Summit remained a remote farming community until the mid 1800s when the railroad caused significant development. Jonathan Crane Bonnell offered free right of way to the Morris and Essex Railroad if it would climb the mountain summit and curve around past his sawmill on the Passaic River. The railroad began scheduled runs to ‘The Summit of the Short Hills’ in 1838 and Summit was born when a store and a railroad station were built.

By the late 19th century, many New Yorkers took the train out to the country, enjoying the

magnificent vistas of the countryside and Newark Bay. Soon, affluent vacationers bought property and built lavish estates in contemporary villa styles. Hotels were erected and many farmhouses became summer boarding houses. The present Grand Summit Hotel can trace its origins to the conversion of a farmhouse to a post-Civil War resort. Summit grew rapidly after the Civil War with residential development influenced by wealthy New York commuters. Summit became an independent township in 1869 and was later incorporated as a city in 1899.

Today, a variety of residential architecture representing every period and style can be found on the streets of Summit along with a vibrant downtown business district. One of Summit’s oldest homes, the Carter_House, has been adapted for museum use by the Summit Historical Society. The Reeves-ReedArboretum, located on Hobart Avenue, was an estate known as The Clearing. The Shingle-style house has extensive gardens designed by Calvert Vaux, Ellen Shipman and G. Pilat. Another magnificent example of period architecture is Twin Maples, constructed in the neoclassical revival style in 1908. The stage area of the Summit Playhouse is the Richardsonian Romanesque structure that opened in 1891 as Summit’s first library.

The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey is located on Elm Street. The streets of Summit provide a venue for the temporary and changing installation of outdoor sculpture.