Historic markers, you’ve seen them around, those metal often embossed signs which commemorate a person, place or event with some significance. Did you know there are over 195,000 across the United States! Sussex County began a historic marker program in 2000 and since then 32 have been fabricated and installed. Below is a short list pulled from the Sussex County website of local historic markers that stood out to me.
Byram Township – perhaps one of the more controversial markers.
CAT SWAMP HIJACKING AND MURDER (2009)
Placed in 2009, this marker is located at milepost 100.2 Route 206 South in Byram Township near the site of the Cat Swamp Hijacking and Murder.
“In this area, on Cat Swamp Hill in Byram Township, at about 6:00 a.m. on June 14, 1921, the Sussex Print Silk truck was hijacked. Albert Koster drove onto the scene on his motorcycle, was mistaken for a state trooper, and murdered. The gang escaped with $11,000 of bolt silk. Through the work of Franklin Police Chief Herbert C. Irons, the killers were eventually captured. County Sheriff Linus Littell and Prosecutor Lewis Van Blarcon persevered through two years of trials to obtain convictions of the thieves, two of whom were executed for the murder.”
Franklin Boro
DR. SAMUEL FOWLER
This marker, signifying the contributions to local history of Dr. Samuel Fowler, was located on Sussex County Route 631, North Church Road in Franklin Borough in the year 2004.
“Dr. Samuel Fowler, born in Newburgh, NY, and came first to Hamburg after medical studies in Philadelphia. He established mills, a blacksmith shop, tannery, and a furnace to process ores from mines owned in Franklin Furnace. He became a noted and respected mineralogist and developed early industrial uses for zinc ore. He discovered the rare mineral Franklinite and its fluorescent qualities that made Franklin minerals famous. He was esteemed as one of the leading scientists in the United States.”
Hardyston Township
SNUFFTOWN – STOCKHOLM
Placed 2008. Settled c.1750. Named from early inhabitants’ fondness of snuff tobacco or perhaps because “snuff” was a euphemism for liquor. Windham, Stockholm and other important forges produced iron goods. Paterson & Hamburg Turnpike (organized here 1806) brought trade and hotels. New Jersey Midland Railroad (1873) took “Stockholm” (originally a hamlet one mile eastward) for its station name, which gradually replaced “Snufftown”. (1826) is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. Stockholm School, later Municipal Building (1882) is another landmark.
Wantage Township
LUSSCROFT
This marker, signifying the historical importance of the Lusscroft Farm in Sussex County, was placed in the year 2006. This marker is located at the entrance to the former Lusscroft Farm on Sussex County Route 519 in Wantage Township between Beemerville and Colesville.
“Enos Brink farmed these foothills at the head of the West Branch of the Papakating Creek from 1835 to 1871. James Turner (1859-1939), of Montclair, retired executive of Arbuckle Brothers, a NY coffee and sugar company, built Lusscroft between 1919 and 1930. He donated 1,050 acres in 1931 to create the North Jersey Dairy Branch of the NJ Agriculture Experiment Station, which operated until 1970. Research in artificial insemination and genetic improvements to dairy cattle, grassland farming and ensilage, and improved nutritional values in food and feed yielded lasting benefits of worldwide impact. The 4-H Outdoor Education Center occupied the farm from 1973 to 1996.”
Where do you think the next Sussex County historic marker should be placed?