Casper Shafer

Casper Shafer, a German emigrant settled this area circa 1742. By 1750, he built this stone house, later fortifying it with a stockade during the French and Indian War. His first grist mill, built 1743, was located upstream, replacing it in 1764 with a larger structure at the present site. This profitable enterprise shipped goods by flatboat down the Paulinskill and Delaware Rivers to Philadelphia. The mill rebuilt in 1844 after a fire was the last operating grist mill in New Jersey. A strong supporter of American Independence, Shafer was one of three delegates from Sussex County to serve in New Jersey's first legislative assemblies (1776-1779).