Lord Stirling, also known as General William Alexander, led a successful careers as both a businessman- and a soldier. His estate was one of the finest in the area; it was built to imitate an English nobleman's residence. It was of such-splendor-that the people of the area called the estate- "The Buildings" and the road leading.to it "Building Lane." While the rest of the buildings are gone, including the mansion, the slave quarters are still existent. By themselves these remnants of Lord Stirling's Manor complex are of unique historical significance. They are the only known slave quarters remaining in New Jersey.

The Alexander family were slave owners from before William's time. William's father owned slaves in a moral climate that sanctioned slavery as a socio-economic necessity. Lord Stirling's early business career was closely allied to the lucrative slave trading largely due to its profit potential. His interests in slave trading waned as other business interests intervened and the availability of trained servants from Europe after the French and Indian War made slave owning impractical. One of the uses to which Black slaves were put is indicated by a request to Mrs Alexander's tore for clothing green or blue with lining suitable for two wenches and a boy. It can be assumed from this that the wearers were to be domestics.

William Alexander's manor complex was built on a 700 acre tract of land purchased from his father James Alexander. Also, 5 1/2 acres were granted to William by James expressly for the building of a Basking Ridge parsonage. The manor, begun in 1761, was not finished until after the Revolutionary War.

The Manor Complex contained stables, slave quarters, coach houses and other offices ornamented with cupolas and gilded vanes which were built behind a large, paved court behind the mansion. The front with plazas opened in a fine lawn descending to the Black River (Passaic River). A large hall extended through the house. On one side was a drawing room with painted walls and stuccoed ceiling. This description was given by Mrs Eliza Susan Morton Quincy, a close neighbor. The most skilled gardeners in America were hired to design and lay out an immense park, containing a large enclosure for deer, a rose garden, an Italian vineyard and other accessories of a nobleman's seat.

Here at the Manor Alexander and his wife, Sarah Livingston, the sister of the Governor of New Jersey, entertained prominent citizens of the area. Despite the war, "The Buildings" were used not only as a meeting place for Lord Stirling and his staff officers, but was in a sense a center for the social life of the rebel community.

After Stirling's death in 1783 the estate was sold. By time and neglect "The Buildings" soon fell in disrepair. 'The' decaying house was rebuilt in 1825 but hardly resembled its forerunner. This house was destroyed by fire in 1919. - NRHP, August 1976