This week’s post was inspired by an article I recently read about the demolition of a historic house in Maplewood, New Jersey. The Fleming House was torn down by its new owners in 2023, but its fate raises questions about historic preservation and suburban growth that we’re still grappling with today.
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How I Got Here:
If you haven’t moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey in the last fifteen years, you might not be familiar with Maplewood. This Essex County suburb was once considered part of greater Newark—a farming community that was merely a stop along the dirt roads connecting Morristown and Jersey City. In recent years, however, it has become a popular landing spot for young families looking for a New Jersey version of Park Slope.
All of this means many Maplewood residents are transplants (guilty!) and may feel less connected to the town’s more distant past. With the idea of “lost history” in mind, here are a few Maplewood sites that once stood as pillars of the community but have been all but erased over time.
The Crowell Cider Mill
Built in 1819, the Crowell Cider Mill ran for a full century. It sat near Parker Avenue and Valley Street behind the old Crowell homestead. The family’s farm stretched roughly a thousand feet south from Parker Avenue along what is now Valley Street, and from Kensington Terrace down to the East Branch of the Rahway River.
Back then, Parker Avenue was still a dirt road. From Valley to Prospect it was known as Crowell Road (also Vinegar Hill thanks to the mill). From Prospect toward Boyden, people called it Hilldale. Later it was renamed Parker to honor a New Jersey governor, and the old nicknames faded.
The orchards were packed with apples, cherries, peaches, and pears—especially the Canfield and Harrison apples, local favorites for cider vinegar. As Maplewood, Past and Present: A Miscellany notes, the mill started out horse-powered (literally—two horses on a sweep) before switching to steam.
The mill shut down in 1919 and eventually disappeared along with the orchards. When Columbia High School went up in 1926, several houses on the north side of Parker were moved across the street onto former Crowell farmland.
The Baptist Church of Jefferson Village
Maplewood’s first church was built in 1812 on a plot of land at the crosssection of Ridgewood Road and Claremont Avenue. It served the area’s Baptist community until 1846, when its only pastor, Elder Joseph Gildersleeve, died. He was buried with his wife and other family members in the adjoining cemetery, which is now occupied by several homes and the Maplewood Club.
After Elder Gildersleeve’s death, the church sat vacant for a number of years. A group of Methodist brethren—who had been holding meetings in the village—proposed that the remaining trustees convey the property to them in exchange for repairing and furnishing it for Methodist Episcopal services. The proposal was accepted, and on July 10, 1858, the building became the Methodist Episcopal Church of Jefferson Village. In 1870 it was renamed the Methodist Episcopal Church of Maplewood, and in 1897 it became Morrow Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church.
The little white church was later moved to the corner of Baker Street and Ridgewood Road, the current site of Morrow Memorial Methodist Church.
The Hickories
In 1862, Cornelius Van Schaick Roosevelt Jr., uncle of Theodore Roosevelt, purchased the farm of Isaac Smith in Maplewood. The property comprised about 100 acres, extending up the mountain from Ridgewood Road beyond Wyoming Avenue, and from Durand Road to Curtiss Place.
Near the center of the tract, Roosevelt built a large house with spacious rooms and wide verandas, shaded by chestnut and hickory trees—the inspiration for the estate’s name, “The Hickories.” Young Teddy Roosevelt spent parts of many summers there, roaming the woods and cataloging local wildlife. In a notebook labeled “Notes on Natural History,” he listed a dozen animals and birds. The entry is dated “Orange, New Jersey, Sept. 16, 1872.”
Cornelius Roosevelt Jr. died in 1887. Two years later the land was sold and carved into building lots. During construction of the new houses, the old Roosevelt house was destroyed by fire in November 1905. Today, street names like Kermit Road, Hickory Drive, Roosevelt Road, and Sagamore Road are the last traces of the estate.
Final Thoughts:
For all kinds of reasons, some small towns lose more of their history than others. Still, one Maplewood relic survives—literally. Along Springfield Avenue stands a 200-year-old stone marker etched “5 miles to Newark,” a small but sturdy reminder of Maplewood’s place on New Jersey’s map.