Montrose Park is primarily a residential neighborhood, located in the northeast corner of the township of South Orange. The general geographic boundaries are the Morris and Essex Railroad on the west, the municipal boundary between the City of Orange and the Village of South Orange on the north, the municipal boundary with the City of Newark on the east, and South Orange Avenue on the south. The neighborhood is characterized by elegant, large-scale homes, dating from the last quarter of the 19th century into the 1930s. The houses are set on large, landscaped lots, outlined by bluestone sidewalks and curbs, framed by mature trees and shrubbery, and lit by gaslight.[1]
Several of the streets were originally developed by John Gorham Vose and Henry A. Page between 1867 and 1874 as part of a residential development called Montrose, intended to attract wealthy New York businessmen to rural South Orange. After 1891, a number of other streets were developed by Thomas A. Kingman (as Montrose Park), who insisted that lots measure no less than 100 by 200.[1]
Within the historic district, there are 900 contributing buildings (mostly single family dwellings), 229 noncontributing buildings, and 1 contributing site. Of the key buildings, two, the Old Stone House and Mountain Station, are already listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Except for two synagogues and one school, most of the primary buildings are residential.[1]
