Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 20

PANORAMALIFESTYLE B4 Asbury Park PressMonday, October 7, 1985 rv I i i li II LARRY WAOOELUArixirv Prk Road, built in 1811, now houses a I 11 'W-J I. Li1 1 FRENCHTOWN fLEMINGTON SiHi C202 rv Hi m-J IXUf I i inn ir' ii century railroad station after obliging tavern November. It also makes some Sunday and holiday runs south to Lambertville with a self-powered combination passenger and baggage car. During the past decade, the has become increasingly popular among railfans and amateur photographers, who board the trains here or in Flemington's Turntable Junction for tours through Hunterdon County's picturesque farm country. Unlike some restored railroads, the is a working railroad.

In addition to its sightseeing trips, it provides freight service for large quarries on Lambertville's outskirts and maintains a freight car yard and repair shops in Ringoes, where it also uses the restored Flemington Railroad depot. One of the village's best preserved landmarks is an imposing two-story stone building on the Old York Road near Route 202. Now a popular restaurant and tavern called Saunders Inn, this was erected in 1811 to house the Amwell Academy, a well-known private school Railroad has restored Ringoes' 19th named Jersey Journeys Indians, as well as white settlers, from as far away as lower Somerset County. He later opened a tavern and the village that grew up around it adopted his name, albeit with a change in spelling. While many historians say he and his family ran the tavern for at least 75 years, the state of New Jersey disagrees.

A state historical marker on the site says the family owned the place only from 1738 to 1779. A few historians, who insist Ringo was not the original settler, claim it was Francis Moore who arrived first. They say that early in 1720 Moore bought 100 acres along the east side of the future stagecoach route and operated a small rum shop until he sold all his holdings about four years later. But even if the dissenters are correct, Ringo could rightfully claim he was the first permanent settler here. Soon after his arrival, his brother, Philip, also settled here.

Tax rolls showed that by 1722 he owned 50 acres and already was operating two of the county's first grist mills. He became a local justice of the peace in 1723 and later was appointed a county judge. Beck, in his 1956 book titled "The Roads of Home," quoted historian Emogene Van Sickle as saying that John Ringo did not intend to be a tavern keeper but was forced into it because he was so often overrun by visitors. An elderly local man, whose name Beck omitted, amplified this by saying that Ringo "had a pretty good house The Amwell Academy on the Old York A IV The 235-year-old Landis house had Gen. Lafayette as a guest.

recuperate from a camp-incurred illness and was treated by a local doctor named Gershom Craven. One of the early spurs to Ringoes' development was the opening of New Jersey's portion of the Old York Road in 1764. While Pennsylvanians had completed their part from New Hope to Philadelphia by 1737, the New Jersey section from Lambertville to Elizabeth was not opened for through traffic until 27 years later. The project originally called for a 40-foot graded road to be built and maintained by farmers along the route. Except where it passed through towns, however, the road seldom met those specifications.

In places, it actually was only a rough and sometimes impassible lane barely wide enough for two wagons or coaches to pass each other. Ringoes' importance as a trading center, which began with the opening of that road, got another boost 90 years later with the building of the Flemington Railroad and a depot about three-quarters of a mile west of the center of town. The single-track line completed in 1854 linked railroads in the Fleming-ton area with the new Belvidere Delaware Railroad at Lambertville. This gave Ringoes area farmers access to markets in New York, as well as Trenton and Philadelphia. In 1970, a new railroad company, the Black River Western, purchased and began restoring the Flemington Railroad and a short section of track in Lambertville.

Using a 48-year-old steam locomotive and several diesels, the now runs scheduled weekend sightseeing trips between Ringoes and Flemington from mid-April through 1 CONCERT Ticket Information 222-6600 Ext. 347 iva 'Air 4 iM It and, first thing you know, a lot of people found it convenient to stay there overnight." "First," he said, "it was John's relatives, and then a whole army of relatives and friends. Rather than have them eat him out of business, he started a tavern." This stood until 1840 when a fire leveled it, and another tavern was built on the site by later owners. Today, the site is occupied by the William Holcombe house, built in the late 1800s by a descendant of one of Hunterdon County's earliest large landholders. A local legend that persisted long after Ringo's death was told a century ago by James P.

Snell in his two-volume "History of Hunterdon and Sussex Counties." Ringo, who had amassed considerable wealth before the American Revolution, reportedly was so afraid enemy soldiers would steal his money that he buried it without revealing the location to anyone. According to the story, his "treasure" was never found and he left his family almost penniless. Along the Old York Road a few hundred yards north of the tavern site stands the weathered stone Landis house, Ringoes' oldest building and one of the oldest dwellings in the county. Although Henry Landis came here about 1737 and set up shop as a saddlemaker, a historical marker outside his former home reports that he did not build it until about 1750. Soon after the Continental Army's winter encampment at Valley Forge in 1777-78, George Washington's bestk-nown French general, the Marquis de Lafayette, came to the Landis home to I TJ I locally popular restaurant.

Ailuniic. Ocean ABSURY PARK keeper that attracted students from points as distant as Baltimore. The institution closed its doors in 1830, but it was purchased and reopened 30 years later by Dr. Cornelius W. Larison, a former science professor at a Pennsylvania college that became Bucknell University.

His partner was his brother, the Rev. Andrew B. Larison, whose death in 1881 was followed by the closing of the school. One of Dr. Larison's hobbies was phonetic spelling.

In 1885, the Fonic Publishin Hous in Ringoes published his book titled "Geografy: A Text Buk on Fonic Orthografy," but his system of spelling never caught on. To reach Ringoes, take the Garden State Parkway north and Interstate 287 and U.S. Route 22 west to the Somerville traffic circle and U.S. Route 202. Follow the latter south past Flemington to Ringoes, a distance of about 18 miles.

NEXT MONTH: Hopewell All entrees are served with soup, crisp tossed salad, fresh vegetable, potato or rice, dessert and beverage. Vi i Hi' i- tv F5 Tuesday and Wednesday Champagne Luncheon Fashion Show Tuesday and Wednesday are Ladies' Day at Churchill's. Enjoy a Delicious Luncheon along with beautiful Fashions. The 15-year-old Black River Western Village EDITOR 'S NOTE: Following is the 46th in a series of monthly articles retracing the New Jersey travels of the late historian-folklorist, Henry C. Beck.

By LARRY WADDELL Press Staff Writer EAST AMWELL TOWNSHIP Whether John Ringo was the first settler in what now is the village of Ringoes is less important than the fact that he stayed and eventually gave the place his name. Although today's Ringoes is bypassed by busy highways, such as State Route 31 and U.S. Route 202, this village wasn't always off the beaten track. The tavern Ringo began operating nearly 250 years ago was a popular stop on one of New Jersey's first cross-state stagecoach routes, the Old York Road. In colonial times, this linked New York City with Philadelphia via Eliza beth, Somerville and Lambertville.

The road has retained its name and still serves as Ringoes' main street. Most historians, including Henry Beck, say Ringo came here to southern Hunterdon County in 1720 when Lenni Lenape Indians and wild animals still roamed the rolling, wooded country just east of the Delaware River. Ringoes site lay within what was successively called Delaware, West Amwell and Raritan townships until East Amwell Township was organized in 1846. The location Ringo chose to build his log home had long been the junction of two Indian trails. He soon opened a trading post that served How to face an emergency Knight-Ridder Newspapers lost emergencies strike with little I VI warning.

The news is full of stories about earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados and other disasters. If you were faced with such an emergency and had to evacuate your home, would you know what to do? Officials at the Insurance Information Institute in New York suggest the following recommendations so you'll be prepared for an evacuation: After everyone in your house is accounted for, gather up the essentials you will need to take with you. Be sure to pack all prescribed medications. Take only as much clothing as is immediately needed. If your important papers and valuables are not in a bank safety deposit box, take whatever papers you have in your home, such as mortgage deeds, insurance policies and bank books.

Even if you are not concerned about a possible evacuation, those papers should be kept together in a folder or metal box so you can get them in a hurry. Ideally, they should be in a safety deposit box. Before you leave, be sure to lock all the windows and doors. Remember that your homeowners insurance covers your possessions, as well as your house, and tenants insurance covers your clothes and furniture and other items. Once the threat of peril is over, you will be permitted to return home.

Assess any damage that has occurred and submit a claim to your insurance company. I MONMOUTH COLLEGE: IN PRESENTS EARLY BIRD DINNERS Menu For The Week of October 7th Complete Full Course Dinner Served Monday thru Friday 4:00 P.M., to 6:00 P.M. )v I 0 I Capon Kiev Fish of the Day Seafood Thermidor Volauvant Lamb Shank Steak Pizziola Prime Rib Ala Grill "A fully formed artistic personality. A powerful technique. The New York Times "She triumphed in every department.

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