclave of 19th-century buildings surrounded by a mix of open farmland and low-density residential development. While residential subdivisions have reached the northeastern edge of the village in recent years, active farms remain to the south and west. Although its industrys and artisan shops have not survived, the village retains much of its 19th-century character. Footnotes 1 Sussex County Deeds, Book 6/7/1789 2 Ibid. 3 Sussex County, Tavern Licenses, Mathias Cowl, April 30th, 1804 and James Ridgeway, May 15th, 1816. 4 James P. Snell, (ed.), History of Warren and Sussex Counties, New Jersey, page 629; Sussex County Deeds, Book W2, p.72 5 Snell, page 629. ussex County Deeds, Book W2, p.72 6 Gordon, Thomas F., A Gazetteer of the State of New Jersey. Trenton: Daniel Fenton, 1834. 7 John W. Barber, and Henry Howe. Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey, page 508.. 8 Snell, page 629. 9 John L. Kay and Chester M. Smith, Jr., New Jersey Postal History, page 134. 10 H. F. Walling, Map of Warren County, New Jersey. New York: Smith, Gallup & Co., 1860; Beers, F. W., County Atlas of Warren, New Jersey. New York: F. W. Beers & Co., 1874. Snell, page 629. 12 Ibid. 13 Weaver & Kern, Warren County History and Directory, page 396. 14 15 16 17 The Industrial Directory of New Jersey. Trenton, NJ: Bureau of Statistics of New Jersey, 1906. 18 19 State of New Jersey Highway Department. "Hainesburg - Columbia Road From Knowlton - Blairstown Township Line to Columbia Warren County." July, 1923 (Warren County Engineering Department, map # 94.06). 20 New Jersey Postal History, page 134; Frank Dale, Warren County Chronicles: Byways, Backroads and Boondocks; Hamlets of Warren. Cummins, George Wyckoff, History of Warren County New Jersey. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approved No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 10 Page 7 Hainesburg Historic District, Warren County, NJ ________________________________________________________________________ BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION The boundary of the Hainesburg Historic District is delineated on the attached map entitled "Hainesburg Historic District Site Location and Boundary Map," and is verbally described in the following paragraph. The site and boundary map was assembled using current municipal tax maps from the Township of Knowlton. The boundary of the district begins in Knowlton Township on the north side of NJ State Route 94 east at the southeast corner of block 5, lot 15 and proceeds north and east along the east and north sides of lot 15 to that lot's northeast corner. From there the boundary proceeds west in a straight line across block 5, lot 16 to the northeast corner of block 5, lot 19. It continues west along the north sides of block 5, lots 19, 5 and 25 to the northwest corner of the latter lot and the east side of Mount Pleasant Road. It then cuts across Mount Pleasant Road in a straight line to the northwest corner of block 7, lot 10 and proceeds south along the west sides of block 7, lots 10 and 13 to the northeast corner of block 7, lot 14. The boundary next runs west and south along the north and west sides of the latter lot to the northeast corner of block 7, lot 15.01, and again west and south along the north and west sides of lot 15.01 to that lot's southwest corner and Route 94. From that point the boundary cuts across Route 94 along a straight continuation of the east side of west side of block 7, lot 15.01 to the south side of the highway and the north side of block 33, lot 5. The boundary then turns west along the south side of Route 94 and the north side of block 33, lot 5 to the northwest corner of that lot, where it turns south and runs along the west side of that lot to the lot's south corner on the bank of the Paulins Kill. The boundary proceeds south along the east sides of block 33, lot 3 and the bank of the river to the southeast corner of block 33, lot 3, which point is on the north side of block 300.01, lot 4. It then turns east and, crossing the Paulins Kill and Station Road, runs along north side of block 300.01, lots 4 and 5 to the southwest corner of block 35, lot 2. It then turns north and runs along the west side of the latter lot to a northeast corner of that lot, also a northwest corner of block 35, lot 3. From that point it cuts across block 302, lot 1to a west corner of block 34, lot 1 on the NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approved No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 10 Page 8 Hainesburg Historic District, Warren County, NJ ________________________________________________________________________ south bank of the Paulins Kill. It proceeds east along the north side of block 34, lot 1 along the south bank of the river to a point where a straight continuation of the east side of block 34. Lot 23 across the river would intersect the north side of block 34, lot 1. The boundary then crosses the river along that line and continues north along the east side of block 34, lot 23 to the northeast corner of that lot and the south side of Route 94. It then crosses the highway along a straight line continuation of the east side of block 34, lot 23 to the north side of the highway and the south side of block 5, lot 15, and turning east, runs along the south side of lot 15 and the north side of the highway to the place of beginning. BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION The boundaries of the Hainesburg Historic District were delineated to include to the greatest extent possible the historical resources of the hamlet, with not only the fewest non-contributing buildings but also to protect the district's historic rural setting. To the west and east, the district is constrained by modern residential development, and the boundary follows property lines to exclude those uses, as it does on the north where large lots and open land adjoins the village buildings. On its south side the district extends as far as the Lackawanna cutoff embankment and bridge so as to include the site of the villages former industrial buildings, and to the southeast the river and railroad alignment provide an appropriate boundary. In 1835 Andrew Smith built a storehouse that later became Dernberger's Store. Sherman & Shacklton were the first merchants in this building followed by Jacob M. Blair, William McCraken,and Joseph Andruss from 1860 to 1877. I. Dernberger owned the mercantile business in 1881. END map showing Hainesburg, Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersey and its occupants in 1855, Maps->Hainesburg1855.jpg map showing Hainesburg, Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersey and its occupants in 1860, Maps->Hainesburg1860.jpg photo (1881) of the Hainesburg Hotel in Hainesburg, Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersey (from a 1976 bicentennial booklet published by the Knowlton Township Historic Commission), Misc->Hainesburg.pdf