Bernardsville (Melisurgo, Len. "Here's the right way to pronounce 25 N.J. town names everyone botches", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 23, 2017. Accessed December 1, 2024. "Same goes with the neighboring borough of Bernardsville. (It should be pronounced BERN-ards-vil.)") is the northernmost borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. Situated within the heart of the Raritan Valley and Somerset Hills regions,Raritan Basin Hydrology, New Jersey Water Supply Authority. Accessed June 29, 2023. the borough is an historic and wealthy bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area.Capuzzo, Jill P. "Living in Bernardsville, N.J.: A Gilded Age Enclave Looking to the Future", The New York Times, December 20, 2023. Accessed September 6, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,893, an increase of 186 (+2.4%) from the 2010 census count of 7,707, which in turn had reflected an increase of 362 (+4.9%) from the 7,345 counted at the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023. Bernardsville is often mispronounced as "Ber-NARDS-ville" as opposed to the correct pronunciation, "BER-nards-ville"."Review: New Jersey Country Homes The Somerset Hills." T3 Consortium, LLC, last modified September 2006, backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 24, 2008. Accessed December 1, 2024. "Ever hear of Bernardsville? Want to sound like you're a local? then don't pronounce it Ber-NARDS-ville. It's pronounced Ber-NERDS-ville."
Bernardsville was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 6, 1924, from portions of Bernards Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 29, 1924.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. Accessed May 1, 2026. The borough was named for Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, who served as governor of the Province of New Jersey before the Revolutionary War.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 27, 2015. In 2009, part of the borough was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Olcott Avenue Historic District.
In 2000, Bernardsville had the 10th-highest per capita income in New Jersey."Money Income (1989 and 1999) and Poverty (1999) New Jersey, Counties and Municipalities", New Jersey Department of Labor Division of Labor Market and Demographic Research, New Jersey State Data Center. April 2003. Accessed August 26, 2013. Based on data from the 2006–2010 American Community Survey, the borough had a per-capita income of $70,141, ranked 27th in the state.Median Household, Family, Per-Capita Income: State, County, Municipality and Census Designated Place (CDP) With Municipalities Ranked by Per Capita Income; 2010 5-year ACS estimates (Excel Format) , New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed April 23, 2020. In 2019, the borough was ranked by Bloomberg News as 64th of 100 on its 2019 list of Bloomberg Richest Places, one of 18 in the state included on the list.Tarrazi, Alexis. "Bernardsville Named Among Top 100 Richest In US: Bloomberg Bernardsville was among only 18 New Jersey towns to secure a spot on the list annual richest places index in 2019.", Bernardsville-Bedminster, NJ Patch, February 14, 2019. Accessed April 23, 2020. "Bernardsville was named to the among 100 richest in the United States and 18 New Jersey town on the 2019 Bloomberg Richest Places rankings. Bernardsville was one of two of the big movers on the list. The borough jumped 31 spots to No. 64."
History Bernardsville was originally a section of Bernards Township known as Vealtown. Variant name: VealtownDePalma, Anthony. "If You're Thinking Of Living In Bernardsville", The New York Times, December 23, 1984. Accessed January 25, 2012. "Bernardsville, all history and charm, is a community kissed by good fortune. Already an established hamlet inexplicably known as Vealtown by the time Washington and his army tramped through on their way to their Jockey Hollow encampment near Morristown, it has managed by dint of its resolve and a good bit of luck to survive booms and busts over the last 200 years and still retain its unique character." In 1840, Vealtown became Bernardsville, named after Sir Francis Bernard, Colonial governor of New Jersey from 1758 to 1760.Staff. "A look at Bernards through the centuries", Courier News, August 27, 2003. Accessed January 25, 2012. "1760 King George II of England creates Bernardston Township by charter in honor of Sir Francis Bernard, provincial governor of New Jersey, 1758-60. At that time, the township also includes Far Hills, Warren and Bernardsville, then known as Vealtown." Located in the northernmost part of Somerset County, just south of Morristown, the borough includes some of the last vestiges of the Great Eastern Forest.History , Bernardsville Borough. Accessed January 25, 2012.
During the Revolutionary War, General Charles Lee rested his troops in Vealtown around the night of December 12 to 13, 1776. General Lee and some of his guard spent the night about southeast at White's Inn on the southeast side of Basking Ridge, near the manor house of Continental Army general William Alexander, Lord Stirling. On the morning of December 13, General Lee was captured by the British and removed to New York.Lossing, Benson John. The pictorial field-book of the revolution; or, illustrations, by pen and pencil, of the history, biography, scenery, relics, and traditions of the war for independence, Volume 2, p. 222. Harper & Bros., 1852. Accessed January 25, 2012. The Vealtown Tavern, later known as the John Parker Tavern, was a regular stop during the 1779–1780 winter encampment at Morristown.
After the Civil War, many wealthy and prominent New Yorkers moved into the area, first as summer visitors, then as permanent residents of the Bernardsville Mountain. For most, the men worked in New York City while the women and children spent summers in Bernardsville. The Gladstone Branch of the existing railroad line was built through Bernardsville in 1872 and played an important role in the borough's development. The Gladstone line, whose five o'clock train was appropriately nicknamed "the millionaire's special," as it was direct route to Penn Station, allowed the men who built grand estates in Bernardsville to commute to the city on a daily basis rather than only visit their families on weekends. Bernardsville did not become an independent municipality until 1924, when it split from Bernards Township.
In 1943, Henry F. Ruschmann who had invented a machine to cut glitter from plastics, bought the Meadowbrook Farm and established the first modern glitter factory, Meadowbrook Farm Inventions.
In November 2020, The Bernardsville Library announced that it would join the MAIN Library System, which has member libraries in all of Morris County, all of Hunterdon County and parts of Somerset and Warren counties. The Bernardsville Library is the second library from Somerset County to join the MAIN System, after the Bernards Township Library in neighboring Bernards Township. The library joined the MAIN System in January 2021."MAIN Libraries Welcomes Bernardsville Public Library to its Consortium", MAIN Library Alliance, November 18, 2020. Accessed July 9, 2025. "Morris Automated Information Network (MAIN) Libraries, a northern New Jersey shared services consortium of public libraries, recently announced the addition of the Bernardsville Public Library to its network of 38 libraries across Morris, Somerset and Warren Counties, effective January 12th, 2021."
Historic district The New Jersey State Review Board for Historic Sites recommended the creation of the Olcott Avenue historic district on February 10, 2009. While the Olcott Avenue School is but one historic structure within Bernardsville's first historic district area, the area's appeal and historic significance is part of the story of the rise of the middle class in Bernardsville and how this particular location impacted the entire region, from the downtown, Little Italy, and the Mountain Colony areas.Zavalick, Charles; and Baratta, Amy. "Monsignor John Torney dies at 102; services Thursday and Friday", The Bernardsville News, May 14, 2013. Accessed August 26, 2013. "'It was a very unusual parish, with Little Italy on one side and on the other side the Mountain colony,' Msgr. Torney said in a 2012 interview with this newspaper."
The Olcott Avenue Historic District is a historic district located along portions of Olcott, Childsworth, and Highview Avenues, and Church Street that recognizes a neighborhood developed in the early 20th century. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 2009, for its significance in architecture, community planning and development, and education. With accompanying 12 photos.
According to the National Park Service: The Olcott Avenue neighborhood in the borough of Bernardsville, located in northeast Somerset County, was developed at the turn of the 20th century as a carefully laid out middle class residential neighborhood. The streets in the district are characterized by lots of moderate size with regular setbacks with moderate to substantial dwellings constructed in a variety of late 19th and early 20th century architectural styles, several of which are particularly noteworthy examples. The original dwellings constructed during the first three decades or so of the 20th century all still stand and the streetscape has changed relatively little since curbs and sidewalks were added and the road was paved around 1916. Residents of the district have continued the long tradition of participation in civic activities.
Olcott Avenue is named after Frederic P. Olcott, a New York banker, politician and philanthropist, who lived here. The street was originally named after Stewart Wolfe. In 1905, Olcott financed the construction of a high school, the first in the township, and donated it to the Bernards Township Board of Education. The stone building features Tudor Revival style and was designed by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, who also lived here. Hardenbergh also designed the Bernardsville United Methodist Church and the parish house at St. Bernard's Church. The district includes several houses designed with Colonial Revival style.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 12.91 square miles (33.44 km2), including 12.84 square miles (33.24 km2) of land and 0.08 square miles (0.19 km2) of water (0.58%).
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Blaziers Corner, Mine Brook and Somersetin.Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed May 22, 2015.
The borough borders Bernards Township to the east, Far Hills to the southwest, and Peapack-Gladstone to the west in Somerset County, Harding Township to the northeast and both Mendham Borough and Mendham Township to the northwest in Morris County.Areas touching Bernardsville, MapIt. Accessed March 19, 2020.Municipalities, Somerset County, New Jersey. Accessed March 19, 2020.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries, New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019.
Climate Bernardsville has a climate that borders between humid continental and humid subtropical with cool sometimes cold winters and warm to hot, humid summers on average. High elevations of the town have a warm summer humid continental climate with more snow during the winter and more orographic precipitation. Summer is the wettest season with frequent afternoon thunderstorms while Winter is the driest season.
Demographics