Visitors to the Wanaque Public Library may be curious about the large marble obelisk and flat stone that sit on the library lawn and are visible from Ringwood Avenue. If you look at them closely, you’ll see that there is a large metal ring atop the obelisk and that the flat stone is engraved with the initials JES.
The initials JES stand for James Elias Sloat, whose family (for whom the town of Sloatsburg, New York is likely named) first settled in this area in the 1800s. James Elias Sloat owned a butcher shop on the corner of Ringwood and Belmont Avenue (just north of the library’s current location), and these objects were originally located in front of his shop.
The tall pillar with the iron ring was a hitching post (these were the parking spaces of the pre-automobile era, used to secure your horse while you weren’t riding it or being pulled in a buggy behind it). The low block was a carriage step (also known as a carriage or mounting block), which people used to help them climb in and out of horse-drawn carriages.
Both the hitching post and the carriage step were mined from Pompton Pink Granite at a local quarry that is now buried beneath Wanaque Reservoir. In 2002, the hitching post was donated to Wanaque Borough by Charlotte Marini, great-granddaughter of James Sloat.
If you have any information, questions or corrections to share with us about this topic, please contact Library Director Mary Martin at 973-839-4434, stop by the library or email us at wanaquelibrary@gmail.com.
