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Trailside Nature & Science Center
For more information about Trailside programs and exhibits,
go to:
www.ucnj.org/trailside |
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In 1941, a small nature display was set up on a table in the corner
of a plant nursery maintenance garage. It was so popular that the
whole building was quickly given over to exhibits and became the
Trailside Museum, a name that came from the National Park Service’s
model for museums located next to trails.
The building was expanded in 1952. In 1961, the facility was renamed
the Trailside Nature & Science Center, and a Planetarium was
constructed alongside the Museum in 1969.
A modern Visitor Center, designed by nationally renowned architect
Michael Graves, was erected uphill from the older buildings in 1975,
and that building was expanded in 2006.
Today, this environmental education facility is perhaps the oldest
surviving trailside museum in the United States. Trailside Nature and Science Center is open from 10:00am - 4:00pm Tuesday - Sunday and closed on Mondays.
See Video.
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Exploration for copper in this area of the First Watchung Mountain
may date back to at least the 1600’s. Crushed ore may have been used
for tools and decoration by the Lenape tribe of Native Americans.
Another story holds that Hessian soldiers held captive near here by
the Colonial Army during the Revolutionary War were compelled to dig
for copper ore to support the war effort. The ore was of low quality
and the exploratory mine never progressed more than 15 feet into the
mountain.
Portions of the mine have collapsed and are visible to the north of
the gorge. On the edge of the collapsed area, a large stone used for
sluicing the ore can be seen.
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In 1845, David Felt built a 3˝ story mill, powered by water from the
Blue Brook, to serve as a factory for his printing business,
Stationers Hall Press.
Felt built an entire town, Feltville, on the bluff overlooking the
mill to house his workers. A 3-bay garage next to the mill housed
ox-drawn wagons that carried Felt’s stationary products to his store
in New York City.
The mill was torn down in 1930.
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So many trees, but
what are
they?
Find your answer at the
Arbor Day Foundation
Click here
the computer version.
Click here
for the mobile
version. |
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This
spring-fed pond was built about 1882 by Warren Ackerman to supply
water to the guests of his summer resort, Glenside Park.
A house was built uphill from the pond for the man, who came to be
known as the Hermit, who was responsible for operating a
steam-driven pump and steam laundry at the pond.
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If
you’re in the mood to add another mile to your hike—the History
Trail is six miles and at this point, you’re about a a third of the
way along—then just after you pass the ruins of the Drake House, you
will reach the intersection with the Sierra Trail (white blazes).
Head west on the trail and you will reach Seeley’s Pond, one of the
most popular picnicking spots in the Reservation.
Just
as with Lake Surprise, which was used to power the mill in
Feltville(Site 6), Seeley’s Pond was also created by damming the
Blue Brook in order to power another mill.
In
the late 1800s, Edmund A. Seeley founded a paper manufacturing
company and used the falls for power. Once the waters flow over the
Seeley’s Pond dam, they soon join up with the Green Brook, which
eventually drains into the Raritan River. |
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5B
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Drake Farm House & Barn |
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Six hundred acres of open land along the Second Watchung Mountain
were farmed to provide food for the residents of the mill town of
Feltville.
Later, the land was used by Warren Ackerman for cattle grazing and
by the guests of the summer resort of Glenside Park for their
recreational pursuits, including golf.
Even after this land was incorporated into the Watchung Reservation
in the 1920’s, a portion of this land was farmed by the Drake family
up until the 1940’s. The stone foundations of the Drake Farm house
and barn are still visible.
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Deserted Village of Feltville/Glenside Park
For more
detailed history of the Deserted Villiage,
click here. To read our
tour pamphlet,
click here |
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About 1736, Peter Willcocks built a sawmill along the Blue Brook to
produce lumber, which would be needed by farmers as they settled
this frontier area. The sawmill operation cleared hundreds of acres
of forest.
In 1845, David Felt bought 760 acres of land and built a printing
factory along the brook. He built an entire town on the bluff above
the brook to support the mill operation, and by 1850, 175 people
were living in Feltville. After Felt retired in 1860, other business
ventures were tried but failed, and the town became deserted for a
short time.
But in 1882, Warren Ackerman bought the property and converted the
former mill town into a summer resort, called Glenside Park. When
the popularity of mountain resorts was displaced by the advent of
the Jersey Shore, Glenside Park closed in 1916.
Soon after the Union County Park System was formed in 1921, this
area was incorporated into the Watchung Reservation, one of
America’s first county parks. The grounds of the Deserted Village
are open daily during daylight hours.
There is a pamphlet available for a walking tour that explains the
ten surviving historic buildings, some of which are still inhabited.
The pamphlets outlining the walking tour through the Deserted
Village, with some additional history, are usually available at the
brown kiosks, one in the parking lot just off Glenside Avenue, and
the other just past the General Store/Church.
The pamphlet is also
available online.
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7 |
Boy Scout Camporee Field |
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This field was used by Boy Scouts for tent camping until Interstate
Route 78 was built nearby in 1985. The State and Federal governments
paid to relocate Scout camping activities away from the highway, to
the other side of the park.
When Lake Surprise was restored in 2000, the 52,000 cubic yards of
sediment that was dredged from the lake was disposed of here and at
the adjoining Corn Field. These fields are now the largest
wildflower meadows in Union County.
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This field is named for the crop that was grown here when the area
was still farmland. In the woods below the Corn Field, the Elizabeth
area Boy Scouts built their first official camp, including a log
mess hall and three-sided lean-to cabins, in the 1920’s.
Until the formation of the Union County Park Police a few years
later, the Boy Scouts patrolled the trails of the Watchung
Reservation, helping lost hikers and picking up litter. The log mess
hall has since been demolished. The lean-tos were replaced with
newer structures in the 1960’s, but are no longer in use.
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STOP!!!
Now listen. Hear all that traffic?
There was a time, and
not really all that long ago when Route 78 was not there.
When Interstate 78 was proposed in 1957, finding a route
through the farmlands of western New Jersey was not much of
a problem. But finding a route through the more densely
populated Union and Essex counties prompted years of fights,
and while there was a time when one proposed highway
alignment would have taken the interstate around the
Watchung Reservation, in the end, it was easier to carve
through parkland than bulldoze neighborhoods. The so-called
“missing link” that would connect the eastern most end of
the highway was finally completed in August, 1986. |
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In 1845, David Felt built a secondary water source for powering his
mill at Feltville by damming the Blue Brook. Feltville Lake was
renamed Ackerman Lake when the summer resort of Glenside Park
opened.
By the time the Union County Park Commission bought the property for
inclusion in the Watchung Reservation, the lake was called Silver
Lake and was a popular place for swimming and boating.
The park planners laid out a road to the lake that wound its way
down through the woods such that the lake could not be seen until
you were right next to it. Hence the new name – Lake Surprise.
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Don't be Surprised if you Run into a Trail Ride
or Two While
you Walk the History Trail
Don't be surprised if
you run into a trail ride or two while you walk the History
Trail. Union County's Watchung Stable is located in the
eastern section of the reservation and connects to the more
than 26 miles of bridle paths that wind their way through
the 2,000+ acres.
Click here to see an old
newspaper clip from the March 23, 1927 edition of The
Westfield Leader that describes how new bridle trails were
being cleared what was then, a atively new park.
Click here to go Watchung Stable's web
site. |
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One of the favorite adventures for
area Girl Scouts was the Girl Scout Cabin built on a bluff
overlooking the lake.
Click here
to see an old newspaper
clipping from the Oct. 8, 1964 issue of the Cranford Citizen and
Chronicle. Under the column for Garwood Girl Scout News is an item
about how a new Junior Troop was forming that would meet at St.
Anne's School and that "the girls are planning a day camping trip to
the Girl Scout Cabin at Surprise Lake."
The cabin was destroyed by fire in
1975 & St. Ann's School has since closed.
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Lake Surprise Boathouse |
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By 1930, park users could rent rowboats at a rustic boathouse along
the southern shore of Lake Surprise. Nearby was a refectory where
park visitors could buy refreshments.
A restroom building stood on the hillside up behind the boathouse,
where it could also serve park visitors from the Loop Area parking
lot. All three buildings were dismantled by the 1970’s. Boats are
still allowed on Lake Surprise, with the proper permit decal (call
908-527-4900).
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Lake Surprise Bathhouse
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In the early years of the Watchung Reservation, park visitors could
swim at a beach on the southern shore of the lake, and could change
into swimsuits at a bathhouse.
Aquatic carnivals at the lake drew hundreds of participants for
swimming and boating events. Lifeguards kept watch from a tower in
the middle of the lake
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 Time
to Stop & Relax by the Lake
Have a drink of water and a snack. It's pretty much all
uphill from here to finish the trail. |
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In 1736, Peter Willcocks built a sawmill along the Mo-No-Pe-Nonck
Indian trail, near the Blue Brook. He built a house on the Second
Watchung Mountain. At the same time, his in-laws, the Badgleys,
built a house along that same trail on the First Watchung Mountain.
Over the next 250 years, the house was a residence, horse riding
stable, and maintenance garage. About 1907, the Badgley house was
moved about 250' north and set onto a high foundation. After the
house was moved, it was converted to a barn for a riding stable,
which operated into the 1940's.
Sadly, the house was destroyed by a fire set by an arsonist in 1984.
However, a depression in the lawn at the nearby Scout Camping Area
reveals the location of the original house.
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If you happen to be
hiking the History Trail on a Tuesday or a Thursday, just up
from this trail marker are the demonstration gardens cared
for by the
Master Gardeners of Union County.
Visitors are welcome to explore the gardens between 10 a.m.
and 1 p.m. The gardens are also open at other unscheduled
times when volunteers are present. |
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Road from Westfield to New Providence |
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The former Mo-No-Pe-Nonck trail used by Lenape Indians grew into the
Road from
Westfield to New Providence as farmers settled this area of the West
Fields beyond Elizabethtown.
The road still exists outside of the park as New Providence Road in
Mountainside and Glenside Road in Berkeley Heights, and in sections
inside the park as hiking or bridle trails.
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Do You Have Any Old Photos?
Come across any old
family photos taken at The Watchung Reservation and would
like to share them? If so, please email them to:
wrht@ucnj.org |
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Credits |
History of the History Trail |
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The Watchung
Reservation History Trail was an Eagle Scout project, designed and
executed by Robert Gruytch of Roselle Park. Gruytch, with the help
of adults and scouts from Troop 56 in Roselle Park, logged 322 hours
in creating the six-mile trail.
He completed the
project during his junior and senior years, graduating from Roselle
Park High School in 2010. He is going into his sophomore year at
Montclair University, where he is majoring in astrophysics. He hopes
to work for NASA.
The project was a
perfect fit for him. “I have a love for hiking,” he said, following
the trail’s dedication on National Trails Day, June 4, 2011. “I did
my first hike for hiking merit badge up here in the reservation.”
His favorite part of
the hike is just north of the Drake House (Site 5ab) where there is
a stand of evergreen trees. “The smell. The scenery. They’re just
beautiful,” he said. |
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