05 September 2007

Pop Quiz

In honor of the first day of school tomorrow, perhaps a little pop-quiz is in order. There are nine schools in the Hillsborough Township School District. Do you know where they all are? I'll give you the first two. The High School is located at the corner of Amwell Road and Raider Boulevard. The Middle School is on Triangle Road near Farm Road. The other seven? that's easy - six are named for the road where they are located: Woods Road, Sunnymead, Amsterdam. Auten Road, Triangle and Woodfern, and the seventh, Hillsborough Elementary, is located in the designated "center" of Hillsborough - Route 206 and Amwell Road.

But that's not your quiz. Around the time of the Civil War, Hillsborough was divided into fifteen school "districts" - numbers 39 through 53 in Somerset County. Each district had its own school - and in a 54 square mile town (actually larger than that in the 1860s with Manville and Millstone included) it was good to have a school nearby.

Now for the quiz. Each district had a name and a number - do you know where the schools were?

39 Woodville School
40 Harmony Plains School
41 New Centre School
42 Liberty School
43 Bloomingdale School
44 Millstone School
45 Crossroads School
46 Blackwells School
47 Pleasantview School
48 Mountain School
49 Washington School
50 Flaggtown Station School
51 Neshanic School
52 Pleasant Valley School
53 Clover Hill School

Let me hear you best guesses in the comments area. Gotta go - I think I hear the school bus already!

4 comments:

  1. I know

    Of three former schools in Hillsborough, but I’m not sure what their names were.

    There used to be two along Rt. 206, one near Hillsborough Rd and the other near Valley Rd. Both of these have been raised. There is one out on Amwell near Clover-Hill road and it has been turned into a private residents.

    Of course the Bloomingdale School you mentioned is now the Maintenance building for the BoE located just east of HES

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  2. Good guesses 08844. The school on 206 near Hillsborough Road was the Pleasant View District 47 school. The one near Valley Road was the district 42 Liberty School. And the one near Clover Hill was obviously the district 53 Clover Hill School. You got the Bloomingdale district 43 school, but you missed th Flagtown School, district 50, on South Branch Road.

    Of course the school buildings you remember from 25 years ago may not be the same ones that were there in the 1860s! And of course the Millstone district 44 school on River Road in Millstone and the Harmony Plains district 40 school on Main Street in Manville are no longer in Hillsborough.

    That leaves just 8 schools unaccounted for. Keep thinking!

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  3. Sort of off-topic, but I couldn't find any other way to send you a message. I have a suggestion for a blog entry. How about writing about the history of Duke Farms as it relates to the development of Hillsborough? It has always puzzled me how this landmark can exist in our town and occupy very little of our thoughts. Why isn't its history written into every school child's lessons? Why aren't there mandatory school trips to teach every child about this jewel in their midst? Why isn't there a closer relationship between Hillsborough and the foundation? Most people only know the Duke Estate as something to be driven through or around. That's a shame.

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  4. Good idea, Midnight Dad. The relationship between the Duke estate and Hillsborough has nearly always been contentious - with lawsuits back and forth, etc. At one time the grounds of the estate were open as a public park, but litter and bad behavior by picnickers forced that to end. Only recently have things cooled off.

    I'll look into this. Thanks for reading and your continued suggestions.

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