Pine Brook, Morris County, New Jersey

Pine Brook (sometimes spelled Pinebrook) is an unincorporated community located within Montville Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States.[2] The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 07058.

Pine Brook, New Jersey
Unincorporated community
Simon Van Duyne House
Pine Brook, New Jersey Pine Brook's location in Morris County (Inset: Morris County in New Jersey) Pine Brook, New Jersey Pine Brook, New Jersey (New Jersey) Pine Brook, New Jersey Pine Brook, New Jersey (the United States)
Coordinates: 40°51′37″N 74°20′26″W
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Morris
Township	Montville
Elevation	197 ft (60 m)
ZIP code	07058
GNIS feature ID	0879292[1]

The Pine Brook Speedway, which operated from July 1962 until October 1989, was designed for midget car racing and became one of the earliest sites for microstock racing. Mario Andretti raced at the track and had some of his earliest success as a race car driver at the Speedway.[3]

History

Pine Brook was first settled by Dutch farmers in the early 1700s. On April 11, 1867, the New Jersey Legislature formally united and chartered the three sections of White Hall, Montville and Pine Brook into the present day Township of Montville from territory set off from Pequannock Township.[4][5]

Pine Brook is located along a road (the western terminus of today's "Bloomfield Avenue" where it becomes U.S. Route 46) connecting the port city of Newark with the farms, foundries & mines of western New Jersey, it was a waystation for passing trade in its early days. A farming community, Pine Brook produced dairy products in addition to fruits and vegetables, and for many years there existed a large business in cider making and distilling of Cider Brandy in nearby Cider Mills. With its close proximity to Morristown, during the Revolutionary War both British and American forces traveled through the area.

"Pine Brook, being nearly surrounded by the Rockaway and Passaic Rivers, consists of what is called the Pine Brook flats, and is a level tract with soil of sandy loam free from stone, which, when properly cultivated, is productive. This part of the township of Montville is about thirteen miles from Newark, with which it is connected by a good road, which for three-quarters of the distance consists of a Telford pavement. The soil consists mainly of loam on clay bottom, and is generally productive in grass, grain, vegetables and fruit. The farmers engaged largely in the production of milk to supply the Newark market, and considerable quantities of butter, eggs, poultry, pork, beef, hay and straw were produced for market. For some years, considerable attention was given to planting choice fruit trees, and some reaped the benefits in apples and pears, which generally yielded a good return. The land in this township is chiefly rolling." (Hon. John Kanouse - 1881)

WAY STATION - "From the description of property in old deeds, it appears that between 1800 and 1810 an attempt was made to name the cluster of three or four houses at Pine Brook, where George D. Mead keeps a store, "Union Village", but as a village failed to grow up, the name was dropped and has been forgotten. At this point, a tavern was kept over eighty years and for many years it did a legitimate and profitable business in the accommodations of "Sussex Teams", as they were called, which in large numbers used to pass this way toward Newark with loads of flour, feed, grain, butter, pork, and other produce from Sussex, Warren, and the upper parts of Morris county." (Hon. John Kanouse - 1881)

Geography

Pine Brook is located at the southern end of the Hook Mountain Range and surrounded by the Pine Brook Flats; a fertile flood plain created by the surrounding Rockaway River and Passaic River. It is bounded north by Montville and Towaco (aka White Hall), east by the Passaic River across from Fairfield (Old Horse Neck) and West Caldwell, south by the Rockaway River across from East Hanover Township and west by the Rockaway River across from Parsippany and Lake Hiawatha.

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, the population for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 07058 was 5,372.[6]

Notable residents

• Travis Warech (born 1991), basketball player for Ironi Nahariya of the Israeli Premier League

References

1. "Pine Brook". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
2. Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed June 9, 2016.
3. Oberto, Dino. "Vintage racing at its best", Standard-Speaker, July 5, 2012. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Saturday's race is also taking place one day after the 50th anniversary of the opening of Pine Brook Speedway in Pine Brook, N.J., so that milestone will be noted as well. The Pine Brook track, the first purpose-built track for TQ Midgets, debuted on Friday evening, July 6, 1962, with Bob Dini claiming the historic first victory. Pine Brook is also the track in which Mario Andretti recorded his early career success and was also the birth place of Micro Stock racing."
4. Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968. Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 194. Accessed May 1, 2017.
5. Historical Timeline of Morris County Boundaries, Morris County Library. Accessed May 1, 2017. "1867, April 11. Montville Township is established from Pequannock. From PL 1867, p. 936."
6. DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 - 2010 Demographic Profile Data for ZCTA 07058 Archived 2020-02-13 at Archive.today, United States Census Bureau. Accessed May 4, 2015.