Smoke Rise (community)
Smoke Rise is a gated community in Kinnelon, New Jersey that was created out of the estate of Francis Kinney, a 19th-century industrialist who founded Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. The Kinney estate dates back to 1884, when Francis Kinney, a pioneer in the tobacco industry, built a huge "summer cottage" here. His son, Morris Kinney, for whom the borough of Kinnelon was named 41 years later, lived most of his life on the estate.
When Morris Kinney died in 1945, he left the estate to John Talbot, Sr. a longtime friend, former mayor of the borough, and a founder of the Chilton Memorial Hospital, Pompton Plains (John Talbot, Sr. was a real estate developer in New York City and a patron of the arts and was credited with the revival of ballet as a major art form in the United States in the 1930s), as a tribute to their lifetime friendship and mutually shared love of Smoke Rise.
In 1946, when the need for suburban housing became evident, John Talbot, Sr., with great vision and foresight, founded (The Smoke Rise Club), one of the earliest community club plans in the United States. Unlike so many developers, he insisted that the land be kept in its natural state as far as possible.[1]
When friends asked to purchase land on the estate to build homes, Talbot decided to develop a planned community designed primarily to serve New York corporation executives. The Smoke Rise Club was the result in November 1946. The name (Smoke Rise) is a translation of the Pequannock Indian name for the mountainous area, where a heavy mist often rises at sunset.
The private family friendly community is located entirely in Kinnelon. It is administered by residents elected to the Board of Governors of the Smoke Rise Club, which must approve all residents' building plans. Inside the community, which can be entered only through two gates (North Gate & East Gate), there are over 40 miles (64 km) of roadway; the area is largely forested and has approximately 900 houses on 2,500 acres (10 km2), Smoke Rise Lake, one church (The Community Church of Smoke Rise), The Smoke Rise Village Inn and recreation facilities, and is home to the Kinnelon Volunteer Fire Company - Company 3 Fire House. The Village Inn and the Community Church are open to members and non-members of the community.
Many residents commute to New York City or along the Routes 287, 208 or 23 corridors. The population consists of a vast variety of professional, entrepreneurs and executives. [2]
References
Coordinates: 40°59′35″N 74°24′09″W / 40.992921°N 74.402375°W