Ongoing historical research on a variety of topics.
Views: 25,147 Bernardsville News – August 15, 2013 As part of the Bernardsville News history retrospective, this piece was recently reported to have occured 75 years ago. Based on the original article posted back on June 30, 1938, there seems… Read More »Wheeler Corporation Builds New Jersey’s First Stran Steel Home in Basking Ridge – 1938
Views: 72,559 Are you thinking of living in Basking Ridge? Why are people moving to Basking Ridge, New Jersey, you ask? Contrary to the typical stereotypes, New Jersey has a lot to offer. Those who look at Basking Ridge, known… Read More »Thinking of Living in Basking Ridge, New Jersey? Top 10 Reasons
Views: 43,390 Father of the American Army Artillery Father of the American Navy Father of the Military Draft Fate has it often where those who put themselves in constant danger and face death every day are often spared until some freak… Read More »General Henry Knox – America’s Forgotten General
Views: 50,406 2012 – Turpin Realtors in Far Hills posted that Blairsden, once New Jersey’s largest mansion, is offering the prestigious estate for sale on its website. Blairsden is noted as probably the most famous mansion in the area, and… Read More »Historic Blairsden NJ Mansion For Sale – At a Discount!
Views: 20,183 Bernardsville News –Consolidation of five local towns advocatedPosted: Friday, July 15, 2011 3:00 am EDITOR: When will enough be enough? The runaway costs for public services have come to a point where hard decisions have to be made… Read More »Consolidate 5 NJ Towns NOW – New Somerset Hills Township
Views: 7,391 Map Identifies Historic Properties, Owners, Building Locations, Local History Including the Often Ignored Pluckemin Artillery Park With over 2,000 hours of painstaking research and countless renderings, the landscaping firm of John Charles Smith & Associates of Far Hills… Read More »Bedminster Map Project Reveals Historic Pluckemin Artillery Park
Views: 16,531 Update The Mr. Local History Project recently learned there is a Sky Farm Historical Society under the direction of Janice Gersky that is working to digitize their document and photo archives. Might be time to schedule a visit.… Read More »America’s Oldest Clothing-Optional Club is in Basking Ridge
Views: 41,041 Noted High Society Playboy and Titanic Survivor Brings Notoriety to Bernards Township. It’s a fun story, but you have to hang in there. First, we must provide a little background about John’s father, who didn’t survive the Titanic… Read More »Titanic Survivor Astor and Basking Ridge
Views: 14,912 Founding Fathers Series turns Glen Beck into a History Teacher. No one knew how popular the Glen Beck Show would become. Commonly referred to as a TV shock jock (sorry Howard), no matter how you feel about the… Read More »Glen Beck Founding Fathers Series Needs General Henry Knox
Views: 5,408 Communicating Life Stories – Digital Storytelling Oral History Publishing in a Digital Age Technology is moving so fast that sometimes it’s tough to stay in tune with the latest trends. A high school history program teacher at Ridge… Read More »Communicating Life Stories – Digital Storytelling Oral History
Views: 10,413 The anniversary of America’s alliance with France was celebrated on the 18th of February at Pluckemin, at a very elegant entertainment and display of fireworks given by General Knox, and the officers of artillery. It was postponed to… Read More »The 13 Paintings at the Pluckemin Academy
Views: 10,447 Morristown – Where America Survived – a documentary aired on NJN. It should be replayed again Sunday, October 17, 2009 at 7:30pm on NJN. Morristown: Where America Survived is a thirty-minute High Definition documentary which revisits that winter… Read More »NJN Airs Morristown RevWar Documentary Film
Views: 25,009 Below are the original research notes as I had spent years researching contradicting information on the Widow White’s Tavern in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Often I like to post research in hopes that other researchers can see what’s… Read More »What Happened to Mary White and Widow White’s Tavern
Views: 20,522 While attending a program entitled “Early American Schoolhouses” at the Brick Academy in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, the instructor passed out handouts that discussed rules for students, teachers, and punishments in 1872. Meg Wastie, program coordinator at the Museum… Read More »Student Rules Then and Now
Did you know that US Route 206 actually used to be Route 31 and what is US Route 202 was actually Route 32?
So now you tell your friend “Take Route 31 North Thru Bedminster
and Turn Right onto Route 32 straight into Bernardsville.” Huh. “Route 31 goes to Clinton right? Left? WRONG! Confused?
Travel back to 1935 and you definitely would have been.
Maybe you could travel down Mine Brook Road to Bernardsville and the directions read take Route 32 south to Bville and stop at the dairy. Or maybe you’re coming down from Chester and you wanted to visit the Brady’s Hamilton Farm in Peapack/Bedminster and you actually have to go down Route 31. Well that was actually the case right up until 1935 when the transition began to change these two crossroads across the Somerset Hills to Routes 202 and 206.
Have you ever had such a major roadway change names in your lifetime? Your whole psychic changes. Think about how much confusion there is when the Department of Transportation changes highway exits and how long it takes you to forget the old ones and replace it with the new numbers. Geeze, I think there’s still exit signs on the southern end of Route 202 South that still say Old Exit 2B.
Read More »Liar – Route 31 Did Go Thru Bedminster & Bernardsville