Francis Kinney of the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Co., makers of Sweet Caporals. Purchased 5,000 acres of land for the Kinney Family estate (after whom Kinnelon was named). They enjoyed this property for many years as a self-contained country gentleman’s estate, maintaining its own stables, blacksmith shops, greenhouses, piggery, firehouse and icehouse.  Most of the buildings on the Perimeter Road were built from native rock before the turn of the century.  The Village Inn was part of the original stables and barns where Brown Swiss cattle and carriages were kept.  The repair shop was the piggery and the Smoke Rise Club Office was the firehouse.  For his wife, Mr. Kinney built St. Hubert’s Chapel, the exquisite small chapel located in the middle of Lake Kinnelon.  Smoke Rise residents have used it on many occasions as a house of worship before the erection of the interdeniominational Smoke Rise Community Church in 1956.  The Community Church still serves the residents by offering a variety of religious, educational, recreational programs for all ages, as well as housing the Smoke Rise Nursery School.

After the passing of Francis Kinney and then his son Morris in 1945, John Alden Talbot, Sr, inherited the estate of his long time friend Morris.  John Talbot, Sr., as a tribute to their lifetime friendship and mutually shared love of Smoke Rise in 1946 formed the Smoke Rise Club. The Club purpose was and is to provide suburban housing for discriminating people. With this great vision and foresight, The Smoke Rise Club, became 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.

As time passed the developer sold approximately 800 acres to another development company that is not part of Smoke Rise. Recently, the developer sold approximately 1,400 acres to the NJ Green Acres program. These lands surround Smoke Rise and can never be developed. Therefore, Smoke Rise, today, is approximately 2,500 acres surrounded by conserved parkland and water shed property. There are 921 homes and 12 vacant lots that may or may not be developable.

Smoke Rise’s Motto “Created by Nature – Preserved by Man