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Mick Jagger on Blogfinger
13 hours ago
Posts with the label New Jersey history
Showing posts with label New Jersey history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Jersey history. Show all posts
January 28, 2022
Clara Barton Schoolhouse | Bordentown, New Jersey
The Clara Barton Schoolhouse
Bordentown is a lovely town on the Delaware River which was critical during the Revolutionary War.
The Clara Barton Schoolhouse in Bordentown, New Jersey was one of the first public schools in the state.
Clara Barton is most famous as a Civil War nurse and as the founder of the American Red Cross.
But before all that, she taught school.
The original schoolhouse was built in 1839.
According to the Bordentown Historical Society:
When Clara Barton began teaching in 1852, the building was described as “dilapidated” and repairs were undertaken at that time. On the first day she taught, she began with only 6 students. After a year, there were 600 students, and by 1853, a new eight room schoolhouse had been built in Bordentown to accommodate them. Thereafter, the original schoolhouse was unused for many years and by 1919, it was in a deteriorated state. It was purchased for $300 at a Sheriff’s Sale by a community minded couple, Mr. and Mrs. George Swift, so that it could be preserved. In September of 1920, they sold it to the President of the State Board of Education for $1 “in trust for and [o]n behalf of the Schoolchildren of the State of New Jersey and to be forever preserved as a memorial of Clara Barton, deceased.”
Please read my post about historic The Little Red Schoolhouse in Florham Park.
Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!
January 21, 2022
Bellevue Avenue Branch of the Montclair Public Library | Upper Montclair, New Jersey
The Bellevue Avenue Branch Is A Carnegie Library
The Montclair Public Library - Bellevue Avenue Branch in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA is a Carnegie Library.
A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
I took photos from the front, back, and the interior of the building.
Previously on the Montclair Public Library website:
The Bellevue Avenue Branch Library officially opened its doors on December 7, 1914, after fifteen years of using a rented room in the real estate office of John Mancini on Bellevue Avenue. This building, partially financed with a $40,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation, endures with the same architectural design despite a major renovation nearly three decades ago. Designed by F.A. Nelson, the architect of the Upper Montclair Women’s Club, Post Office and other prominent buildings in town, the library is on the National Register of Historic Places. Many have called the branch building a gem—a treasure which celebrated its centennial in 2014.
Photos Of The Bellevue Avenue Branch
You can see in these photos how lovingly the Bellevue Avenue Branch Library was built and is being maintained:
There is a quote from Isaac Barrow above the door:
He that ever loveth a book will never want a faithful friend - a wholesome counsellor - a cheerful companion - an effectual comforter
The interior of the library:
More Reading About Libraries
If you love libraries, I have written about the 125th Avenue of the New York Public Library and about the New York Library lions, Patience and Fortitude.
You can also read about Carnegie Libraries in New Jersey.
Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!
January 14, 2022
American Labor Museum and the Pietro and Maria Botto House | Haledon, New Jersey
Home of the American Labor Museum
New Jersey was the home of many silk mills during the last century.
It is now the home of the American Labor Museum.
Thousands of people were employed in those silk mills, under deplorable conditions.
Long hours doing difficult and back-breaking work was the norm. Pietro and Maria Botto, immigrants from northern Italy, were two of those workers.
So was their daughter.
In 1913, the workers decided to go on strike.
Over 25,000 of them walked out, shutting down the silk industry.
They wanted an eight-hour day, among other demands.
Pietro and Maria Botto House in Haledon, New Jersey
The workers were forbidden to strike in Paterson, so they moved over the town line to neighboring Haledon.
Pietro and Maria had a modest house in Haledon, but the front balcony was perfect for giving speeches. At the time, there was much free space and lawns for large crowds to gather in front of the house.
Soon labor leaders from around the country descended upon this home. Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle, a famous and muckraking novel of conditions in factories and mills, was one of the speakers.
The Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), better known as the “Wobblies”, also were there. They were considered the “outside agitators” of the strike.
This is a wonderful and succinct video of the strikes:
The Botto house is now an official National Historic Landmark and the American Labor Museum is located there.
More About the American Labor Movement
To see how the other half lived, you can check out my photos from 2014: Lambert Castle Parts 1 and 2
To read more about the silk strikes of 1913: Paterson Silk Strikes of 1913
If you are interested in reading books about labor, please read my reviews of Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, and Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee by Alex Frankel.
Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!
January 07, 2022
Grovers Mill, The War of the Worlds Broadcast, and a unique Coffee House | West Windsor, New Jersey
Mischief Night
It was on October 30th, 1938 – Halloween Eve, also known as Mischief Night.
Part of the regularly scheduled Mercury Theater of the Air, the radio program aired a modernized play version of the H.G. Wells’ classic science-fiction novel, The War of the Worlds.
It was delivered as if it was a regular broadcast interrupted by news bulletins. It was interspersed with occasional comments about it being an adaptation of a literary work.
Was It Real?
Listeners were advised that a large object had fallen on a farm in Grovers Mill, New Jersey, not far from Princeton.
Startled listeners heard that 7,000 soldiers had been killed fighting alien invaders.
There were reports of people shooting at the water towers in the park.
Panic grew – at least in the East Coast. How much hysteria was caused nationwide is still a subject for debate. Newspapers wrote of widespread hysteria.
It even made from the top of the front page of The New York Times!
Today it is considered highly unlikely that thousands of people around the country were really that frightened.
Snopes considers it doubtful. But there were some people who were genuinely frightened.
It Happened In New Jersey?
The invasion was supposedly occurring in Grovers Mill, New Jersey, then a very rural part of West Windsor, New Jersey.
This area near and around Princeton is an affluent and well educated area, and has grown exponentially since then. It is sometimes called Princeton Junction.
Martian Landing Site Monument
It is located in lovely Van Nest Park.
You can read about it in Roadside America and Atlas Obscura.
Grover's Mill Coffee Shop
There's also a fun coffee place nearby: Grover's Mill Coffee House.
Yes, they use the apostrophe in the name. Most references to the area do NOT use the apostrophe. I have no idea why.
The Coffee House was profiled in a NJ.com article in 2015.
It is a very inclusive place, including an "All Species Bathroom" which you can see in the last photo.
It Is Part Of American Popular Culture
There have been several interesting documentaries about this event, including this one narrated by James Cameron:
You can also check out:
War of the Worlds: When Martians Invaded New Jersey!
Mars Attacks! 75 years ago, 'War of the Worlds' broadcast put nation in a panic
Historical Society of West Windsor
Check out these blog hops:
Friendship Friday on Create With Joy
Unlimited Link Party at Grammy's Grid:
Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!
January 01, 2022
Henry Doremus House | Montville, New Jersey
The Henry Doremus House in Montville, New Jersey is a historical house made of Dutch Stone.
George Washington and Alexander Hamilton stayed there from June 25-27, 1780.
This was in the aftermath of the Battle of Springfield.
Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!
October 15, 2021
A Day in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey
On a lovely and very hot July day in 2019, my husband and I wandered around the cute town of Pompton Lakes.
Pompton Lakes was founded in 1682 and incorporated in 1895.
They are proud of their heritage, with even a cute Liberty Bell of their very own.
George Washington slept here at least twice.
We then went to the Pompton Lakes Library to check out some books and DVDs.
The Library has a long history.
From their website:
The Pompton Lakes Public Library began as a gift to the people of Pompton Lakes from Mrs. Emanuel Einstein in memory of her late husband, who passed in 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Einstein were residents of New York City and spent their Summers in Pompton Lakes. Mrs. Einstein supplied the town with the plot, building, equipment, and a stock of books, which were all dedicated in April of 1912 when the library first opened to the public. The building, an example of seventeenth century architecture and Tudor design, is described in its deed as facing “Wynockie Avenue”, sometimes called “Wanaque Avenue”.
We eventually ended up at the old Pompton Lakes Train Station, which still has some old trains on display, to find out that in the old station someone had opened up a very nice used book and record store!
I checked and they are still there! They made it through the pandemic!
The store's name is Station 1 Books Vinyl and Vintage Shop.
You can read more about Pompton Lakes here:
Pompton Lakes grapples with where to hold its history
Revolutionary War New Jersey - Pompton Lakes
Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!
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