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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
MENDHAM, 24.9 miles (600 alt., 1,278 pop.), is a village of bay-windowed Victorian homes and great maples that arch over Main St. to
shade the quiet walks. Two inns opposite each other at the town's cross-
roads center dimly echo a rivalry that dates back to Colonial times: the
BLACK HORSE INN (R) and the PHOENIX HOUSE (L). A sign outside
the Black Horse fixes the date of its establishment at 1743. In the barroom, however, is a framed card that advertises the birth year as 1735. According to those inhabitants who have wondered about the discrepancy
themselves, 1735 was the estimate of a former proprietor. He had the card
made, and then commissioned a local sign painter to emblazon the date
outside. That sign painter seems to have been a man of considerable historiographic conscience. The true date, he said, was 1743. He thought the
sign was a good idea; but it would go up right or not at all. The sign
went up. The present owner is inclined to agree with his predecessor, but
the sign still sways in the breeze.
A lone white frame building on sloping meadowland houses the BELL
TELEPHONE AERONAUTICAL GROUND STATION (not open to public),
Kennedy Rd., established in 1930. It is the only experimental laboratory
of its kind in the country. Aviators commonly call it the "central office of
the skies" because it is in frequent contact with airliners in order to improve radio-telephoning between airships and the ground.
High on a hill at 25.7 miles is ST. JOHN BAPTIST SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, an
Episcopal institution conducted by the Sisters of St. John the Baptist.
At 25.9 miles is (R) the WELL SWEEP ANTIQUE SHOP, housed in an old
frame dwelling with the clutter of years on its porch. Rising majestically
out of the jumble is its most startling exhibit, a life-sized wooden horse of
the type once common in harness shops and now extensively collected by
Henry Ford. Beside the door is a slate for messages from callers when
Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Fisher are not at home. In the summer of 1937, Mrs.
Fisher found a note left by a motorist who contemplated buying the horse
for two enraptured grandchildren. The signature was "Eleanor Roosevelt."
The antique-shop owners have preserved the Roosevelt slate, but they
wouldn't think of selling the horse. "Mrs. Roosevelt wouldn't know what
to do with it if she got it," they say.
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