The Miniskink Path was a Native American Path or Trail, part of a network of paths used by Native Americans of the Algonquian and Ir0quoian speaking peoples of Northeastern North America. It was used by those peoples as a route from the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean, and it passed through the Hobart Gap. Present-day Route 24 follows the old Miniskink Path.
The large compound on the corner of Morris Avenue and River Road in Summit was built in 1936 by the pharmaceutical company Ciba. Since then, it has changed hands numerous times through mergers and acquisitions, and is now owned by the pharmaceutical company Merck. The facility has been a major landholder and employer in the area. Several pharmaceutical products, amongst them the drug to treat attention deficit disorder Ritalin, was developed here.
Present-day Summit was the site of a community of Lenni Lenape Native Americans. The Lenni Lenape, part of a larger group of Indian tribes which inhabited the Northeastern parts of North America, were often referred to as a group historically as the “Delaware Indians”. The community in Summit occupied the area of land on which the Summit Municipal Golf Course is now located. Work there in 1964 uncovered old Native American fire pits, broken arrowheads, and a pipe. The Lenni Lenape were eventually driven westward during colonial expansion and, after the Revolution, during the United States’ westward expansion. They now collectively number around 16,000, and are located on reservations in Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
Rev. Thomas Cook built Summit’s first church, the Calvary Episcopal Church (a simple wooden structure), with his own hands in 1872 to serve the growing congregation of Episcopalians from New York who used Summit as a summer retreat. Located at 472 Springfield Avenue (roughly, the present-day location of the entrance and exits to the downtown parking garage), it operated as the main church for the congregation until January, 1893, when it burned to the ground when remaining Christmas greenery caught fire while the gas lamps were being lit for Sunday service. The congregation rebuilt the church in 1896, which stands today at the corner of Deforest and Woodland
The complete name was the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western RR, and it was the original line that commuters took to New York City. Frequent delays caused commuters to refer to the DL&W as the “Delay, Linger & Wait.” The longest wait occurred during the blizzard of 1888. Trains were stalled for days by drifts 20 to 30 feet high.
Pictured: DL&W steam engine standing in Summit, circa 1905. Courtesy of Summit Historical Society.
Founded in 1907, Oratory Prep was first known as Carlton Academy. Today it is a private Roman Catholic prep school for boys. Although he was born in Neptune, New Jersey and raised in Asbury Park, actor Danny DeVito graduated from Oratory Prep in 1961. He appeared in only one play, though, in the role of St. Francis of Assisi.
Photo courtesy of Glenn Francis, Source: Wikipedia
Old Sow, a cannon that fired 18-pound cannon balls, was placed on the “Heights Above Springfield” (now Beacon Hill). From here, Washington’s troops could see British troop movements all the way to New York Harbor. When fired, the cannon served as an alarm signaling the “Minute Men” to action. The plaque, pictured at right, is located at 226 Hobart Avenue, near Beacon Rd.
Photo courtesy of Revolutionary War New Jersey
Where you can learn more about Revolutionary War historic sites in NJ
Lawton Johnson faced many challenges even at a young age. When he was three, his mother contracted polio and she never walked again. He met his father for the first time when he was 12 years old, and only saw him twice in his life. After graduating from the Summit public school system, he stayed in Summit to teach, and became the Summit School District’s longest tenured faculty member, starting in 1956 and retiring in 2007, a 52-year teaching career. In 2004, the School District named the Summit Middle School after him in his honor. He passed away in 2009.
Phoebe Snow was a fictional advertising character for the Delaware, Lakawana and Western Railroad. The “Phoebe Snow” rail line ran from Buffalo to Hoboken through Summit. The character Phoebe Snow was dressed in white, symbolizing the lack of soot from the clean-burning coal used by the rail line, which assured passengers that their clothes wouldn’t be soiled with soot during the voyage.
The late singer, Pheobe Ann Laub, who grew up in New Jersey, later adopted the name of this fictional character as her stage name.
Source: Summit Historical Society; Wikipedia
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Bryant’s Tavern
Bryant’s Tavern, located during Revolutionary times in the present-day vicinity of Broad St and Route 24, figured prominently as a continental army gathering point in two different Revolutionary war fights: An early skirmish between Continental and British Forces on December 17, 1776, during which Continental Troops forced the British Troops to retreat; and again during the Battle of Springfield on June 23, 1780, as a rallying point for Continental Army General Nathanael Greene’s troops. The Battle of Springfield was to be the last battle of the Revolution in the North. Because of the subsequent decisive battles in the South, the Battle of Springfield has become known as the “forgotten victory.”