| A Chronology of the Post Offices serving Long Hill Township |
| Apr, 1838 - Nov, 1905 |
Long Hill (In December, 1895, renamed Longhill "to conform, in orthography, to ... the OFFICIAL POSTAL GUIDE") |
| Dec, 1817 - Oct, 1821 |
Doughty's Mills (In Somerset County. Assumed to be on the Passaic River below the Gorge.) In 1820, the 16th Congress voted to establish a post road "From Liberty Corner by Doughty's mills [sic] and New Providence, to Springfield, in New Jersey." County Route 512 (Springfield Ave. and Valley Road) connects these places today. |
| Oct, 1821 - Feb, 1841 |
Millington (in Somerset County) |
| Feb, 1841 - July, 1845 |
Millington |
| July, 1845 - Feb, 1855 |
Millington (in Somerset County) |
| Feb, 1855 - Present |
Millington |
| 1866 |
Passaic Township is formed |
| December, 1871 |
The New Jersey West Line Railroad begins scheduled train service between Bernardsville and Summit |
| Jan, 1872 - Present |
Stirling |
| Jan, 1872 - Present |
Gillette |
| Extracted from "New Jersey Postal History", John L. Kay and Chester M. Smith, Jr., 1977. Thanks to the Pequannock Township Public Library. |
Locating the Long Hill Post Office
The former webmaster believes that the Long Hill Post Office (1838) was on the south side of Valley Road at the intersection with Morristown Road (the site of the new Town Hall). An 1868 map shows a Post Office at that location. 1868 was 3 years before the railroad, which led to the establishment of the Stirling and Gillette Post Offices.
Turn-of-the-century maps show a post office in Meyersville, but postal history never mentions that Meyersville was designated as the name of a Post Office.
The Long Hill Post Office "closed" in January, 1872 (on the date that the Stirling and Gillette Post Offices were established). The Long Hill Post Office officially re-opened six weeks later and stayed open until 1905.
The webmaster speculates the following sequence of events:
In 1872, the Stirling and Gillette Post Offices were established on the railroad. The "Long Hill" Post Office was on Valley Road, a muddy farm road. It was less than a mile from either of the two new offices, and that would seem unreasonable.
Quite probably, when the Stirling and Gillette offices were opened, the "Long Hill" Post Office on Valley Road was briefly closed, then relocated to Meyersville, keeping the same name.
From 1838, the Long Hill Post Office had not actually been on Long Hill. It was in flood plain farmland. The name "Long Hill" might have made some sense in 1838, before Passaic Township was created (1866). But after the railroad memorialized the names Gillette and Stirling with stations and post offices, it would make sense to actually put the Long Hill Post Office on Long Hill itself - in Meyersville.
The 1905 topographic map labels the Meyersville area as "Long Hill". This is consistent with having a Post Office of that name in the vicinity.
We will continue to investigate these mysteries. If any reader can shed any light, please contact the Historical Society.
