Pottersville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

split between Bedminster Township in Somerset County, Tewksbury Township in

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,Washington Township in Morris County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, United States. The area is served as

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

ZIP Code 07979. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

, the population for

ZIP Code Tabulation Area ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are statistical entities developed by the United States Census Bureau for tabulating summary statistics. These were introduced with the Census 2000 and continued with the 2010 Census and 5 year American Community ...

07979 was 589. In 1990, most of the village was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as the Pottersville Village Historic District.

Demographics

Education

The

Purnell School The Purnell School was a progressive private all-girls boarding high school located in Pottersville, within Bedminster, New Jersey, about an hour and one-half west of New York City, and two hours north of Philadelphia. Purnell School was a membe ...

, a private all-girls boarding high school founded in 1963, was located in Pottersville. In February 2021, Purnell School announced that it would cease operations upon the completion of the 2020-2021 academic year. Later that year,

Pingry School The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, and a Middle (6–8) and Upper School (9–12) campus ...

purchased the 82-acre campus to use as an extension of its existing campuses in

Basking Ridge Basking Ridge is an Local government in New Jersey#Unincorporated communities, unincorporated community located within Bernards Township, New Jersey, Bernards Township in the Somerset Hills region of Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset Count ...

and Short Hills.

History

Pottersville was first called Lamington and afterwards Potters Mills. There were mills here as early as 1756 built and owned by William Willet. One Mill still stands on the left side of County Route 512 heading towards Califon. It was originally used for weaving woolen goods and later turned into a grist mill. The first grist mill was built along the Lamington River (Black River), but no longer stands. A commemorative plaque has taken its place. William Willet owned a day book in which he recorded sales to the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the Revolutionary War. His main consideration became supplying the Continental Army. He was paid in Continental currency which around 1780 became worthless. He was ruined financially and was forced to sell both mills to Serrin Potter in 1783, which led to the community's name. In 1887 upwards of 200,000 baskets of peaches were shipped from Pottersville and New Germantown (Oldwick) by wagons to Chester, Whitehouse and other area communities. The profitable peach growing industry led the

Rockaway Valley Railroad The Rockaway Valley Railroad, also known as the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Railroad and informally known as the Rock-A-Bye Baby, was an American short line. Built from a connection with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) mainline in Whit ...

to build a spur to Pottersville in 1888. Black River Falls in Pottersville prompted the railroad to run excursions to the falls. The land around the glen were made into picnic grounds and an amusement park. There was a merry-go-round, dance pavilion and refreshment stand. Some visitors came from Jersey City, N.J. and usually stayed at the Pottersville Hotel. Failure of the peach crop eventually resulted in the end of the Rockaway Railroad. One town resident remembers the park open as late as 1920.

Historic district

The Pottersville Village Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

encompassing the village. The district was added to the

on September 18, 1990 for its significance in industry, commerce, architecture, settlement, and archeology from 1750 to 1924. It includes 44

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, 4 contributing sites and 2 contributing structures. With

Gallery

File:23 Fairmount Road East, Pottersville, NJ.jpg, Upper Mill, now a residence File:Lower Mill Site, Pottersville, NJ.jpg, Lower Mill site, with commemorative plaque File:Lamington River, Pottersville, NJ.jpg, Lamington River by Lower Mill site File:11 Pottersville Road, Pottersville, NJ.jpg, Former Pottersville Store and Post Office File:11 Fairmount Road East, Pottersville, NJ.jpg, Italianate style house File:7 Fairmount Road East, Pottersville, NJ.jpg, Federal style house File:1 McCann Mill Road, Pottersville NJ.jpg, Victorian Style House

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Pottersville include: *

Harriet Adams Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (December 12, 1892 – March 27, 1982) was an American juvenile book packager, children's novelist, and publisher who was responsible for some 200 books over her literary career. She wrote the plot outlines for many boo ...

(1893–1982), author of some 200 books, including nearly 50 in the ''

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Cre ...

'' series.Chira, Susan
"HARRIET ADAMS DIES; NANCY DREW AUTHOR WROTE 200 NOVELS"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 29, 1982. Accessed October 7, 2007. "Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, who wrote nearly 200 children's books including many of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, died Saturday evening. She was 89 years old, and lived in Pottersville and Maplewood, N.J."

References

External links

* * {{authority control Bedminster, New Jersey Tewksbury Township, New Jersey Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Hunterdon County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Morris County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Somerset County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Hunterdon County, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Morris County, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey