Ongoing historical research on a variety of topics.
Views: 5,629Jersey Lost Racetrack Series We found a story in the Paterson Call newspaper on April 22, 1936, stating that on May 15, 1936, after spending over $100,000, the Union (Township) Speedway would open with a 1/2-mile oval, including floodlights… Read More »Lost Racetrack Series: Auto Racing’s 10,000 Seat Track In Union, New Jersey
Views: 5,942Jersey Lost Racetrack Series For a short period, racecar drivers from all over the tri-state area gathered just off Raritan Road on the Westfield/Clark border for the most exciting spectacles of the time, sanctioned midget dirt car racing. Races… Read More »Retrospective: Auto Racing on Jersey’s Westfield-Clark Border
Views: 1,6861924 is the year Bernardsville passed a resolution to separate from Bernards Township and form an independent borough. Just a year after Far Hill did it in 1921, Bernardsville had to try once previously before succeeding the second time.… Read More »Bernardsville 100 – A Birthday Party – Ah the History
Views: 3,686Walk down memory lane as we journey back to a time when Westfield was a much younger community. “Penny postcards” were primarily used in the early 1900s when you wanted to write to your family and friends from where… Read More »Westfield Penny Postcards
Views: 17,153Lord Stirling, the Revolutionary War Buildings, the First Airmail, World Record Gliders, the Tuskegee Airmen, the VA, a proposed Super Airport, and more historic moments tie back to this small strip of land in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. If… Read More »The Somerset Hills Airport in Basking Ridge – Lost but Not Forgotten
Views: 22,451How about a game? A fun game. A game that mixes history and memories and will take you back to the simpler times growing up in Westfield, New Jersey. We take two businesses no longer in town and ask… Read More »Loved Businesses Lost In Westfield – The H-GOAT GAME
Views: 11,777Television executives have long known people are obsessed with true crime. This obsession may trace its roots to an unfortunate event in Somerset County. On the night of September 14, 1922, a New Brunswick church rector named Edward Hall… Read More »The Hall-Mills Murder: The Country’s First Sensationalized Trial
Views: 5,235Mr Local History loves history with a social twist. In fact, it’s our motto! So we thought how fun it would be to share some of the most loved New Jersey businesses that have disappeared. We started researching and… Read More »Wearing Lost Jersey Local History and Our Foodie Collection
Views: 5,651 The Westfield (NJ) Historical Society presented ‘My Recollections of Westfield, ‘ or, as I transcribed it, Frank Betz’s recollections of his childhood thoughts while growing up in the mid-1900s in Westfield, New Jersey. The Betz family came to Westfield in… Read More »Egypt Hill, Brown’s Pond and The Great Loves of My Childhood in Westfield, New Jersey
Views: 10,552Investigating the tales of lost caves in Peapack, New Jersey, our first visit was to Town Hall in mid-2006, and the township administrator. They provided two articles she had on file regarding the Peapack Caverns, which became the foundation… Read More »The Secret Peapack Caves Caverns & Grottos
Views: 26,838Founded in 1932 and situated on 38 acres in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Go Figure is pleased to offer a discounted membership to township residents. It’s called a “naturist community for families and couples” (not a nudist colony). It’s members of… Read More »More: America’s First Nudist Colony is in Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Views: 9,409The Mr. Local History project is working with the public to identify lost businesses in Westfield, New Jersey. We have a new history game going on now for those who grew up in Westfield (Click Here), but here, the… Read More »Westfield’s Largest Lost Business List Ever Assembled
Views: 28,854UPDATE: Bernardsville, New Jersey’s Meadowbrook Farm is in the NewsThe Bernardsville Board of Adjustment Application for what appeared to be a subdivision request has shifted to a number of new deed requests with deed restrictions to align with the… Read More »The World’s Oldest Glitter Factory Started in Bernardsville, New Jersey
Views: 2,699Vol.6 Issue 2 – Summer is in full swing, and we’re happy to say Happy Birthday, America, for the 248th time. So much Jersey history is packed in our latest digital Mr. Local History online magazine issue. Our researchers… Read More »Mr. Local History 2024 Summer Magazine Vol 6. Issue 2
Views: 23,574Flag Designer Betsy Ross and Her Basking Ridge Ties – Lore or Fact? “Here lies the woman who made the first banner containing the stars and stripes after that honored old ensign had been adopted, June 14, 1776.”July 4,… Read More »Betsy Ross is Really Buried in Basking Ridge, New Jersey?
