Stirling
Richard Runyon, a descendent of the French Huguenots, was born in 1719 and died about 1775. He settled in what today is Stirling in 1740 on a farm of 176 acres. Richard Runyon's wife was from the Layton family. They had a son Peter who was a captain in the American Revolution. Stirling's first public school was built in 1880 at the site of the Elm Street School. The school had one room. In 1896 another room was added on. Nicholas Thomas was the builder. Between 1908-1910 the building was taken down and the four room Elm Street School was built. It had 8 grades in it. In 1926 Central School (Stirling Junior High School) with it's 8 rooms was finished on Main Street. The school was for 7th, 8th and 9th grades. The graduates went to Bernardsville or Morristown in their sophomore year. A concrete bridge was built in 1910 crossing the Passaic River from Southern Main Avenue to Old Stirling Road, Warren Township and another which crosses the river to Warren township on the Plainfield road. Stirling Lake is said to have been made from a series of springs in 1888. It was known as Springwater Lake at the turn of the century. Ice was harvested from this lake and an ice house stood at the eastern part of the lake in which big blocks of ice were stored. In the early part of this century Walter Swanson delivered ice to people in the township. At that time the Stirling House was built in 1890 and used as hotel for travelers. It featured a park and a lake within walking distance. The Stirling House burned to the ground in 1905 and was rebuilt. The site is now a restaurant called the Stirling Hotel under the ownership of the Baldassarre family.