In 1995, apparent ruins of slave quarters were reported in a wooded area located approximately seventy yards southeast of the third green, These apparent ruins, according to the writer, are only discernible by the linear placement of individual foundation stones that would have held up small wooden shacks. There was reported an apparent built-up rubble ledge at the site that might indicate the presence of a firebox, hearth, privy or root cellar.
While not confirmed by archaeological study, there is some historical evidence of slave presence on the site. Sale records from June 1717 show that the owner of the farm sold a Black woman named Phebe to a Samuel Smith of Woodbridge for fifty pounds in silver currency.
The Fagan family, who were tenant farmers renting from the owners, with a cottage to the southwest of the main house, wrote a history of the site that indicates the presence. The Fagan history notes that a burial ground of enslaved African-Americans was located across Oak Ridge Road from Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge, but that it had been lost to a housing development in the 1970s.
The Fagan tenant farmer family history also notes that the Oak Ridge slave quarters ruins could be distinguished from stone discarded from farm operations by the deliberate lined arrangement of fieldstones on the ground. Additionally, the location of the presumed ruins -- in the woods to the rear of the property, between the main house and the tenant farmer house -- are possibly indicative of the presence of the enslaved. The ruins are similar to those found in what was the free African-American Skunk Hollow community in Alpine, New Jersey. If confirmed, it would be the first confirmed slave quarters site in New Jersey. Fidurski, William T. (March 1995). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Homestead Farm at Oak Ridge". National Park Service. With accompanying 115 photos
Archery, Union County, New Jersey. Accessed March 10, 2024. "Union County's first and only public archery range was built with the generous assistance of many volunteers in the archery community."
