By Jack Farrell Having spent my entire life in Warren, I have seen many changes. When I was a child growing up here, Warren Township was almost entirely rural, consisting mostly of farms and small villages, such as Union Village, Mount Bethel, South Stirling, Warrenville, Springdale, Coontown and Mount Horeb. In my youth, each village had its own one room schoolhouse. Some of the old schoolhouses are still a part of our community today. The South Stirling, Mountainview (Dead River), Warrenville and Springdale schools are now residences. The Mt. Bethel school, which was on the property of Our Lady of the Mount, was torn down to make room for the new Parish Center. The Mt. Horeb school, the only school that exists today in its original state, is still located on the corner of Mt. Horeb and Dock Watch Hollow Roads. I was lucky enough to have spent time in these schools and to have known some of the teachers, namely Mrs. Bernadine Nuse and Jessie Meyers. Most of the farms of those days are also long gone. On the East end of the Township there was the Muller, Cooper and Wagner farms. Wagner's is the only one left that is still recognizable as a farm. Myers farm was on Old Stirling Road and the Duderstadt farm was on DuBois Road. On the West end of the township there was the Betrock, Bowers, Langanack, Woods, Dealaman and Suckoe farms as well as the Buckran, Ferriero, Weggans and Luca farms. On the Southern end of town was the Mundy, Dealaman, Freiday, Zimmerman, Jennings, Bowers, Horster, Johnson and the Meyer farms. A portion of the Johnson and Horster farms still exist on Washington Valley Road. Many of these farmers were also producers of products that were sold to the residents in town. Milk was sold by the Freidays, Betzolds, Wagners, Salvadores and Schmaltzs. The Suckoes, Harold Mundy and the Duderstadts sold garden produce. Roadside stands were also a part of our local history. There were produce stands on Mountain Boulevard, the Williams stand on Washington Valley Road, Harold Mundy, the Johnsons and Cramers had stands where they sold home made buttermilk, soda and ice cream. Harold Mundy's stand on Washington Valley Road is now operated by the Sages. And of course Hugo Duderstadt ran his produce stand on DuBois Road until his death last year. The "Good Humor" man was a very common sight in rural areas pre and post World War Two. Another part of rural Warren was the "rag" or "junk" man who made trips through the countryside collecting and buying old rags and any kind of so called junk that could be salvaged; the work provided the "junkman" a living, especially during the Depression. Prior to and after World War Two, there were many peddlers, as we called them, and vendors who sold goods door to door. The Fuller Brush man was much appreciated by the women and always returned on a timely schedule with the things his customers had ordered on a previous visit. Hellick's Coffee had a deliveryman who made scheduled visits to his steady customers in town as did Watkins, the spice company. Local vendors included Edwin Mundy and Tom Farrell, who had ice routes. Earl Ising sold eggs and bacon. You must remember that prior to the war, families would have to travel many miles to shop for their daily needs. Supermarkets were simply unknown. Many families either had no cars or only one, and that was used primarily for traveling back and forth to work. Mass transportation was minimal: There was only one bus line in the eastern end of the township that traveled from Millington to Plainfield on a daily basis. This bus line stopped operation in the late 1950s or early 60s. You can see how important the peddler, whether a local fellow or from out of town, was to Warren residents in those days. The first bakery that I can remember was opeerated by the Geblehousens, who lived on Mountain Avenue across the road from the Charles Wagner farm (the house is still there today). The freshly baked bread was delivered by Vincent Linginetto. Dugan' s Bakery made daily trips to the folks in town for many years, only stopping in the 60s. Milk was sold and delivered by many farmers, including Danny Salvato, the Freidays, John Bezold, the Wagners and Schmaltz. Wagner's was the last working dairy in the township, closing its doors only within the last 15 years. On Thursdays and Fridays we were visited by the "Fishman." Smalley's Fish Market in Dunellen made shopping for fish very easy by going door-to-door and selling fresh fish. This was especially appreciated by the Catholics at the time, because they could not eat meat on Fridays. One of the other agricultural pursuits common in Warren was chicken and egg farming, and there were many - the Ratners, Rosenbergs, Magets and Penns, to name only a few. The Ratners delivered eggs door-door and the Penns sold eggs to many local businesses until recently. Norman Penn, a long time resident, just recently retired; he and his family sold eggs in their newly devised vending machine on Mountain Boulevard across from town hall. Their "Egg O Mat" was an early version of a vending machine. These were interesting times, times that are too soon forgotten. It wasn't a time of companies that sold their goods worldwide, but small businessmen, and of people finding various ways to support a family. I remember that they were pleasant, honest people to do business with, many of them willing to wait until the next visit for a customer to pay - especially in the Thirties when times were hard. In those days, when almost every family suffered from the bad times, people were truly neighborly and cared about each other. Such was the life in a small rural town like ours was once. For those of us who have spent our entire lives in Warren Township and knew almost everyone in town, recent years have brought dramatic changes. © Warren Township Historical Society |