Layton, New Jersey
Sandyston Township, Sussex County, New Jersey
Marker Inscription
Layton, New Jersey Layton, once known as Laytons, was originally named Centreville. This village was settled by John Layton in the early 1800's. The first business here was owned by blacksmith Simeon Fisher, followed by Abraham Bell who established a carpenter's shop and tavern. "Squire" Layton opened a store here in 1835. The Centreville M.E. Church was incorporated on Feb. 16, 1828. Elizabeth (Shay) Faurot was the first interred in the adjoining churchyard in 1831. John B. Layton petitioned the U.S. Postal Service at Washington, D.C. in 1861 for mail delivery. The U.S. Postal Service named this village Laytons in his honor, and eventually changed the name to Layton. All of the township's one-room schools were closed in 1940 and the Sandyston School opened. In 1950, Sandyston and Walpack districts merged and formed the Sandyston-Walpack Consolidated School.
Erected by Sandyston Township Historical Society
The Story
The village of Layton grew from a settlement founded by John Layton in rural Sussex County in the early 1800s. Once called Centreville, it gathered a blacksmith, a carpenter's shop and tavern, a store, a Methodist church, and one-room schools, and took its lasting name when a local petitioner won a post office in 1861.
Why it matters
Layton's story captures how countless small American crossroads communities formed, named themselves, and eventually consolidated their schools over more than a century.
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Related people
- · John Layton
- · Simeon Fisher
Themes & tags
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