Meandering Basking Ridge’s Largest Lake – The Millington Quarry

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The Millington Quarry property in the Millington section of Bernards Township is one of the largest former industrial sites in Somerset County and has been the focus of redevelopment discussions for more than a decade. Covering approximately 180 acres along Stonehouse Road, the site operated for many years as a trap rock quarry before mining ceased. As quarry operations wound down, plans shifted toward reclaiming the land and finding a new use for the property. Early proposals envisioned a scenic lake surrounded by luxury homes, while later township-led redevelopment plans expanded the concept into a mixed-use community featuring housing, retail shops, restaurants, a hotel, offices, walking trails, public parks, and a 50-acre lake.

Millington Quarry

The Millington Quarry was far more than a source of crushed stone—it became one of New Jersey’s most scientifically significant geological discoveries. Opened in 1895, the quarry was developed to extract the exceptionally hard trap rock of the ancient Hook Mountain Basalt (Third Watchung Mountain). For more than a century, millions of tons of this durable volcanic rock were blasted, crushed, and used as railroad track ballast, road stone, concrete aggregate, and other construction materials throughout the Northeast. The quarry often produced more than one million tons of stone each year, helping build the region’s transportation infrastructure.

Hidden within that same basalt, however, were thousands of mineral-filled cavities formed nearly 200 million years ago when gas bubbles became trapped in cooling lava flows. Over millions of years, mineral-rich groundwater filled these cavities with an extraordinary variety of crystals, attracting geologists and collectors from around the world. Research conducted at Millington Quarry fundamentally changed scientists’ understanding of how minerals formed within the Watchung Mountains, demonstrating that mineral-rich groundwater actively circulated upward through the basalt rather than forming in a stagnant underground environment. Although the mineral-bearing rock has now been completely quarried and the site is being reclaimed for residential development, Millington Quarry remains an important chapter in New Jersey’s industrial and geological history—its trap rock helped build the Northeast, while its hidden minerals advanced the scientific understanding of one of the state’s most remarkable volcanic landscapes.

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Schmidt’s Park:
The Park That Was Once Part of the Quarry Property

To provide a little historical perspective, we introduce you to a monument that introduces us all to Frederick W. Schmidt (1865–1926), the visionary entrepreneur whose Millington Quarry became one of northern New Jersey’s leading producers of trap rock and whose generosity helped preserve hundreds of acres along the Passaic River as today’s Schmidt Park.

Organized in 1904 by construction materials pioneer Frederick W. Schmidt, the North Jersey Quarry Company consolidated the Bound Brook Crushed Stone Company, Commonwealth Quarry Company, Morris County Crushed Stone Company, North Jersey Amiesite Company, Hodgson Sand and Gravel Company, Consolidated Stone and Sand Company, and the Portland Sand and Gravel Company into one of the largest construction materials enterprises in the region. The company later evolved into Houdaille Construction Materials, linking the Millington Quarry to more than a century of continuous industrial history.

THIS MONUMENT HAS BEEN PLACED HERE IN MEMORY OF

FREDERICK W. SCHMIDT
1865–1926
BY THE TRUSTEES OF HIS ESTATE

Mr. Schmidt owned and operated the nearby Millington Quarry, which opened in 1895. He later organized the North Jersey Quarry Company, which in 1956 became Houdaille Construction Materials, Incorporated, a subsidiary of Houdaille Industries, Incorporated.

It was Mr. Schmidt’s intention that the land he owned along the Passaic River between the two bridges and Pond Hill Road be set aside for park purposes. This additional area has been made available through the generosity and cooperation of Houdaille Construction Materials, Incorporated. Both tracts have been given to Bernards Township for use as a public park in perpetuity.

DEDICATED OCTOBER 15, 1966

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The Millington Quarry’s story did not end with Frederick W. Schmidt. Decades later, another well-known steward of the 260-acre property was Marvin Mahan and his sons, Gary and Roger, whose ownership marked the quarry’s final years of active operation, which began in 1978 after it was closed in 1975 by Houdaille Construction.

Mahan became widely recognized not only for operating the quarry but also for preserving one of the nation’s finest collections of historic Mack trucks, reflecting the same appreciation for heavy industry and transportation that helped shape the quarry’s legacy.

But Mahan did have a vision back in 1978,,,,,

The next chapter began on June 29, 2023 – Millington Quarry, Inc. completed the sale of the approximately 180-acre property to CIP Stonehouse Redevelopers LLC for $17.45 million, ending more than four decades of Mahan ownership. The 179-acre site has been targeted as a mixed community with affordable housing to be built on what is now a former active quarry. It has been controversial for years since contaminants were found in the soil put there as fill over the last decade. The proposed development prompted the “Stop the Quarry Plan,” in which township residents opposed the effort. 

Following a March 2019 meeting, Michael Lavigne, an attorney representing Millington Quarry, said there would be “no furtherance of a development plan” by the subdivision of the quarry property. He added that the quarry had a potential buyer for the entire property. But the deal eventually fell through.

In July 2023, it was announced that the Millington Quarry site had been sold again.  The township’s largest available tract was sold to CIP Stonehouse Redeveloper, LLC. David Placek was a partner in Community Investment Partners (CIP), which proposed a redevelopment plan for the quarry that the Township Committee rejected five years ago (above). Zoned for two-acre housing, the site has a conceptual plan that ultimately calls for a 33-acre lake, with 40 to 50 homes to be built to the south. The $3.5m contamination bonds remain in full force and effect, as the rehabilitation is incomplete and will remain so until the new owners post an equivalent amount of security.

Based on our internet searches, there has not been any significant news announcing groundbreaking, home sales, or construction at the site. The property remains in its long-term redevelopment phase rather than active residential build-out.

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And just across from the quarry lake is a place we like to call the “Boy and His Toys” Museum

Did You Know?
There’s a Cemetery Alongside the Quarry Property

Just to the south of the former quarry entrance on Stonehouse Road sits a tiny roadside cemetery that honors one of the original families of Basking Ridge. The plaque at the cemetery recognizes Daniel Vail and the family farm, an early member of the Basking Ridge Vail family whose descendants left an extraordinary mark on American history.

Among them was Alfred Vail, who collaborated with Samuel F. B. Morse in the late 1830s to perfect the electric telegraph. Working together at Historic Speedwell in Morristown, they successfully transmitted messages over more than two miles of wire, helping launch the communications revolution. Today, the Speedwell factory on Route 202 is preserved as a National Historic Landmark.

Alfred Vail, who partnered with Samuel F.G. Morse on to develop the electric telegraph in the late 1830s, was a member of the prominent Vail family with deep roots in Basking Ridge, although he was raised in Morristown rather than on the family farms in Somerset County. At Historic Speedwell, Vail and Morse successfully transmitted telegraph messages over more than two miles of wire, helping usher in the age of instant communication. Today, the Speedwell factory along Route 202 is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

While Alfred represented the Morristown branch of the family, the Basking Ridge Vails remained on their ancestral lands. Israel Vail, a country cousin, lived in Basking Ridge, and a small Vail family cemetery still survives just outside the quarry property along Stonehouse Road. The family’s legacy continued into the twentieth century through Theodore N. Vail, president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), who transformed the nation’s telephone network and helped shape modern communications.

See that story here….

A Tiny Roadside Cemetery in Basking Ridge

Timeline: The Quarry at Basking Ridge

Year	Owner / Company	Major Event	Notes (Price / Acreage / Details)
1895	Morris County Crushed Stone Company	Frederick W. Schmidt establishes Millington Quarry	Quarry founded on approximately 206 acres. Produced trap rock for roads, railroads, and construction.
1896–1938	Morris County Crushed Stone / North Jersey Quarry Company	Property Expansion	Quarry grows through numerous acquisitions including David Lewis (1896), Clementine Runyon (1910), F.W. Schmidt (1917, 1922, 1929), John M. Allen (1931), Ellis Adams (1931), Susan Haas (1934), John H. Schmidt (1938), and others.
1904	North Jersey Quarry Company	Company Organized	Frederick W. Schmidt consolidates seven quarry, stone, and sand companies into North Jersey Quarry Company.
1912	North Jersey Quarry Company	Major Expansion	Additional adjoining lands acquired, substantially increasing the quarry’s footprint.
1926	North Jersey Quarry Company	Frederick W. Schmidt Dies	Company continues under corporate ownership.
1947	North Jersey Quarry Company	Modernization	Invests approximately $100,000 in a new crushing plant and equipment.
1949	North Jersey Quarry Company	Expansion Lawsuit	Court records describe a quarry of approximately 206 acres capable of producing 3,000 tons per day.
1956	Houdaille Industries	Acquisition	Houdaille acquires North Jersey Quarry Company. Purchase price currently unknown.
Feb. 1, 1957	Houdaille Construction Materials, Inc.	Corporate Name Change	North Jersey Quarry Company officially changes its name to Houdaille Construction Materials, Inc.
1975	Houdaille Construction Materials	Quarry Closes	Commercial quarry operations suspended.
Nov. 1977	Houdaille Construction Materials	Sale Announced	Houdaille announces sale of its remaining New Jersey quarries, including Millington.
Oct. 1978	Millington Quarry Company	Ownership Transition	Newspaper reports quarry “changes hands.” Marvin Mahan identified as President and announces plans to reopen the quarry. Property reported at approximately 260 acres.
Nov. 20, 1978	Tang Realty, Inc. → Millington Quarry, Inc.	Property Conveyed	Purchase Price: $500,000. Recorded December 12, 1978 (Book 1390, Page 201). Deed consists of 14 tracts totaling roughly 338 acres by legal description (additional research needed to reconcile with the reported 260-acre operating quarry).
Apr. 1979	Millington Quarry, Inc.	Quarry Reopens	Quarry resumes production following Planning Board approval and reclamation conditions.
1999	Millington Quarry, Inc. / Tilcon New York	Lease	Tilcon New York begins operating the quarry under lease. Lease terms unknown.
2016	Millington Quarry, Inc.	Mining Ends	Commercial stone extraction concludes after more than 120 years.
2023	CIP Stonehouse Redeveloper LLC	Redevelopment	Purchase Price: $17.45 million. Approximately 179 acres acquired for the Stonehouse mixed-use redevelopment project.
Research Needed	—	Missing Link	Locate the Houdaille Construction Materials → Tang Realty, Inc. deed. This should reveal the actual purchase price, acreage conveyed, financing, and complete the ownership chain.

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