|
Torrey
House "Hilltop" Historical Background Information
additional information is available at
the Long Hill Township website: www.longhillnj.org
or January 2003: This building is out of immediate danger of being demolished in order to build a new luxury home on its site. A private buyer has bought the building and surrounding 3 acres from the developer and has begun restoring the property. Long Hill Preservation welcomes any architectural or historic restoration expertise which might be useful to the home's new owner. Questions or suggestions: lfast@aol.com  There is a landmark on Long Hill Road in Stirling which, aside from being a magnificent piece of architecture, has significance to both United States and regional history. The Gothic Victorian home was once known as "Hilltop" by the three generations of the Torrey family who lived there and have taken their final rest in the family plot in the Stirling Cemetery. Who were the Torreys?  The most famous family member, known nationally and beyond, was John Torrey, MD, LLD (1796-1873), the noted pioneering American botanist in whose honor the Torrey Pine was named (and has had a town in California named after him). But, John Torrey was more than just a botanist. Trained as a physician, he worked with contemporaries such as John J. Audubon and John C. Fremont, and possibly did analysis on the field notes from scientific expeditions exploring the new continent like that of Lewis & Clark. With career-spanning collaborator Asa Gray, he published the definitive "Flora of North America" in 1843. John Torrey was a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences. He founded the National Herbarium of the Smithsonian; the original collection is now at the NY Botanical Garden. Simultaneously he was a professor of chemistry and mineralogy commuting between positions at both Princeton and Columbia Universities, and he served as a surgeon at West Point. John Torrey was also a noted mineralogist. He was first Chief US Assayer for the US Mint Assayer's office based in NYC. He died near his campus office at Columbia University, and is buried in Stirling. To this day there is continued international interest in John Torrey from organizations such as the Torrey Botanical Club, Columbia University, CUNY, the Smithsonian, and others.  John Torrey's only son, Herbert Gray Torrey (1838-1915) and his wife Louisa bought "Hilltop" as the family homestead in 1880, though the family had already been living in the home for some time. Herbert Torrey was well-known as a mineralogist and metallurgist. He followed part of his father's career path by also serving as Chief US Assayer for the US Mint in New York City. He was one of the handful of local businessmen who created the Village of Stirling by developing the area surrounding a stop on the Morris&Essex Railroad West Line in 1869-1871. These men planned a new community of residences and businesses. Herbert Torrey personally was contracted to build the train depot buildings and his built own metal shop factory in Stirling. Herbert Torrey was member of the group of local leaders who established the Stirling schools, churches, and other civic institutions. In addition to his local factory and many real estate holdings, as a mineralogist he established the Trap Rock Quarry, now the Millington Quarry. He was a significant local leader and minor national figure until his death in 1915. Herbert and Louisa Torrey's only son unfortunately predeceased them, and their daughters moved to California. When Louisa died in 1923, "Hilltop" was sold to the Catholic Church which established the Blessed Trinity Missionary Cenacle which operated from approximately 1924 to 1999. Dormitory additions were added to the home, but many of the 19th Century details remain in this substantial structure. Of particular interest is the "log cabin room" which some evidence suggests is a much earlier log structure, possibly even predating a buildings survey done in 1845, which was incorporated into the Victorian home when it was constructed in the period 1868-1880 (dates courtesy of the Morris County Heritage Commission). Though it has not been registered, "Hilltop" meets many of the criteria for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. 
|