Books on Vernon Township’s History
Currently the Vernon Township Historical Society is offering three books for sale. To purchase one of the books, fill out the form with a check payable to the Vernon Township Historical Society and mail it to
Vernon Township Historical Society
P.O. Box 387
Vernon, NJ 07462
There is a $5 shipping charge for the first book and $2.50 shipping charge for each additional book. Shipping costs for booklets are $1.50 for the first one and $1 for each additional one.
For information, contact the Society at [email protected]
Author Ronald J Dupont Jr.
Well respected writer and published author Ronald J. Dupont Jr. is considered Vernon’s pre-eminent historian. The Vernon Historical Society is fortunate to have an expert such as Mr. Dupont among its Board of Trustees. He has published two books on the history of Vernon Township. Vernon 200: A Bicentennial History of the Township of Vernon, New Jersey 1792-1992 is the only one of its kind with the complete history of the township. It features the township’s first settlers, its famous residents, Vernon in 1776, early transportation, historic sites, town government, villages, churches, schools, cemeteries, industries, and much more from the 1700s to the 1990s.
Author Jessica Paladini
Jessica Paladini wrote the pictorial bicentennial album Vernon Township: 1772-1972 featuring the history of the township and its people, government, schools, churches, organizations, and what makes Vernon Township the community that it is. The Vernon Township BIcentennial Committee published the book in 1992.
Bertha Martin Compton
Bertha Martin Compton was a teacher in the one-room Prices Switch Schoolhouse from 1927 to 1938. Compton documents her experiences as a teacher in one of Vernon Township’s first schools. Compton writes, “My teacher’s contract for the school year of 1927-1928 was issued in April of 1927. It was contingent upon successfully completing high school and passing the college entrance examinations ... My contract called for a salary of $80 for teaching and $5 for janitor services per month.” Compton writes about the conditions at the school and the typical school day. The 17-page booklet also contains maps of the school, the original floor plan, and the nomination for listing of the school on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
Beatrice Masker and Bertha Martin Compton
The Vernon Township Historical Society and the Vernon Township Bicentennial Committee co-sponsored the publication of this booklet in 1992, Vernon Township’s bicentennial year. Co-authors Beatrice Masker and Bertha Martin Compton, both teachers at the one-room Price’s Switch School, wrote the booklet. It describes the history of education in Vernon Township, the progress of education, transportation to schools, and educational and instructional aids over the decades. Masker taught in Vernon schools for 40 years. Compton taught for 29 years. Both educators tell of their experiences during those years.
An excerpt from the booklet
“In 1900, the elementary school children walked to school, many walking several miles. The high school pupils needed to get to the railroad station and ride on the train. Vernon students went to Hamburg High School ... The first public school transportation began in 1914. Drivers and their horses were hired to take the high school students to Hamburg High School. Wagons were used in the warm weather and in the winter sleds were needed ... Sometimes the horses couldn’t pull the sled up a steep hill so the students would get out to lessen the load and push the sled to help the horses.”