That Other Depot

Somerset County announced plans recently to purchase a small part of what was once called the Somerville Army Quartermaster Depot. The Depot was built in 1942 as a supply depot and prisoner of war camp. It is located just west of Route 206, about 2.5 miles south of Somerville in Hillsborough Township. There is rail access from the Norfolk Southern Railroad, and in the 1940s there was also a connection to the Central Railroad of New Jersey. More information about the depot can be found here.

The small portion that the county is purchasing was given many years ago to the US Postal Service and was in use as one of only two major supply distribution centers in the United States. Known as the Eastern Area Supply Center, the facility did not handle mail, but rather supplies used at the more than 21,000 post offices in the eastern U.S.

In 1972, the New York Times described the supply center as a "shopping center for postmasters". The center supplied not only office items, but also furniture, money orders, and even the firearms carried by postal inspectors. Items were stored in two huge warehouses totaling 385,000 square feet.

Somerset County has not decided what the property will be specifically used for, but it is adjacent to other County owned property on Roycefield Road. One interesting aspect of the Postal Service property that was not mentioned in newspaper accounts is that the septic system used by the rest of the depot leaches into a field on the USPS property. This brings to mind a money-making possibility, as Somerset County could surely charge the depot owners for use of the leach field. Why not? I'm thinking maybe 41 cents a flush!


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