Views: 884 Fall in New Jersey is more than colorful leaves, crisp mornings, and roadside farm stands; it is a season filled with great history and stories. In this issue, the Mr. Local History research team travels from the historic… Read More »Fall Is In the Air – So Much to Do and See in Mr. Local History’s 2026 Fall Magazine
Views: 848 Certainly, everyone knows when they’re in Peapack and when they’re in Gladstone, right? First off, a little clarification: the “Established 1701” on the borough’s sign date refers to the Peapack Patent, when the land encompassing present-day Peapack-Gladstone was… Read More »So What Defines Peapack Village from Gladstone’s Village
Views: 671 Just when you think you know everything about New Jersey, the state pulls another surprise from its seemingly bottomless bag of tricks. We already have ocean beaches, mountains, waterfalls, sprawling farms, colonial villages, busy cities, and some of… Read More »A Historic Boardwalk on Jersey’s Lake Mohawk
Views: 1,276 Walk into Bardy Farms on Washington Valley Road in Warren Township, and you are entering one of New Jersey’s increasingly rare family farm businesses. Fresh produce still fills the market, plants crowd the greenhouses in Spring, pumpkins arrive… Read More »Bardy Farms: From a Russian Immigrant’s Fields to a Somerset County Farming Dynasty
Views: 38,518 Twenty-five years ago on September 11, 2001, we lost friends, family, neighbors, and loved ones in a tragedy that changed our nation forever. Their absence is felt every day, yet in the years since that heartbreaking morning, we… Read More »Then & Now: Post 9/11-Somerset Hills Family, Friends and Neighbors & Their Legacy
Views: 614 Washington Didn’t Build His Fortress. New Jersey Did. So we start by coining a phrase, one that defines what we think Washington knew all along. A geological fortress is not an artificial fort of stone walls, towers, and… Read More »Washington’s Rev War Fortress – It Was New Jersey Itself
Views: 644 Minimum donation: $25, but feel free to donate at any of the levels below. Your contribution is TAX DEDUCTIBLE. We only have a limited supply of these great keepsakes, so act fast. First come, first served, while supplies… Read More »Donate Today and Get a Great Gift: 2026 US Mint RevWar 250 Quarters Collectible Set
Views: 2,847 RUMOR CONFIRMED:As Crane Farm approaches another turning point, word has begun circulating that Tyson and Doris Mertz are retiring October 31, 2026 and will not be renewing their lease with Somerset County. The Mertzes have not owned the… Read More »Crane Farm: The Little Farm Stand Preserves Basking Ridge’s Farming Past
Views: 6,820 Imagine relocating to a city or state where you have no family or friends to help you evaluate different neighborhoods. You can easily compare home prices, property taxes, schools, commute times, restaurants, and traffic. But finding reliable, current,t… Read More »Mashing Crime History to Maps and Apps
Views: 2,611 The Millington Quarry property in the Millington section of Bernards Township is one of the largest former industrial sites in Somerset County and has been the focus of redevelopment discussions for more than a decade. Covering approximately 180… Read More »Meandering Basking Ridge’s Newest Largest Lake – The Millington Quarry
Views: 1,171 Noe Pond began as a natural, spring-fed farm pond on the Noe family’s roughly 800-acre property in Chatham Township. Dating to before the Revolutionary War, the pond supplied water to the family’s dairy farm, rose greenhouses, and surrounding… Read More »Noe Pond & the Browers- Chatham’s Swim Club People Remember
Views: 11,073 Memories and a BIG Photo Collection The official end of summer was upon us. People were coming home from summer vacation. Football practice was underway at the high school, and the students were prepping for the start of… Read More »Kiwanis Fair Basking Ridge Marked the End of Summer with a Bang
Views: 455 Before the Millridge Swim Club existed, it was known as Reggie’s Playland Farm, and we found a strange real estate listing from 2002 that read: This story is part of the Mr. Local History Project’s New Jersey Swim… Read More »Millington’s Millridge Swim Club Bulldozed Back into the Great Swamp Landscape
Views: 357 UPDATE: A New Life for Westfield’s Rialto After sitting largely dormant since closing as a movie theater in 2019, Westfield’s historic Rialto is now headed toward a major rebirth. In July 2026, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority… Read More »Westfield’s Rialto Theater History and Next Chapter
Views: 755 As Cranford prepares to celebrate the theater’s 100th birthday on November 29, 2026, we’re taking a look back at the little movie house that became a Cranford institution, and the generations of people who have kept coming through… Read More »Celebrating 100 Years of the Cranford Theater
