The latest from the Sussex County Historical Society Facebook page…
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Sussex County Historical Society - NJ
Sussex County County Historical Society, Hill Museum
82 Main Street
Newton, NJ 07860
973-383-6010
http://www.sussexhistory.org/
Any train buffs in your family? As many of you know, NJ Transit is rebuilding the Lackawanna Cutoff from Port Morris to a new station site in Andover. The right of way has been cleared west of the Roseville tunnel to the new Andover station site where an area has been cleared for the station and a parking lot. The interior of the tunnel has been waterproofed. It is hoped that Amtrak will continue the rebuilding of the Cutoff to Scranton, Pa. You can read about the building of the original Cutoff from 1908 to 1911 in local Sussex county newspapers in William Strait's "Building the Lackawanna Cutoff" which is available for sale from the Sussex County Historical Society. Go to our expanded bookstore on our website at www.sussexhistory.org and click on shop to see our book offerings. Paypal is accepted.
John O'Brien has been busy repairing gravestones at the Old Newton Burial Ground. Over the past few weeks, he has been putting the stone of Joseph S. Cassedy back together. Once again, he had to cut a piece to complete the stone.
One of the more popular items in our online bookstore is the 1860 Hopkins Map Book of Sussex County. This is a 12” by 17” large format booklet with a single township printed on each page. This Hopkins map of Sussex County shows grist and saw mills, school houses, wheelwright, blacksmith and paint shops, lime kilns, roads, streams as well as residences and their owners. We are fortunate that Hopkins chose to favor us with his careful work. As a special offer we are selling the Map Book with the Alphabetical Index, compiled by Richard M. Stevens, for the price of $36. This Index is an alphabetical listing of all the names which occur on the 1860 Map of Sussex County in New Jersey produced by G.M. Hopkins, Jr., C.E. Each name is presumably associated with a house or other building such as a shop or mill. The name is supposed to be the property owner, and most have been confirmed from deed or census records. To purchase this offer go to our website at www.sussexhistory.org and click on the “shop” tab and look for the Map Book and Index Combo. Share some Sussex County history. Paypal is accepted.
Today in #NJhistory: #OTD, June 8, 1753 Sussex County was formed from a portion of Morris County. Sussex County at this time encompassed present-day Sussex and Warren Counties and was composed of Walpack Township, Greenwich Township, Hardwick Township, and Newtown Township. It was named after County Sussex, England. Map published by Carlos Allen, M.D., Publisher, 1860. Source: Library of Congress. #spreadthehistory ![]()
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Museum Monday ![]()
Continental Currency![]()
Have you ever heard the expression “not worth a Continental”? To raise money for the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress issued paper money from 1775 to 1779 equal to Spanish milled dollars. The bills quickly lost value because they were not backed by physical assets like gold or silver. The depreciation was also made worse by the proliferation of British counterfeits. They were first issued in denominations of $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8 and $20. Later fractions of a dollar such as $1/3, $1/2 and others were added. By 1779 higher denominations were added including $40, $60, $80 and others.![]()
From the Hill Museum collection are two examples of Continental Currency: a $3 bill issued in 1776 and a $7 bill issued in 1777. They were both printed by Sellers and Hall in Philadelphia. Note that they were issued by the United Colonies and called Continental Currency. Attempts to foil British counterfeiters by adding impressions from leaves was attempted. Continental Currency collapsed in 1781 when its value had dropped to 75 to 1 in most states.