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Top Ten Stories This Week
This Week’s Top 10 Posts
Latest News Updates & Research
- What America at 250 Means to Me Essay Series Open to All
Views: 181 As Americans experience our 250th anniversary, historians are asking how this moment should be understood and remembered. The Mr. Local History Project is preparing an in-depth story that brings together perspectives from respected voices across our region. This collection will be shared publicly as part of the historical record, capturing how our community… Read More »What America at 250 Means to Me Essay Series Open to All - Show us Your Red, White, and Blue Contest – Celebrating America 250
Views: 333 America’s 250th birthday is a once-in-a-generation celebration, and there’s no better time to proudly display what America means to you. Whether it’s a porch draped in flags, a family dressed in red, white, and blue, a neighborhood gathering, or a backyard Fourth of July picnic, every expression of patriotism helps celebrate the freedoms,… Read More »Show us Your Red, White, and Blue Contest – Celebrating America 250 - Middlebrook’s 1778-1779 Encampment – 10,000 Troops and Bridgewater’s Legacy
Views: 581 Military protocol in the eighteenth century generally called for armies to suspend major campaigning during the winter months. Harsh weather, poor roads, limited food supplies, and the difficulty of moving men, horses, artillery, and wagons made large-scale operations impractical. Rather than remain on the march, armies typically established winter encampments—temporary military communities where… Read More »Middlebrook’s 1778-1779 Encampment – 10,000 Troops and Bridgewater’s Legacy - Igniting New Jersey’s Revolutionary Signal Beacons for America 250 Effort
Views: 485 Long before telegraphs, radios, or cell phones, New Jersey’s mountaintops carried messages by fire. During the Revolutionary War, General William Livingston and Brigadier General William Alexander—better known as Lord Stirling—relied on a chain of signal beacons stretching across the Watchung Mountains and beyond to warn of British troop movements and summon militia. From… Read More »Igniting New Jersey’s Revolutionary Signal Beacons for America 250 Effort - Meet HistOracle AI: New Jersey Team Brings History’s Voices Back to Life
Views: 395 For centuries, historians have relied on books, letters, artifacts, and exhibits to tell the stories of the past. But what if visitors could do something more? What if they could actually sit down and have a conversation with Elias Boudinot, Henry George, or another historical figure and ask them questions directly? That is… Read More »Meet HistOracle AI: New Jersey Team Brings History’s Voices Back to Life - Communicating Life Stories – Digital Storytelling Oral History
Views: 7,172 Communicating Life Stories and Digital Storytelling For generations, family stories and personal memories were preserved through handwritten letters, photo albums, and conversations around the kitchen table. Today, those same stories can be recorded with a smartphone, shared across continents in seconds, and preserved for future generations with tools that would have seemed unimaginable… Read More »Communicating Life Stories – Digital Storytelling Oral History - Mr. Local History’s America’s 250th Commemorative Magazine
Views: 2,744 This Special Issue of Mr. Local History Magazine celebrates America’s SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL, the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, by bringing New Jersey’s Revolutionary past to life. From historic battlefields and museum exhibits to community events and county celebrations, the issue highlights the Garden State’s central role in the American story.… Read More »Mr. Local History’s America’s 250th Commemorative Magazine - America’s Grandest Estate in Basking Ridge Archaeological Dig Continues
Views: 536 UPDATE:Wednesday, June 18, 2026, Session 13 – 02:00 PM – 03:15 PM, hear the panel explore, through the lens of archaeology, the past, present, and future of “The Buildings,” the former estate of Revolutionary War General William Alexander, also known as Lord Stirling. Owned by Somerset County and operated by the Somerset County Park Commission,… Read More »America’s Grandest Estate in Basking Ridge Archaeological Dig Continues - The Great Swamp: Ice Age, Melting, Airports, Swampers, Raptors, Fireworks & Horror Tales
Views: 768 At first glance, the Great Swamp seems peaceful, a quiet stretch of reeds, willows, and winding creeks lying between Basking Ridge, Harding, and Chatham. Yet beneath its still surface lies a story that spans thousands of years, from the melting of Ice Age glaciers to the whispers of ghosts that haunt its mists.… Read More »The Great Swamp: Ice Age, Melting, Airports, Swampers, Raptors, Fireworks & Horror Tales - Perth Amboy’s Great Jersey History
Views: 694 One of the things we enjoy most about the Mr. Local History Project is discovering how seemingly unrelated stories eventually connect. Over the years, we’ve crossed paths with Perth Amboy through the lives of New Jersey’s Royal Governors, the East Jersey Proprietors, the construction of the Proprietary House, and even through figures like… Read More »Perth Amboy’s Great Jersey History - Historic Ice Yacht Gifted to Lake Hopatcong Club- It’s “Ours”
Views: 177 On February 9, 2026, Brian Haumersen and Mike D Achille returned the historic ice yacht OURS to the ice of the Navesink River at the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club for the first time in approximately two decades, marking a notable moment for the region’s ice boating community. The Navesink, also… Read More »Historic Ice Yacht Gifted to Lake Hopatcong Club- It’s “Ours” - That 1779/1780 Winter at Jockey Hollow and a Hut City
Views: 692 Everyone knows the story of Valley Forge. But it’s Jockey Hollow you need to remember. For generations, Americans have learned about George Washington’s Army suffering through the winter of 1777–1778 in Pennsylvania. Valley Forge has become synonymous with sacrifice, endurance, and the struggle for independence.But somehow, far fewer people know the story of… Read More »That 1779/1780 Winter at Jockey Hollow and a Hut City - Documenting the Ridge High School Sailing Program
Views: 243 This post is part of a series in which the Mr. Local History Project will document what we believe are the early stages of a new varsity sport across the state. We plan to meet with the New Jersey clubs, coaches, administrators, parent advisors, along with their ties to the Basking Ridge High… Read More »Documenting the Ridge High School Sailing Program - America 250 – Who Remembers 200? This Jersey Guy Does…
Views: 186 If you didn’t feel old, you might start feeling old if you read on. Where did time go? It wasn’t that long ago, was it? Boy, do I feel old. And it’s not that I really feel that old, but if I watch that YouTube video, it makes me feel like I’m 100.… Read More »America 250 – Who Remembers 200? This Jersey Guy Does… - Statue of Liberty History, Then Some Facts – Jersey Style of Course
Views: 1,173 The Statue of Liberty’s official name is “Liberty Enlightening the World”. In French:”La Liberté éclairant le monde” Her raised torch represents enlightenment, while the tablet in her left arm bears the date JULY IV MDCCLXXVI — July 4, 1776 — commemorating American independence. Standing at the entrance to New York Harbor, the Statue… Read More »Statue of Liberty History, Then Some Facts – Jersey Style of Course - High School Sailing Teams in New Jersey …Who Knew
Views: 633 Long before football stadium lights, marching bands, and Friday night rivalries, a quieter competition was taking shape along New Jersey’s bays, rivers, and coastlines. Students were racing sailboats. Today, high school sailing is an established part of the athletic landscape for a growing number of New Jersey schools. Teams from Monmouth County to… Read More »High School Sailing Teams in New Jersey …Who Knew - Overlooked Heroines of the Revolutionary War – Sarah Livingston Alexander
Views: 121 Part of the Mr. Local History Rev War and Lord Stirling Series As we were researching another story, we came across this really interesting piece published in 1914 about one of the Revolutionary War’s greatest generals, William Alexander, also known as General Stirling. But this is not about William, it’s about his wife,… Read More »Overlooked Heroines of the Revolutionary War – Sarah Livingston Alexander - Why Morristown Deserves a Monument to Honor its Legacy
Views: 855 Perhaps you’ve heard that the US President wants an arch for Washington, DC, to honor America’s 250th anniversary. The Mr. Local History Project has another proposal: how about a nationally recognized monument for Morristown, New Jersey, America’s first National Historical Park and arguably one of the most important Revolutionary landscapes in the nation?… Read More »Why Morristown Deserves a Monument to Honor its Legacy
Recent Comments
I worked for AT&T IMS from ’88 to ’92 on the first floor of building 7. Our organization was responsible…
As history buffs (particularly Revolutionary War), we were excited to visit Eagles’s Nest at Washington Valley Park today. From the…
My Grandfather, Boyd Happe, was a proud member. Raised pheasants on Prospect behind 148 Maple. Those houses had trouble with…
When I moved to Martinsville section of Bridgewater 44 yrs. ago, the western side of Shley Mtn. was a huge…
Grew up at on So. 10th EWR. Went to St. Ann’s grammar school on 16th and 7th. Graduated 1956. Mom…
Please advise if Sky Farm is having an open house because the date within this document says June 11th Saturday…
I was a resident of Peapack , living on the road known as Matheny road during the years that Jacqueline…
Jimmy was an integral part of the services throughout the town and was always actively involved. He was always very…
A wonderful man, a hero and true friend of Basking Ridge. My father-in-law grew up with Mr. D and remained…
Jimmy & I have been the greatest of friends since kindergarten in Basking Ridge, going through Maple Ave School, Oak…
I was was blessed to be good friends with Jim. A fascinating person so dedicated to his country, his wife…
Knew Jim from the first day I opened my office. He was a greeter and now he will be greeted.…
Such Sad news….What a legend.He knew everyone and everything about the area, especially BR……..Jimmy Dee, rest easy you will be…
South Finley Barbershop will surely miss his visits. Jimmy was wonderful and I will miss so much him saying hey…
Just to clarify, the Betsy Chance Burden referenced in this post would have been Elizabeth Chace Gammack Burden (1911-2013), first…
Being in Keyport was verified by Bob Holtz when he was part of the Historical Society. As a kid I…
I worked at Gould’s Amoco and she came in for gas every once in a while…I also saw her throw…
Did Merryl Streep ever live in Madison? If so, where? She talks about her family’s house in Madison in an…
You need to include the map of the 30 historical roadside markers in Tobyhanna Township, many of which are in…
Lord Stirling is my 6th great-grandfather. I’d like to keep on top of the research you do about him!