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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
Right on this road is ROCKAWAY, 1.1 miles (580 alt., 3,200 pop.), a sleepy
mountain village cupped in the narrow valley of Rockaway River. A few of the
inhabitants commute to Newark and New York, but most of them find employment
in the three industrial plants – a piece dye works, a box-making factory, and a trucking machine plant. Once the center of a thriving iron-mining district, Rockaway
today is the gateway to an almost abandoned sector of the State. The road climbs
a steep hill leading through the stagnant shopping section of the town.
At the junction of the railroad tracks and Beach Glen Brook, 1.7 miles, is BEACH
GLEN, where a sawmill produces rough-sawn boards from timber of the surrounding hills. A lumber shed and a log-cabin office are the only structures in sight, and
the only sound is the loud buzz of the saw.
HIBERNIA, 2.8 miles (580 alt., 200 POP.), is an abandoned iron-mining town.
There are a couple of dozen houses strung along the road and a like number against
the steep hillside. Until about 1912 when the Warren Foundry and Pipe Co., last
owner of the Hibernia Mine, ceased operations, Hibernia was a thriving town with
a population that rose to 3,000 as the mine reached its peak production of 300,000 tons a year. The company is disposing of 15,000 acres to residents who have remained and to summer visitors who are attracted to the lake-studded country.
At 3.4 miles a millpond, almost hidden from sight in a hollow (R), marks the
SITE OF HIBERNIA FURNACE, erected in 1763 and operated between 1767 and 1782
by William Alexander, son of the Surveyor General of New Jersey, a stanch supporter of the Colonial cause. Alexander called himself "Lord Stirling" even though
the British House of Lords refused to recognize his right to the title. Like most of
the furnaces throughout the Colony, Hibernia furnished iron for munitions for the
Revolutionary army.
MIDDLETOWN, 2.5 miles (820 alt., 100 pop.), is a cluster of well-kept frame
houses lining the road and distributed through a hollow (R).
MOUNT HOPE, 3.5 miles (840 alt.), a sprawling mining town, reflects the dawn
of better times along its main street where the houses have been well-kept and
freshly painted since the Richards and Mount Hope mines reopened. But on the
fringes of the town are rows of down-at-heel company houses in narrow, littered
yards. Many of these, beyond repair because of age and neglect, are being vacated
as mine workers buy the newer homes. The workers, mostly thrifty Hungarians, are
encouraged by the mine operators to develop their own homesites, raise their own
vegetables, chickens, and pigs. This has been an iron-producing area almost without
interruption since Colonial times. In 1772, John Jacob Faesch, one of the outstanding ironmasters of his day, built the Mount Hope Furnace, which provided muni-
tions for the Revolutionary army.
Beginning at 4.8 miles the woods on both sides of the road are fenced off with
barbed wire, and trees are placarded "U.S. Government Reservation." This is
PICATINNY ARSENAL, 5.8 miles (open only by special permit), a 1,400-acre reservation
for the manufacture and storage of munitions for the Middle Atlantic Corps of the
U. S. Army. Two brick and limestone three-story buildings and a number of smaller
wooden structures set in a landscaped park give the atmosphere of a peaceful
educational institution. A terrific explosion here on July 10, 1926, resulted in 19
deaths and $100,000,000 in damages. Bursting shells wrecked 200 buildings on the
reservation and endangered surrounding towns; the glow of flames was visible from
New York skyscrapers, more than 30 miles distant. The explosions made craters,
still unfilled, each large enough to bury a building.
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