Here you will find comprehensive
information regarding real estate in Springfield. Being
that I have been a Springfield Hills Realtor for many
years I can offer some of my sound advice regarding buying
or selling a home in Springfield. You may also find mls
listings in Springfield as well as any local information
in Springfield. Over the years Springfield Real Estate
has grown in high demand, and my expertise in the area
will help you become more familiar with the surroundings
of this beautiful town. I am familiar with listings in
Springfield as well as negotiated deals for those looking
to buy homes in Springfield. So whether you are looking
to buy a house in Springfield, sell a house in Springfield,
or just research local information about Springfield
you will find everything you need with Karen Basedow your
expert Springfield Realtor.
If you are looking for a home for sale in the
Springfield area, I can help. I have years of
experience in this area of New Jersey. If you
just want some information about Springfield
you came to the right place. The following is
a small featurette on Springfield taken from
the Burgdorff ERA Realtors® Short Hills Office
Brochure "Extraordinary PROFESSIONALS Exceeding
Expectations", as well as the Springfield
Official Website.
 Springfield
is conveniently located with easy access to Routes
78, 22, and 24, this Union County suburb offers
and ideal blend of ingredients for a fine lifestyle.
Many homes in Springfield are post-war three to five bedroom Colonials,
Ranches and Splits. There are also 1,000 condominiums in the township. The “Baltusrol Top” offers
homes, sometimes with New York views. A more typical home would be a four bedroom split in a
comfortable family neighborhood. Homes in Springfield range from $175,000 to over $600,000.
The population of the township is 14,000 and the area is made up of 5.1
square miles. Springfield has one Pre-k and Kindergarten, two schools enrolling children grades
1-4, one middle school grades 5-8 and a local high school.
Besides the typical curriculum, Springfield offers a public preschool
from age 4, a full day kindergarten, a telephone “homework hotline” that allows parents
and students to check on assignments, a before and after latchkey program for pupils whose parents
work, after school enrichment programs and summer trips.
Computers are introduced in kindergarten. The average class size is 18.
Special education courses and programs for gifted students are available. Only 14% of Springfield
children attend private schools and 92% of the public school graduates go on to higher education.
Springfield has five committee members, elected to 3-year terms, who
choose one member as mayor.
Commuters can get to midtown Manhattan via NJ Transit bus in 45 minutes
during rush hour. There is also a jitney service to the Millburn train station.
Springfield has nine small parks. The most widely used is Chisolm School
Park, a three-acre facility with two baseball diamonds and a playground. Springfield Municipal
Pool has a lighted baseball diamond, volleyball, basketball, bocci and shuffle board courts.
Springfield is home of Baltusrol Golf Club, founded in 1895, which has
hosted seven United States Open Golf Tournaments.
 Springfield
was first settled in the early 1700’s,
the first substantiated date being 1717, when
the Briant family came from Hackensack. The tombstone
of William Stites, who is buried in the old burying
ground on Mountain Avenue, is dated 1729. Some
of the descendents of the family still live here.
Other early families were the Whiteheads, Van
Winkles, Denmans and Woodruffs.
The early settlers often saw groups of Indians
in the vicinity, particularly the Unamis, “ People
Down the River”, who were one of the three
groups of the Lenape Tribe.
Two centuries ago the area surrounding Springfield
was covered with dense forests. Only a primitive
road connected Morristown and Elizabethtown until
1801, when a turnpike road was constructed between
Elizabethtown Point and the Delaware River in
Sussex County. To avoid paying a toll on the
Morris & Sussex Turnpike, the natives built
a parallel road and, appropriately, named it “Shunpike
Road”. Today, the Baltusrol Golf and Country
Club is located here.
Farms, mills and lumbering provided the livelihood
for the people in the area.
During the fighting in the Revolutionary War,
the enemy entered the town a number of times
to take away farm animals, grain and other needs,
keeping the people in a continual state of alarm.
It became necessary for the local populace to
set up a chain of signals, the nearest to Springfield
being on Beacon Hill in what is now Summit. When
necessary, a cannon called “Old Sow” was
fired to alert our militia on both sides of the
mountain and to warn the people to flee to a
place of safety.
From the original manuscript sources, one of
which is owned by the Springfield Historical
Society, we find that Washington had his General
Headquarters in Springfield from June 7 to June
22, 1780.
On June 23, 1780, "The Battle of Springfield" was
fought. The British advanced with infantry, cavalry
and several field pieces. Washington had left
the area leaving General Nathanial Greene in
the vicinity with Colonel Angell and his Rhode
Islanders at the Rahway River vicinity. For more
than 40 minutes Colonel Angell and his men fought
five times their numbers to a standstill. The
British slowly pushed the Militia back to the
second bridge over Van Winkle’s Brook on
Morris Avenue, just west of the present day Mountain
Avenue. During the heat of the battle, Reverend
James Caldwell, Chaplain of Colonel Elias Dayton’s
Regiment, whose wife had been murdered 16 days
before, passed out Watts Hymnals from the Presbyterian
Church for use as wadding. His cry of “Give
Them Watts, Boys”, has lived on the become
a Motto of that conflict.
The British resorted to burning and looting.
Only four houses remained after the Battle. Still
standing are: the historic Cannon Ball House
on Morris Avenue (headquarters of the Springfield
Historical Society, it is open to the public
by appointment), the Swaim House on South Springfield
Avenue and the Sayre House. The British goal
of reaching Morristown was thwarted and the Battle
of Springfield marked the last invasion of the
British into New Jersey and removed the danger
of final defeat of the Continental forces.
According to “Melick’s Story of
An Old Farm”, Jonathan Dayton, a doctor
born in 1732 and son of Jonathan Dayton and his
first wife, was married to Keziah Miller and
they lived in the Cannon Ball House. He was a
Revolutionary soldier. In the same book, mention
is made that the house was hit by a cannonball
during the battle. After his death August 16,
1778, his widow operated a tavern stop in the
house. Mrs. Dayton died in 1797.
 The
second wife of the first Jonathan Dayton had
a son Elias who became Colonel Elias Dayton.
Elias had a son named Jonathan. This Jonathan
was one of othe four men from New Jersey who
helped form and sign the Constitution of the
United States. Our high school was named after
this Jonathan Dayton. He also served in Congress.
Postal Service was established by the government
in 1800 with Grover Coe as the first Postmaster
for the area. The first postmaster for Springfield
was Frank Meisel. Up until that time the mail
was dropped off at the general store known as
Jenkins & Newman. The location is now the
Taxi Stand on Morris Avenue.
On May 27, 1793, an Act was passed by the General
Assembly at Trenton, forming the Township of
Springfield from the Townships of Elizabeth and
Newark in the County of Essex. This new township
included Springfield proper, Millburn, part of
Summit, South Orange, Maplewood and New Providence.
This act remained in force until November 8,
1809 when New Providence was withdrawn. In 1857,
the County of Union was formed. It included Springfield
proper, and left Millburn, Maplewood, and South
Orange in Essex County. On March 17, 1869 part
of Summit Township was formed from the western
part of Springfield. Since then the boundaries
have remained unchanged.
The main thoroughfares in Springfield follow
their colonial paths; Shunpike and Milltown Roads
were followed as alternate routes to avoid tolls
on the Newark and Essex Pike (Morris Ave.). The
stone arches of the bridge on Morris Avenue at
Van Winkle’s Brook date back to 1873. One
of the main roads, known now as Springfield Avenue,
was originally called Seven Bridges Road since
that many were needed to cross the many small
streams feeding into the Rahway River.
Primarily a rural area until the 20th Century,
by 1830 Springfield had a population of 1653
(93 were single men). There were 12 paper mills,
one distillery, seven merchants, three taverns,
five stores, and two churches. Much has changed,
but much of our early history can be seen, visited,
traced or felt in the Springfield of today.
Springfield
Historical Society
126 Morris Avenue
Springfield, New Jersey 07081
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