In July 1976 two members of the township’s historical society, Eileen K. Cameron and Barbara B. Tomblin, spearheaded an unsuccessful effort to place Union Village on the National Register of Historic Places as a “historic district.” “The Union Village Historic District comprises eight buildings, one church and six houses of historic significance and an intrusion of one modern home,” they wrote in their application. “The buildings, all on Mountain Avenue, clustered around the intersection of Mountain Avenue and Hillcrest Road, date from the early years of the 19th century. The area still retains the flavor of a small country village at a green and wooded rural crossroads. The Village appears today almost exactly as it did in 1825 when the Union Village Methodist Church was built there. Some of the houses have undergone alteration but the physical entity of the original village remains. “The six original houses in Union Village were all built as farm houses in simple but differing styles. All have additions to the original house and alterations naturally to facilitate modern living. “The houses on the opposite sides of the district, Weston's at 1133 Mountain Avenue and Jaye's at 11 Mountain Avenue are quite similar in that both have changed little in appearance since construction and both are rectangular in shape, presenting a long, low appearance, which is quite typical for farmhouses in western Jersey. Both houses have front porches which may have been added at a later date. 11 Mountain Avenue has one chimney while 1133 Mountain Avenue boasts two chim neys. Behind 1133 Mountain Avenue, the first house in Warren and in the Union Village Historic District when beginning at the Berkeley Heights boundary, is what appears to be the original barn. Some of the beams in the barn are exposed and are large and crudely untrimmed tree trunks. The owner states that on the western wall of the house there is a large fireplace with a raised, waist-high, hearth that may be part of the rumored blacksmith's shop of the village. “Proceeding westerly from 1133 Mountain Avenue, the next house in the district is 5 Mountain Avenue. The exterior of the house appears to have been moderately changed with a kitchen wing on the north side and second-floor dormers added. In the interior, the numbered rafters, old plaster and floorboards indicate that the house is over 150 years old. Across the street on the south side is 6 Mountain Avenue, a small farm house which appears from the front exterior with its second story eyebrow windows to have changed little since it was erected. The front porch was probably a later addition. Next door is 8 Mountain Avenue, the Village's original store. The middle section of the house is the oldest, with the porch an addition, perhaps for the store. “The next building on the south side of Mountain Avenue is Number 10, the Stonyhill Playhouse, the original building of the Union Village Methodist Church, built in 1825. The church is a charming example of simplified Greek Revival architecture. Its lovely classical appearance derives from its symmetry, with its front windows evenly placed on either side of the front door, the simple pilasters flanking either side of the door evenly, its classical proportions and the balancing of architectural details such as the use of the pilasters three times on the facade of the church, first flanking the door, second decorating the edges of the front of the building, repeating the exact style but enlarged slightly, and thirdly, on the front edges of the belfry tower. Some classic details on the building are the simple pilasters which are a plain, non-tapered column rising up to a simple Doric capital; round classic arches rising from the Doric capital over the front door and over the simplified Palladian-type windows; and the triangular cornice and pediment which is repeated again for balance in a smaller form over the windows on the belfry tower. The original interior room was quite simple but has been changed to accommodate the Stonyhill Players. The rear and side additions were made more recently. “Number 12 Mountain Avenue's middle section appears to be the oldest part of the house, with its exposed hand-hewn beams and site of the original fireplace and dutch oven. Number 9 Mountain Avenue is an intrusion in the district, being built during World War I. “The Union Village Historic District is historically significant for it is the only village area still intact and retaining its in tegrity and flavor in Warren Township, which was in early years a loosely knit group of villages. It is also one of the few remaining rural villages in the surrounding area which does not show signs of modern intrusions and commercialism. “Union Village grew up at the crossroads of Mountain Avenue which leads to New Providence in the east and Hillcrest Road which leads to Plainfield to the south and Morristown to the north. Settlers started to arrive in the area about 1740-50* and it is thought that most of the houses in Union Village were built a little later as the area developed, about 1800-1820. The evidence in cellars and attics of hand-hewn beams and details of early construction indicate that all six houses are probably at least 150 years old. It is considered probable that the four houses closest to the corner, Numbers 1133, 5, 6 and 8 predate the building of the Union Village Methodist Church in 1825 by ten to twenty years. The exact date of naming the village after the Union is found in Betsey Crane's diary. On July 5, 1824 Mrs. Crane wrote, "A great time at Elam Genung's. A Liberty Pole raised and the place called Union Village." “Union Village at that time was a self-sufficient place with most cultivating their own farms, a store operating at 8 Mountain Avenue by Elam Genung, a church, and a blacksmith. The Union Village Methodist Church is a charming example of a simple country church in the Greek revival style typical of the period. The only intrusion in the district, 9 Mountain Avenue, built during World War I is not obtrusive since it is in a simple colonial style. “Several of the early settlers of Union Village were veterans of the Revolutionary War. Isaac Moore served as a private and lived later at 12 Mountain Avenue. David French served in the Somerset Brigade and lived in the Village, possibly at 1133 Mountain Avenue. George Townley was a private in the militia and lived at 5 Mountain Avenue.” The appearance of Union Village changed dramatically within a few years of the Cameron-Tomblin application. After the Stony Hill Players vacated the old church building in the early 1980s, the new owners turned it into a private residence, tearing down the front portion of the building and enclosing what remained with a high fence. (See Warren History, Spring 1996) In the summer of 1984, the then-owners of No. 5 Mountain Avenue, tired of living at the edge of an intersection growing busier by the day, decided to move their home away from the street. Other development at the intersection of Hillcrest Road and Mountain Avenue has unalterably changed the appearance of what was once a quiet country crossroads village. [*Ed. Note: I would put the first settlement of this area a bit earlier, about 1730 or so.] |