Ongoing historical research on a variety of topics.
Views: 16,202 Every town in the world has restaurants and brothels that come and go. There are always reasons why they come and go, but the history and memories of what used to be remain. The Somerset Hills has a… Read More »Somerset Hills Bars and Restaurants of the Past
Views: 4,826 The Mr. Local History Project, in conjunction with T3 Consortium and the Cat’s Meow Village introduce the Inaugural Keepsake of the Historic Somerset Hills Village Collection, the 1809 Brick Academy in the Basking Ridge Village of Bernards Township,… Read More »Historic Cat’s Meow Collection Created for Somerset Hills Historic Brick Academy
Views: 7,289 Morristown, New Jersey – Alexander Hamilton’s Roots Known as “the cockpit of the American Revolution,” New Jersey has a rich history from the American Revolution. During the 2nd winter encampment in Morristown and the 4th in New Jersey,… Read More »Alexander Hamilton’s Morristown Love Story
Views: 19,103 The Mr. Local History Project is determining interest to nominate the Cranford Canoe Club to the New Jersey Historic Registry. If you believe this should be done, please consider signing our petition to let Cranford local officials that… Read More »Growing Up at the Cranford Canoe Club
Views: 14,513 History is a strange thing. The myth often outweighs the truth in many cases, sometimes distorting the truth to make a better story. Sometimes, it’s like the game where you whisper something to someone, then they whisper to… Read More »Finding the Truth About the KKK in Basking Ridge & the Somerset Hills
Views: 31,339 2025 UPDATE: YOU KEEP SENDING… WE’LL KEEP POSTING! It all started when a photographer from the Newark Star-Ledger rented an airplane on July 2, 2017, to take photos of the closed public park beaches. He had a hunch… Read More »60+ Chris Christie Beach Memes Make You Laugh
If you’ve been touched by the story of the Basking Ridge Historic Oak Tree’s 600-year history, you have to see this new book. “The Historic Basking Ridge Oak Tree Project” is a compilation of the area’s children from Kindergarten through High School who have written or drawn pictures of one of the most historic trees in America.
The Basking Ridge Historic Oak Tree Project is one of the most heartwarming books ever made to celebrate the life and history of the 619 year oak tree that was lost in 2017. It’ll pull on your heart strings.
Meg Wastie, Historic Oak Tree Project coordinator
The Basking Ridge Historic Oak Tree Project sought kindergarten through high school students to participate in The Historical Society of Somerset Hills “Tree Views” writing contest and the William Annin Tree Shirt Contest & Fundraiser. The essay premise was that students would write as if they were the historic oak and describe events they felt notable. Every school in Bernards Township participated, including Cedar Hill School, Liberty Corner School, Mount Prospect School, Oak Street School, William Annin Middle School, Ridge High School, St. James Catholic School, and one from the Assumption School. The tree shirt contest raised over $5440 in selling tee shirts while the Historical Society presented a $500 scholarship to the high school essay winner.
Below are a few examples from the 145-page collection of stories and images of the Great White Oak of Basking Ridge (Click Images to enlarge):
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The inaugural run of the book became available on Thursday, June 8, 2017, starting at 7 p.m. at the Tree Views Essay Reception at the historic Westminster Hall at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church, next to where the historic oak lived. Over 100 guests attended the release, where authors and artists read their essays. A book signing followed, which was one of the most touching events we’ve ever seen.
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Related Local History
Views: 4,273 Coloring History Opportunity for Kids T3 Consortium, a local company in the Somerset Hills, is proud to announce a new program for education programs to create a great program to make available for children while teaching them about… Read More »Kids Event Planning: History Coloring Book
Views: 3,546 Meet Local Artist Linda Arnold – Get an Autographed Edition Local artist and Liberty Corner resident Linda Arnold will be signing copies of her new coloring book “Somerset Hills History” during the Bernards Township Charter Day Streetfair &… Read More »Charter Day to Showcase Artist’s History Coloring Book
Views: 7,430 Historic documents often meet their tragic endings swiftly and tragically. In 1850, Bernards Township was known to have had a massive fire at the home of the township administrator, burning all of the township’s documents, including its founding… Read More »Recreating the Historic Charter of Bernardston
Views: 7,624 Coloring book fans now have the opportunity to color the local history of the Somerset Hills area of New Jersey while learning about the areas historic sites and most memorable moments. What was in the works for almost 10 years,… Read More »Somerset Hills History Coloring Book
Views: 9,065 The history of bowling is one of those notable glimpses back into American culture. I mean, who didn’t like bowling. Bowling has typically had two separate groups of admirers. There were league bowlers and social bowlers.Then we had kid bowling (with a… Read More »Bowling History in the Somerset Hills
Views: 5,196 Here’s the question. You’re being relocated. You’re moving to a state where you have no friends and family to guide where you should live. It’s Florida, so at least it’s warm. So how do you know which neighborhoods… Read More »Mashing Crime History to Maps and GPS
Views: 4,150 One of the greatest challenges to non-profits and historical societies is the ability to change their business models and become self sufficient. Funding is a great challenge and communicating to various groups, agencies, government officials is critical to… Read More »Social Media for Non-Profits and Historical Societies
Views: 7,308 Since the 2010 release of the best-selling book The Big Short, in December 2015 the book was later released into what became an Oscar-winning movie. The film, five years in the making since Michael Lewis’s book was released, won the… Read More »Characters of The Big Short by Michael Lewis