The early settlers in Green Brook had to sustain themselves long before the strip malls on the highway. The mountain had one copper mine, but other than that the area was only good for hunting game. That left the plains for farming and the Green Brook to provide a living. If one were lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family like the Vails’, you could just wait to be given an inherit acreage that you could farm. Otherwise you might have to work for someone else for many, many years to save enough to buy a few acres to farm for yourself.
Most of the farms were planted a few livestock for personal use. Use of the land varied depending on the quality of the soil. In the Washington Valley over the mountain, fruit trees were plentiful, but the Green Brook soil did not lend itself to that.
The most productive area in Green Brook was the actual Green Brook itself. Currently just a slow moving, often shallow, body of water which is not in play other than the occasional devastating flood. But in the 1700’s and 1800’s it was the hub of commerce. The water table was much higher then and dams were built to harness the flow for useful water power. Keeping in mind that the brook was a flowing body of water, it is less surprising that at various times there were no less than five viable mills between Sebring’s Mill and the current Washington Avenue. The best known in the current era is Sebring’s Mill. It started as a gristmill for the farmers, but later a sawmill was added. The gristmill burned in the 1800’s but remains of the sawmill could still be seen as late as 1940.
Almost a mile to the east was Goad’s Mill. Not to be confused with goat’s milk. A gristmill, it was just to the east of the Trust House (Dog Park). Built before the Revolution, the millstones were removed in 1892 and it burned to the ground in 1915. There are other industries which you can learn about at our meetings.
The Green Brook Cultural Heritage and Historic Preservation Committee and The Green Brook Historical Society meet the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Green Brook Town Hall located at 111 Greenbrook Rd., Green Brook, NJ. We are always looking for people interested in history and culture to join our group, as a guest or a member. For more information about the Green Brook Historical Society, visit www.gbhsnj.org.
(above) A millstone is a stone used to grind grain.
