Basking Ridge was originally settled in the 1720s by British Presbyterians escaping religious persecution. The land was bought from the Lenape Native Americans.
Bernards Township was officially chartered on May 21, 1760, granted by King George II and granted to Sir Francis Bernard, first governor of the noted section which includes Basking Ridge.
On the morning of December 13, 1776, General Charles Lee was captured by the British at Widow White's tavern. Lee had ranked next to Washington in command.
A referendum to create an independent borough of Basking Ridge failed in June 1921. Voters rejected the proposed borough by a more than 4–1 margin.
With the death of Lord Stirling the family disappears from the active life of the village of Basking Ridge. His estate, owing to his extravagance and the depreciation of the Continental currency, was so deeply involved that he died practically bankrupt. The Basking Ridge estate passed out of the family, and the splendours of The Buildings were soon
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dated about 1730, the date when the Annin family located here, and the place was long known as Annin's Corner. It was to all intents and purposes a part of Basking Ridge, having no church of its own for a hundred years. The first regular pastor of the Basking Ridge Church, the Rev. John Cross, lived
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Basking Ridge, 1783 to 1947
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1900
2008