The Oak Tree Neighborhood
Oak Tree Pond Historic Park
The Oak Tree neighborhood is named for the large oak tree which stood at the Oak Tree Corner. A market was located here during the Colonial era.
It was through this crossroads during the Revolutionary War that Generals Howe and Cornwallis lead the British Army on June 26, 1777, during the Battle of the Short Hills.
The 1876 map at right shows the schoolhouse at the corner, and the Reuben Ayers house, which at that time, was owned by Mrs. Kelly. The intersection was different back then. Oak Tree Road was improved in 1930, when the road was moved between the farmhouse and schoolhouse.
In 1897, the Lehigh Valley Railroad came to Oak Tree and a station was built on Oak Tree Road on the southwest side of the railroad bridge.
The Oak Tree Volunteer Fire Company was started in 1926 and a firehouse was built on Oak Tree Road at the head of Harding Avenue. In 1971, a new firehouse was built on Beverly Street.
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Under a photograph of the Oak Tree School is the following:
Shown above is the “Oak Tree” in front of the one-room, Oak Tree School #6, in 1903. This is now the corner of Plainfield Road and Marion Street, just south of the park.
From 1819 to 1964, Bethune Duncan was the school teacher at Oak Tree School.
A new Oak Tree School was built in 1909 and expanded in 1923 and 1949. It is now the JFK/Hartwick facility, east of the park.
Marker is at the intersection of Oak Tree Avenue and North Dover Road, on the right when traveling west on Oak Tree Avenue.
Courtesy hmdb.org
