Millington’s Millridge Swim Club Bulldozed Back into the Great Swamp Landscape

Before the Millridge Swim Club existed, it was known as Reggie’s Playland Farm, and we found a strange real estate listing from 2002 that read:

This story is part of the Mr. Local History Project’s New Jersey Swim Club Series, exploring the neighborhood pools, freshwater ponds, and private clubs that shaped generations of summer memories. Part of the project’s mission is to encourage those who remember these clubs to submit their photographs, stories, and memorabilia. These materials can then be shared with local historical societies to help preserve the history of these great community watering holes. Noe Pond in Chatham Township stands apart as one of the region’s oldest and most distinctive swimming traditions, evolving from a historic farm pond into a beloved family recreation club.

After Reggie’s Playland Jazz Club was sold, the name changed to the Millridge Club. Struggling to stay in business, the property went up for sale again. In 1993, under new ownership, the establishment was renamed and rebranded as the NEW Millridge Swim Club, where thousands of local families spent their summers. Children learned to swim, teenagers worked their first jobs as lifeguards, swim teams competed, and generations returned year after year. What had once fed families through agriculture was now creating memories instead. Eventually, even that chapter came to an end.

The story of the old Millridge Social Club property moved into its next chapter after its days as a popular social club destination. The roughly 21-acre property along White Bridge Road began assembling additional land over the years. Eventually, it became the home of Fred and Margaret Dauth and the Millridge Club, a private swim and recreational club.

Millridge Swim Club Teams and Success

Millridge Swim Club was more than a place to cool off on a summer afternoon. Its competitive teams became a source of pride for the Millington community, with young members representing the club in both swimming and softball. Newspaper accounts followed Millridge athletes as they set pool records, captured league championships, and built impressive winning streaks, including the swim team’s 22nd consecutive victory in July 1969. Together, the swim and softball teams helped make Millridge a lively center of summer recreation, competition and community spirit.

Swimming at Millridge wasn’t the only game at the club. In 1974, the Millridge Swim Club softball team captured the Passaic Township Men’s Fast Pitch Softball League championship. Led by pitcher Jack Miller, Millridge defeated the Old Blinker Inn 11–4 to sweep the best-of-three playoff series. The victory was the team’s 14th of the season against only three losses and marked a measure of revenge after the Blinker had eliminated Millridge from the playoffs the previous year. Miller allowed 12 hits but repeatedly escaped trouble, while Billy Martin powered the offense with a three-run homer as Millridge claimed its first league title.

Brazilian Society, Inc. – Downfall and Foreclosure

After the Dauth ownership, the property came into the hands of the Brazilian Society, Inc., but by 1991 the Society organization was in serious financial trouble, and First Fidelity Bank foreclosed on the property, beginning a legal process that would take almost two years to resolve.

Finally, in 1993, the Morris County Sheriff put the former Mill Ridge property up for public auction. First Fidelity Bank, which was owed the money, submitted the winning bid of just $100. That figure wasn’t the property’s real value; it was essentially the bank taking control through foreclosure. The bank then assigned its winning bid to Penelope Mudd and Donald Rosol, who became the new owners of 1526 White Bridge Road.

Rossol’s Millridge Swim Club

Donald Rosol and Penelope “Penny” Mudd-Rosol became the property’s final private owners, opening the Millridge Swim Club before its most dramatic transformation in 2002, when the property was bulldozed, filled, planted, and returned to what is now the Great Swamp of New Jersey.

Outside, the 22-acre property was equally impressive. The grounds included a 20-by-40-foot in-ground swimming pool, a 12-foot whirlpool spa, a pool house, a cabana, a covered patio, a party room, a double tennis court, a baseball diamond, barns, and beautifully landscaped gardens with mature specimen plantings. Surrounded by open space, the estate blended luxury living with recreation, preserving many of the features that had made Reggie’s Playland Farm and later Millridge Swim Club a beloved gathering place for generations.

Our researchers opened a social media discussion on swim clubs in the area and found some interesting responses. Most oentered on treat memories of the pool,o( 2nd was added,) the tennis courts, ping pong, the baseball field, and the clubhouse amenities, including a beautiful poolside bar.

Several people told us they held their high school graduation parties at Millridge, including Watchung Hills and Ridge High Schools. And almost every comment was positive, but there were a few that had to admit that their family couldn’t afford the more expensive Clover Hill Swim Club nearby, while also feeling Millridge was a step up from the Stirling Lake Swim Club.

2002 – The Great Swamp Purchases Millridge

In 2002, the Rosols sold approximately 21.1 acres to the United States National Park Service for incorporation into the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, while retaining a small 0.83-acre parcel. Within only a few years, the pools, clubhouse, tennis courts, and many of the remaining structures disappeared. Nature slowly reclaimed the landscape.

Views over the Last Century

Each generation saw something different when they looked out over this property on the original White Bridge Road just to the East of Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge. To early residents, it was simply a farm, one of many scattered along the edge of the Great Swamp. The earliest aerial photographs from 1931 reveal open fields, a farmhouse, barns, and agricultural land that had probably been worked for decades.

Date	Owner / Operator	Evidence	What We Know	Research Questions Still Under Investigation
May 16, 1956	John P. and Janice Jerling	Property-history recital in later deeds	The Jerlings conveyed a small portion of a larger tract to Edward and Florence Van Wagner and Stephanie and Joseph Tokash. This conveyance helps explain the boundaries of the later Millridge property but does not establish ownership or operation of the complete swim-club property.	How and when was this smaller parcel incorporated into the complete Millridge tract?
By 1965	Warren C. and Catherine Haeseker; Wallace F. and Regina O’Reilly	Liquor-license records; Morris County Deed Book 1963, page 240	Haeseker and O’Reilly owned the property and apparently operated the Millridge Club before transferring the property and seasonal liquor license to Frederick and Margaret Dauth.	When did Haeseker and O’Reilly acquire the property? When did Playland Farm become the Millridge Club? Did they construct either swimming pool?
October 7, 1965	Frederick G. and Margaret L. Dauth	Morris County Deed Book 1963, page 240; liquor-license transfer	The Dauths purchased the Millridge property from Warren and Catherine Haeseker and Wallace and Regina O’Reilly. The deed was recorded October 22, 1965. The seasonal liquor license was transferred to the Dauths. They reportedly had the tennis courts installed.	What other improvements did the Dauths make? Did they expand or reconstruct the pools and clubhouse?
February 12, 1977	Frederick G. and Margaret L. Dauth	Survey referenced in Deed Book 2402, pages 582–585	Walter F. Van Treek Jr., licensed land surveyor of Denville, prepared a survey describing the complete Millridge property as approximately 20.718 acres. The deed contains the written boundary description, but the drawn survey map has not been located.	Where is the original Van Treek survey map? Was it filed with Long Hill Township or retained by the surveyor, attorney or title company?
March 3, 1977	Brazilian Society, Inc.	Morris County Deed Book 2402, pages 582–585	Frederick and Margaret Dauth sold the approximately 20.718-acre Millridge property to Brazilian Society, Inc. for $165,000. The deed was executed March 3 and recorded March 31, 1977. Brazilian Society was identified as a New Jersey corporation with an address care of Jeffrey E. Mandel, Esq., 17 Academy Street, Newark.	Who controlled the Brazilian Society, Inc.? Was it organized specifically to acquire and operate Millridge?
1979	Brazilian Society, Inc.	Aerial photograph	The aerial photograph shows the fully developed Millridge recreational property during the Brazilian Society ownership period.	Which pools, buildings and recreational improvements existed when the corporation acquired the property? What improvements did the Brazilian Society add?
August 17, 1988	Brazilian Society, Inc.	Mortgage Book 2740, pages 849 and 859	Brazilian Society mortgaged the approximately 20.718-acre property to First Fidelity Bank. The mortgage and an assignment of leases, rents and other income were recorded August 31, 1988. The debt later listed in the foreclosure exceeded $3.75 million.	What business transaction did this unusually large mortgage finance? Did the Millridge property secure a broader corporate loan involving other assets?
August 13, 1991	Brazilian Society, Inc.	Superior Court foreclosure judgment	First Fidelity Bank obtained a foreclosure judgment against Brazilian Society, Inc. Robert Atanasov and Marisa Atanasov were also named as defendants.	What caused the default? What were Robert and Marisa Atanasov’s relationships to the corporation and property?
June 1–July 14, 1993	Penelope Mudd and Donald Rosol	Sheriff’s Deed Book 3803, page 97	Following adjournments, the property was offered at sheriff’s sale on June 1, 1993. First Fidelity submitted the successful nominal foreclosure bid of $100 and later assigned its bid to Penelope Mudd and Donald Rosol. The sheriff’s deed conveying the property to Mudd and Rosol was executed July 14, 1993.	Did Mudd and Rosol pay First Fidelity additional consideration outside the nominal foreclosure bid? What club facilities remained operational in 1993?
1990s – unverified	Bailey Brower Jr.	Personal recollection	Brower reportedly had interests in Noe Pond, Clover Hill and Cooper Springs and developed substantial acreage in Millington. No documentary evidence currently places him in the Millridge ownership chain.	Did Brower ever own, lease, manage, finance or hold an interest in Millridge?
April 8, 2003	United States Fish and Wildlife Service; small parcel retained privately	Federal acquisition deed, Book 5827, page 298	Approximately 21.138 acres, identified as Block 221, Lot 3, were conveyed for incorporation into the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Approximately 0.83 acres containing private improvements was excluded or retained.	Did the retained parcel contain the original Playland farmhouse or a later residence? Who owned it following the federal acquisition?
February 2004 and afterward	United States; retained parcel privately owned	Friends of Great Swamp newsletter; subsequent site evidence	The Friends newsletter reported that plans for the newly acquired property were still being developed and that some outbuildings would be demolished. The former pools, courts, clubhouse and other recreational structures subsequently disappeared.	When was each structure demolished? What ultimately happened to the retained house and 0.83-acre parcel?

“Map of Property for Brazilian Society, Inc., Long Hill Township, Morris County, New Jersey, prepared by Walter J. Van Treek Jr., Professional Land Surveyor, dated February 18, 1977.” (still searching for this map)

The Sale That Returned the Millridge Swim Club to the Great Swamp and Now It’s Like It Was Never There.

In 2002, the Millridge Swim Club estate offered an extraordinary combination of historic charm and recreational amenities. The three-level brick Southern Colonial mansion featured a welcoming front porch, hardwood floors with decorative inlays, nine-foot ceilings, crown moldings, crystal lighting, multiple fireplaces, a gourmet kitchen with granite countertops and custom cabinetry, three bedrooms, a renovated main suite, and a finished third-floor attic. A separate two-story carriage house provided four additional bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a living room, making it ideal for guests or extended family.

Following the closure of the Millridge Swim Club, the property’s future took a very different direction. On April 8, 2003, owners Donald and Penelope Mudd Rosel sold most of the approximately 22-acre property to the United States for $900,000, adding it to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Rather than being redeveloped, the land was acquired for conservation and habitat restoration.

In its February 2004 newsletter, Friends of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge announced that the refuge had acquired the property at 1526 White Bridge Road, describing it as the former Mudd/Rose house and once the site of the Millridge Swim Club. The newsletter noted that plans for the property were still being developed and that “some of the outbuildings will be demolished.” Over time, the former pools, clubhouse, tennis courts, and other recreational features disappeared from the landscape, leaving little evidence today that the once thriving summer destination ever existed. What was not sold to the Great Swamp was 0.83 acres, including the house, garage, and some of the land, but that would also be sold later and demolished.

What’s the Millridge Swim Club Look Like Today?

Today, visitors driving along White Bridge Road would never guess they are passing a place that has lived so many different lives. The fields became a farm. The farm became a private retreat. The retreat became one of the area’s favorite swim clubs. The swim club became protected wildlife habitat. Perhaps that is the property’s greatest story. Rather than disappearing, it simply kept reinventing itself, each generation leaving its own mark before passing the land to the next.

Now….History Needs Your Help
Be Part of This Story

If you belonged to Millridge Swim Club, local historical societies have nothing to share regarding photos, badges, patches, or stories about this lost icon. So now it’s your turn to help.Supposef you have any information we’d love to pass it on to the Long Hill Historical Society. Just fill out the form below, attach your photos, and send it in.

If you send them, we’ll get them in the album to preserve local history.

Local Swim Clubs Remembered

Interestingly, On the same road from Basking Ridge to Millington…….

Reggie’s Playland & Farm: A Forgotten Jazz Club in Millington, NJ

The Somerset Hills Airport in Basking Ridge – Lost but Not Forgotten

Archaeological Dig – America’s Grandest Estate in Basking Ridge

Robert & Estelle Terry – Tuskegee Airmen and Basking Ridge Pilots

History of Housing Developments in Bernards Township

Our Readers’ Top 10 MLH Posts this Week

Timeline and Additional Notes / Questions & Remaining Research

Date	Owner / Operator	Evidence	What We Know	Research Questions Still Under Investigation
	Silas Leonard and Sarah M.Leonard
July 19, 1856	Henry в. Wilson	Morris County Clerk’s Office in Book of Deeds P-5, page 30,	Containing seventeen acres, excepting therefrom one-half acre heretofore conveyed by Silas Leonard and Sarah M.Leonard, his wife, to Henry в. Wilson, by deed dated July 19, 1856
May 16, 1956	John P. and Janice Jerling	Property-history recital in later deeds	The Jerlings conveyed a small portion of a larger tract to Edward and Florence Van Wagner and Stephanie and Joseph Tokash. This conveyance helps explain the boundaries of the later Millridge property but does not establish ownership or operation of the complete swim-club property.	How and when was this smaller parcel incorporated into the complete Millridge tract?
By 1965	Warren C. and Catherine Haeseker; Wallace F. and Regina O’Reilly	Liquor-license records; Morris County Deed Book 1963, page 240	Haeseker and O’Reilly owned the property and apparently operated the Millridge Club before transferring the property and seasonal liquor license to Frederick and Margaret Dauth.	When did Haeseker and O’Reilly acquire the property? When did Playland Farm become the Millridge Club? Did they construct either swimming pool?
October 7, 1965	Frederick G. and Margaret L. Dauth	Morris County Deed Book 1963, page 240; liquor-license transfer	The Dauths purchased the Millridge property from Warren and Catherine Haeseker and Wallace and Regina O’Reilly. The deed was recorded October 22, 1965. The seasonal liquor license was transferred to the Dauths. They reportedly had the tennis courts installed.	What other improvements did the Dauths make? Did they expand or reconstruct the pools and clubhouse?
February 12, 1977	Frederick G. and Margaret L. Dauth	Survey referenced in Deed Book 2402, pages 582–585	Walter F. Van Treek Jr., licensed land surveyor of Denville, prepared a survey describing the complete Millridge property as approximately 20.718 acres. The deed contains the written boundary description, but the drawn survey map has not been located.	Where is the original Van Treek survey map? Was it filed with Long Hill Township or retained by the surveyor, attorney or title company?
March 3, 1977	Brazilian Society, Inc.	Morris County Deed Book 2402, pages 582–585	Frederick and Margaret Dauth sold the approximately 20.718-acre Millridge property to Brazilian Society, Inc. for $165,000. The deed was executed March 3 and recorded March 31, 1977, at 11:52 a.m. Brazilian Society was identified as a New Jersey corporation with an address care of Jeffrey E. Mandel, Esq., 17 Academy Street, Newark.	Who controlled the Brazilian Society, Inc.? Was it organized specifically to acquire and operate Millridge?
1979	Brazilian Society, Inc.	Aerial photograph	The aerial photograph shows the fully developed Millridge recreational property during the Brazilian Society ownership period.	Which pools, buildings and recreational improvements existed when the corporation acquired the property? What improvements did the Brazilian Society add?
August 17, 1988	Brazilian Society, Inc.	Mortgage Book 2740, pages 849 and 859	Brazilian Society mortgaged the approximately 20.718-acre property to First Fidelity Bank. The mortgage and an assignment of leases, rents and other income were recorded August 31, 1988. The debt later listed in the foreclosure exceeded $3.75 million.	What business transaction did this unusually large mortgage finance? Did the Millridge property secure a broader corporate loan involving other assets?
August 13, 1991	Brazilian Society, Inc.	Superior Court foreclosure judgment	First Fidelity Bank obtained a foreclosure judgment against Brazilian Society, Inc. Robert Atanasov and Marisa Atanasov were also named as defendants.	What caused the default? What were Robert and Marisa Atanasov’s relationships to the corporation and property?
June 1–July 14, 1993	Penelope Mudd and Donald Rosol	Sheriff’s Deed Book 3803, page 97	Following adjournments, the property was offered at sheriff’s sale on June 1, 1993. First Fidelity submitted the successful nominal foreclosure bid of $100 and later assigned its bid to Penelope Mudd and Donald Rosol. The sheriff’s deed conveying the property to Mudd and Rosol was executed July 14, 1993.	Did Mudd and Rosol pay First Fidelity additional consideration outside the nominal foreclosure bid? What club facilities remained operational in 1993?
1990s – unverified	Bailey Brower Jr.	Personal recollection	Brower reportedly had interests in Noe Pond, Clover Hill and Cooper Springs and developed substantial acreage in Millington. No documentary evidence currently places him in the Millridge ownership chain.	Did Brower ever own, lease, manage, finance or hold an interest in Millridge?
April 8, 2003	United States Fish and Wildlife Service; small parcel retained privately	Federal acquisition deed, Book 5827, page 298	Approximately 21.138 acres, identified as Block 221, Lot 3, were conveyed for incorporation into the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Approximately 0.83 acre containing private improvements was excluded or retained.	Did the retained parcel contain the original Playland farmhouse or a later residence? Who owned it following the federal acquisition?
February 2004 and afterward	United States; retained parcel privately owned	Friends of Great Swamp newsletter; subsequent site evidence	The Friends newsletter reported that plans for the newly acquired property were still being developed and that some outbuildings would be demolished. The former pools, courts, clubhouse and other recreational structures subsequently disappeared.	When was each structure demolished? What ultimately happened to the retained house and 0.83-acre parcel?