The Passaic County Historical
Society
Lambert Castle, Paterson, NJ
The
Great Notch Inn
by Edward Graf
The Passaic County Historical Society Newsletter,
No. 1, Vol. 1970
Great Notch Inn
After early settlers took over their lands in the backcountry, their
first concern was for better means of transportation. Earliest transportation
was on foot or horseback by old Indian trails, where wagons could not travel
in order to get iron ore, lumber and produce from the farms to the Passaic
River at Acquackanonk Landing, where sailing ships could carry these products
to market.
One early road came through the Notch, then along the Valley Road
to what is now known as Van Houten Avenue, which went directly to Acquackanonk
Landing.
Drivers transporting the iron ore from the mines of northern Jersey,
complained of the lack of places along the route where they could stop
to rest, eat and often “lay over” for the night on their slow arduous passage
over these bad roads.
Cornelius A. Vreeland, who had been working on the docks at Acquackanonk
Landing, got the idea of establishing a tavern at Great Notch, receiving
a hotel license in 1798. This tavern met with great success and supplied
a long felt need, not only for the wagon drivers, but also for the travelers
by stage coach who had to attend to business in the larger settlements.
The hotel became popular and was sometimes used as a court by Justices
of the Peace for residents in the area.
Vreeland continued the tavern until 1818, at which time he sold out
to Simeon Brown who conducted business there until 1839, at which time
it was taken over by Henry F. Piaget. The buildings with about thirty
acres of land were sold for $4,000. The annual meetings of the Township
of Acquackanonk were held here during April of each year.
UNION
HOTEL
AT
THE
GREAT NOTCH
The subscriber begs leave to inform Travellers and the Public
in general, that his House
will be continued open, as usual for
their accommodation, although he could not obtain a License, believing
it must have been owing to some mistake, or if not, then through the
secret, false and malicious representations of a few individuals, who
would take the bread out of myself and family's mouths if in their power.
But I trust and hope that such will not be the case. The Hotel or
Tavern now occupied by the subscriber, has so continued for upwards of
50 years - it is in the central part of the township of Acquackanonk, and
all the Township Meetings and Committee Business are held there, as well
as the Fall Election to be held there. And the subscriber will defy
any fair or legal complaint has or can be made against the house, either
since he has had the honor of keeping it, or for the long period that it
has been in existence - that he is and has at all times been provided with
all the requisites of a Public Inn. There is no house now licensed
between he villages of Acquackanonk and Little Falls, nor from Paterson
to West-Bloomfield - consequently the subscriber will continue his Hotel
as usual, except the retailing of ardent spirits as is prohibited by law.
HENRY F. PIAGET
Great Notch, between West Bloomfield and Paterson.
May 5, 1845
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Henry F. Piaget continued the business of the tavern
and also a large farm for a dozen years when, on Sunday, he sold a farmer
a sherry cordial to relieve colicky pains, for three cents. For this
act the farmer had him indicted since selling liquor on Sunday was unlawful.
On Piaget’s own admission of guilt he was fined $200.
Disgusted, Piaget quit the tavern business and sold it to his son
Frank, a jeweler from Albany, who came here and ran it about 1852.
Frank at the same time transferred his regular business of watch making
to Montclair, operating both the tavern and watchmaker’s shop for ten years.
The tavern was then leased to George Kesse who continued it until
1868, when it was taken over by another son of Henry’s, Francis H., who
was at the time a farmer and lived near the tavern.
Francis kept the Piaget Hotel until March 23, 1987, disposing of
the old hotel to George F. Skidmore. Thus, after some fifty-eight
years, the hotel went out of the Piaget family, ninety-nine years from
the time that it had been started by Cornelius Vreeland.
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