NJ History

Idylease Aerial Video

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Majestically standing on Union Valley Road since the day she opened her doors to the public in 1903, Idylease remains one of Newfoundland’s most beautiful and impressive structures.

For over 25 years Richard Zampella has envisioned an opportunity to celebrate the history and future of the land that he grew up on in Newfoundland, NJ. Consistent with the wishes of his late father, Dr. Arthur Zampella, the property along with it’s historic structure is finally under the stewardship of his son Richard.

I hope you enjoy this tribute to this historic landmark and to my father, Arthur Zampella, M.D.

This footage was filmed over the course of several days over the skies of Idylease. Photographed and Edited by filmmaker Richard Zampella — The video makes use of a DJI Phantom Drone with a Zenmuse 3-D Gimbal and the GoPro HERO 4 Camera.

For more info about Idylease, visit: http://www.idylease.org

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NJ History

Reservoirs, Turnpikes and the Original Village of Oak Ridge, NJ

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oak-ridge-nj-reservoir-history
Oak Ridge, NJ Reservoir Taken Around 1906

Modern day Route 23 was established in 1927 to run from Verona to the New York border near Port Jervis, which replaced Route 8 that previously ran between Verona and Sussex. The route followed two turnpikes that were created in the early 19th century: the Newark-Pompton Turnpike and the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike. Their purpose at that time was to provide a good solid highway for transporting iron ore, timber, and agricultural commodities from northern New Jersey to the commercialized sections of Passaic County.

In 1806 toll roads were built with one leg running through Newfoundland.  A 1819 account of the turnpike system written by E. Hewitt commented that “The roads are terrible and the bridges over the small streams nothing more than poles laid across”. Since they charged tolls, the turnpike had income to improve its facilities, and from 1806 to about 1814, the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike was graded, improved, and new bridges and other amenities constructed. The combination of these two roads would become present day Route 23 with the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike running past the Oak Ridge Reservoir.

By 1889, the City of Newark began acquisition and construction of its reservoir system, and one of the first ones it built was at a spot where the Pequannock passed by the little village of Oak Ridge. At one time, prior to the reservoir, there stood the hamlet of Wallace Corner and the original village of Oak Ridge. Both are long gone, torn down with their locations submerged beneath the reservoir.

In the mid-1950s, there were plans to build an Interstate Highway along Route 23 between Interstate 80 and Interstate 287, but it was never built. In the 1960s, the route was planned to be upgraded to a freeway all the way up to Port Jervis and south to Piscataway, Middlesex County; however, both freeway proposals were cancelled in the early 1970s. In the mid-1980s, the portion of Route 23 from north of U.S. Route 46 in Wayne to Interstate 287 in Riverdale was improved, with the road upgraded to a six-lane freeway south of the Alps Road intersection and to a six-lane surface road north of Alps Road.

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NJ History

Brown’s Hotel in Newfoundland, NJ

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Brown's Hotel Newfoundland, NJ
Brown’s Hotel in Newfoundland, NJ

John P. Brown was for many years the proprietor of Brown’s Hotel in Newfoundland, NJ. This hotel was in existence and under the management of the Brown family for nearly one hundred years.

The following account was written by E. Hewitt, an English traveler from London . It tells of a visit to Brown’s Hotel in 1819, two years after its completion:

“This afternoon, completely drenched with rain, we stayed at a tavern newly erected, in a village called Newfoundland. Here we procured a small private room and a good fire, dried our clothes, and got tea very comfortably. Our landlord, a very intelligent man, spent the evening with us, and related several interesting anecdotes of General Washington, with whom he was personally acquainted. I observed he was always addressed with the title of Squire, being a magistrate.

Bears, deer, and wolves are very numerous in this neighborhood in the fall. A barn not exceeding 60 feet by 30 costs here about $125.00; shingles or wood tiles, 15 to 20 dollars per thousand. The whip-poor-will we heard for the first time at this place, repeating its plaintive notes through the whole night.

Our accommodations at this place were very comfortable. and our charge, including hay, one peck of Indian corn, our room, fuel, liquor, one pound of butter, what milk we chose and tar and tallow for our wagon, three quarters of a dollar. I gave our kind host one dollar, which he accepted with reluctance; and at our setting off, he prepared us a quantity of egg-nog, a mixture of apple spirits, eggs and milk. Terrible roads still, and the bridges over the small streams nothing more than poles laid across”.

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