One Man’s Vision: How Grant Schley Imagined Far Hills, New Jersey

NOTE: The Borough of Far Hills celebrated its 100th anniversary #farhills100, with Council President Karner and the Mayor’s wife, Janis Vallone, spearheading “what will be a great community event on May 15, 2021, with a parade and picnic for Far Hills residents.” Because of COVID, the Town held only a small 10 AM ceremony outside Borough Hall.

The plan was to start a parade at the Far Hills Train Station, continue down Peapack Road, and end at the monument in front of our municipal building. Mayor Vallone will read a Proclamation commemorating this great event. The event will also include burying a time capsule with articles, photos, and comments submitted by residents. After the ceremony, residents will join for an elegant, catered country picnic at the J. Malcolm Belcher Fairgrounds.

Far Hills Ties to Bernards Township

Many people weren’t around when Far Hills was actually part of Bernards Township. On March 28, 1921, the New Jersey State Legislature introduced a bill. The Far Hills bill was “introduced, heard, and first and second readings, referred to committee, voted out, and passed by the state Senate.

In a local referendum on May 12. In 1921, Far Hills voters approved incorporating the Borough. The Mr. Local History Project honors the incorporation of the Borough of Far Hills, its founding families, and what history books call Elizabeth Schley’s recognition and final designation of “Far Hills” as one of New Jersey’s richest towns.

The Borough of Far Hills in the Somerset Hills of New Jersey was set off from Bernards Township and incorporated as a political entity in 1921 by means of a special act of the New Jersey Legislature and a successful local referendum in which 117 votes were cast in favor of forming a Borough, and 15 votes were in opposition.

---

New Jersey Historic Village Collection Honors Far Hills – Watch the Video

---

Some of the earliest settlers in this area were the Wyckoffs, who farmed the upland meadows and bottomlands along the Raritan River. The Millers used the streams’ water power for industrial purposes. Zachariah Smith built a sawmill and brush block factory on the North Branch shortly after 1800. Eighty years later, his grandson, Oscar Smith, still operated it.

In 1887, Elizabeth Schley is said to have exclaimed on the vista of those beautiful “far hills”, thus expressing the name for the first time. It stuck.

Elizabeth Baker Schley

Further south on the river, in the area known as Forge Hollow and later as Hub Hollow, William Ludlow was a shoemaker, and his son, Charles, ran a sawmill and woolen factory, which the Ludlow family later succeeded with a hub factory.

Evander H. Schley, anticipating ademand forland development for country estates, set his sights on the area. As a bachelor, Schley bought several thousand acres of farmland, some of it sight unseen, in Bedminster and Bernards townships in the 1880s. Then, one day in 1887, Evander’s brother, Grant, and his wife, Martha Elizabeth Baker Schley, came from New York City by horse-drawn carriage to see Evander’s farms. Elizabeth is said to have exclaimed at the beautiful vista of those “far hills”, thus coining the name for the first time. It stuck.

They both loved the area so much that they bought 1,500 acres on the North Branch of the Raritan River from Evander, including the hills now known as Schley Mountain. On the knoll above the river, the Schleys built Froh-Heim, a rambling country house with Japanese accents, along with all the auxiliary buildings needed for an estate that would also be a working farm.

Through Grant Schley’s efforts, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad built an extension line from Bernardsville to Gladstone. Service began in 1890. The company built a train station at Far Hills, and a rural commercial center soon developed around it.

Evander Schley acquired a half interest in David Dumont’s farm. In 1899, Schley and Dumont drew up a subdivision plan and offered lots for sale in what was to become Far Hills village. Each deed included a unique clause prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages on the premises.

Far Hills is a Dry Town

Some may wonder why there isn’t a bar serving alcohol in the Borough of Far Hills. Well, there’s a reason. With Far Hills incorporated in the middle of the Prohibition era, you guessed it, it was going to be a dry town.

“And said party of the second part further covenants and agrees for himself, his heirs, executors and assigns, that neither he nor they shall or will at any time erect or permit to be erected on the premises hereby conveyed any building for the purpose of selling intoxicating liquors, beer or wine.“

Grant Schley

The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established alcohol Prohibition in the United States. Congress proposed the Amendment on December 18, 1917, and the requisite number of states ratified it on January 16, 1919. The Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5, 1933. It is the only Amendment to be repealed. So far, Hills was a dry town.

Schley’s Community Development

On lands set aside for community use, Grant Schley paid to build a village school, a church, a firehouse, a social club, and a recreational area. Floodplain lands along the river were drained, graded, and seeded for a fairgrounds for agricultural and sporting events.

Automobiles began appearing on local roads around 1906, and Charles Welsh installed a gasoline pump at his livery stable. Percy Pyne and C. Ledyard Blair are remembered as having the first cars, and the horses were frightened of the machines. Electricity came to Far Hills about 1910, and telephone service began about 1912.

The Gilded Age: Natirar Estate in Peapack & Far Hills

Catherine “Kate” Macy and Walter Graeme Ladd began acquiring property in the Somerset hills in 1905. Macy was a Quaker heiress to a whaling/oil/shipping fortune; her father’s business partner was John D. Rockefeller.

---

---

Far Hills Secedes from Bernards Township

Rising taxes led the 200 residents of Far Hills to secede from Bernards Township and incorporate as a Borough. The local property tax rate jumped from $2.72 in 1919 to $3.53 in 1920. Both the villagers and Far Hills estate owners objected to sharing the costs of road upkeep in the 60-square-mile township, which had a population of 5,100, and to the school taxes for educating the township’s 800 students, of whom only 90 were from Far Hills. Further, they protested the lack of police protection.

New Jersey Senate Bill 332, authorizing the incorporation of the Borough of Far Hills. Fifty residents went to Trenton to cheer for the favorable action. In a 30-minute session on March 28, 1921, the Far Hills bill was “introduced, heard and first and second readings, referred to committee, voted out, and passed by the Senate.” The Assembly concurred a week later. In a local referendum on MAY 12. 1921 Far Hills voters approved the Borough’s incorporation by a vote of 11-7 (15).

Far Hills Race Meeting Celebrated its 100th Running in 2021

Lured by the interstate highways in 1971, AT&T acquired 225 acres in Far Hills and an adjoining 140 acres in Bedminster, lands once part of Grant Schley’s Froh-Heim, and built a corporate headquarters for its Long Running Division near the river in Bedminster. AT&T pledged to keep the Far Hills lands open space forever and to continue to make the race course available for the Essex Fox Hounds Race Meeting.

In November 1921, the Essex Fox Hounds Race Meeting, previously held in Bedminster, moved to Froh-Heim. More than 2,000 people came to see the fourtRunningng of the New Jersey Hunt Cup Race—it rained.

The Far Hills Race Meeting is the quintessential nexus of family, friends, and the beautiful fall season outdoors on Far Hills most historic grounds. For years, I’ve researched, studied, and photographed many aspects of the race meeting, and I always step back on the hillside to soak in the spectacle, which perfectly frames the area’s beauty and equestrian grandeur. As a historian, I can’t tell you how excited I am to honor this event with a centennial badge of honor.

Mr. Local History Project founder Brooks Betz

Far Hills Train, Schools, Government

In 1931, electric trains replaced the old steam-powered engines on the DL&W tracks. The Borough adopted its first zoning ordinance in 1932. Except for village lands, the whole of Far Hills was zoned for a 25-acre minimum lot size. In 1947, the Borough revised the Zoning Ordinance, reducing the minimum lot size from 25 acres to 10 acres.

Local K-8 students attended Bedminster schools from fall 1967 until 1984, when they shifted to Bernardsville and the Somerset Hills School District.

Finally, you cannot forget the civil servants who ran Far Hills over the years. Many men have held the Mayor’s office, leaving their mark on the community.

Far Hills is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 565) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body comprises the Mayor and the Borough Council, with all positions elected at large on a partisan basis in the November general election. Voters elect a Mayor to a four-year term.

The list of Mayors of the Borough of Far Hills is as follows:

1. LOUIS VERNON LUDLOW – June 13, 1921 to December 31, 1923 (2)
2. REEVE SCHLEY – January 8, 1924 TO December 31, 1937 (13)
3. J. MALCOLM BELCHER – January 3, 1938 to December 31, 1965 (27)
4. EDWIN BURKE – January 10, 1966 to December 30, 1970 (4)
5. JOHN WETZEL – January 4, 1971 to May 15, 1974 (3)
6. EDMOND P. ROCHAT, JR. – June 10, 1974 to December 31, 1978 (4)
7. HENRY ARGENTO – January 9, 1979 to December 31, 1982 (3)
8. HARRY HOFFMAN – January 3, 1983 to June 2, 1986 (3)
9. WILLIAM C. LAYTON, JR. – June 16, 1986 to December 31, 1994 (8) 
10. CARL J. TORSILIERI – January 2, 1995 to December 31, 2010 (15)
11. PAUL J. VALLONE – January 7, 2011 to December 31, 2022 (11)
12. KEVIN P. WALSH – January 3, 2023

Far Hills Community Photo Album

MLH honors Far Hills’ history in the Far Hills Community Photo Album.

More Far Hills and Area Local History

The Mr. Local History Project Honors Two Far Hills Historic Icons. Accepted into the New Jersey Historic Village Collection – Get Yours Today

Bedminster Township Historian ANNE O’BRIEN initially wrote some of the above history research, which appeared in the Bernardsville News on October 23, 1987. Mrs. O’Brien died on October 10, 1987. The Mr. Local History Project provided additional research, photos, clarifications, and a general update to her work. We miss you, Anne!

Readers’ Top 10 MLH Posts this Week