History of Warren Lodge

On October 8th and 9th, 1716, there were surveyed by John Reading two tracts of land on the site of Belvidere These were separated by a line beginning at the mouth of the Pequest and running along what was later Independence Street, which leads now to the farm of Mr. E. H. Carhart. The tract to the north of that line was for 1,250 acres or more, and was surveyed for William Penn. The tract to the south was of the same size, and was surveyed to Colonel John Alford, of Charleston, Massachusetts. The McMurtries came into possession of the Alford tract in 1750, and Robert Patterson, the first settler in Belvidere, bought the Penn tract in 1759. Robert Patterson was a tinsmith, and built a double log house on the site of the Warren House. He sold a great deal of his property in the seventeen sixties, and seems to have left by 1769, when Major Robert Hoops came and purchased the land on both sides of the Pequest. He retained the property on the north side of the creek until about 1800, but sold all south of the Pequest, including the water powers, to Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, who built the house on Greenwich Street (now owned by Dr. Lefferts) in 1780, for his daughter, Mrs. Croxall, to whom he conveyed it in 1793 by a deed containing an entail, which delayed the development of that part of the town for many years, or until a special act of the Legislature in 1818 gave the ownership to four heirs in fee simple. This building is the old Warren House built on the site of the double log house erected by the first settler, squatter Robert Patterson. After Patterson left it was used as a tavern, a store and then again as a tavern. It was called the Mansion House. Torn down in 1838, the famous Warren House was erected and run as a fine hotel by Major Benjamin DePue, born in 1796 a descendant of the famous DePue family who settled in the Minisink or Pahaquarry valley in the 17th century. The Warren House was later damaged by a fire and afterwards remodeled. There is a plaque on one of the walls inside the temple that reads Masonic Temple, 1926-On the site of the log cabin of Robert Patterson. The first settler on land surveyed to William Penn and later owned by Robert Morris a signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Next to this building, reputedly, was the law office of David DePue, son of Benjamin. David was born in 1826, entered Princeton College in 1843, became Chief Justice of New Jersey in 1866 and was reappointed 3 times. On March 14 1924 it was resolved the Warren Lodge #13 F. & A. M. of Belvidere, NJ does favor the purchasing of the property known as the Warren House and authorizes the Masonic Temple Association to purchase the same.

County Physician:  Dr. G. Wyckoff Cummins of Belvidere, noted genealogist, historian and scientist, Is a Past Master of Warren Lodge 1905

Shade Tree Commission:  Harry W. Vetter, Belvidere is a Past Master 1926

One of the earliest building sites in Belvidere is occupied by the residence of Mr. Henry Deshler. This was built by Dr. George Green in 1830, taking the place of a double log house occupied successively by the Rev. Mr. Treat, pastor of the old Oxford Church; by the Cottmans, by Major Robert Hoops, who came here in 1769; by Dr. Larrabee before 1794, and by Dr. Jabez Gwinnup, who practiced here from 1794 until 1817. Mr. Thomas Paul, his son, Dr. J. Marshall Paul, Sr., and grandson, Dr. J. Marshall Paul, Jr., owned this place for many years, together with several hundred acres of surrounding property, much of which is still owned by the Paul estate.

A disastrous effort was made by Belvidere interests in 1860 to run a line of steamers on the river, but when the first steamer, the "Alfred Thomas," on its maiden trip blew up after travelling less than one mile from Easton, where it was built, the project was dropped, never to be renewed. The explosion killed twelve persons, among them two of the three owners,- Judge William R. Sharp and Richard Holcomb.

May 26, 1853