The Hunterdon County Parks Department acquired 73 acres in 1974 from George and Esther Bloomer. The Bloomers had begun a commercial nursery on the property in 1953, growing pine, spruce, and oak as well as more exotic trees like Amur cork and dawn redwoods. An additional 32 acres of mixed hardwood forest, across County Route 629 to the east of the main park lands, was acquired subsequently from J.C. Furnas, an author and frequent contributor to the New York Times and Saturday Evening Post. Although there are no trails developed on that property, the Furnas Section provides habitat for birds and animal life.
The gazebo at the center of the display gardens is itself an historic structure. The gazebo was built in 1893 on the Readington Township farm of John Deats, holder of the 1829 patent on the Deats plow. It was moved to the Arboretum in the late 1970s, and is the oldest original two-story gazebo in New Jersey.
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