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Welcome to the Mr. Local History Project
“A 501c3 Non-Profit Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Jersey History with a Social Twist”
October means fall history road trips and local lore of Jersey witches and horror. We’ve got some great Jersey trips and tales. Click Here
Featured Stories
Latest Research
- Top 10 Trending Posts Right Now Mr. Local HistoryViews: 595 Top Posts This Week The Mr. Local History Project has published over 460 researched history posts honoring Jersey history. Top History All Time #5 Post – All Time #4 Post – All Time #3 Post All Time #2 Post – All Time #1 Post – All Time Additional Stories: Mr. Local History’s #growlocalhistory… Read More »Top 10 Trending Posts Right Now Mr. Local History
- Wildwood History and the Doowop MuseumViews: 158 Wildwood, New Jersey, is known as the “Doo Wop Capital of the Galaxy. The definition of Doo Wop? is a group singing style, especially during the 1950s, involving a lead singer supported by a chorus of singers and, often, instruments with a strong, rhythmic beat. And then, doo-wop turned into a cultural and… Read More »Wildwood History and the Doowop Museum
- The New Jersey Historic Wooden Village Keepsake CollectionViews: 14,381 The MLH Project is proud to be the largest reseller of the New Jersey Historic Wooden Keepsake Collection, created by the world-famous Cat’s Meow Village. Made in the USA!!! The New Jersey Historic Village Collection The New Jersey Historic Village keepsake collection is a wood-painted collectible series honoring historic iconic buildings, properties, and… Read More »The New Jersey Historic Wooden Village Keepsake Collection
- Mr. Local History 2024 Fall Magazine Vol 6. Issue 3Views: 44 Vol.6 Issue 3 is available now. Our Fall 2024 cover photo honors the history of the Somerset Hills area of Northern Somerset County, New Jersey, and the iconic Blairsden Mansion & Estate. Over the years, the estate has also been a private residence, an orphanage, and a religious retreat. Put those two together… Read More »Mr. Local History 2024 Fall Magazine Vol 6. Issue 3
- Bernards Township Historic Wooden Village Keepsake CollectiblesViews: 177 The MLH Project is proud to be the largest reseller of the New Jersey Historic Wooden Keepsake Collection, created by the world-famous Cat’s Meow Village. Made in the USA!!! Basking Ridge & The New Jersey Historic Village Collection Welcome to the Bernards Township, New Jersey, section of the New Jersey Historic Wooden Village… Read More »Bernards Township Historic Wooden Village Keepsake Collectibles
- The Lost Westfield Airport In Union CountyViews: 612 Just like the racetrack that was on the southern end of Westfield in the 1930s, another lost icon, the Westfield Airport, sits at the coordinates 40°36’36.0″N 74°19’08.4″W. Our research started here. As with all Mr. Local History retrospectives, updates are made to this post when we learn additional information. We will continue to expand… Read More »The Lost Westfield Airport In Union County
- Vote For Bernardsville’s Most Historic VenuesViews: 23 Take the Survey – What are the Most Historic Icons in Bernardsville? Olcott School, The Old Library, Jerolaman’s, the Bernards Inn, the Old Stone Hotel, Dunster Squibb house, Bernardsville Cinema, and Kenilwood, NJ Brigade are some of the most iconic and historical icons in Bernardsville, New Jersey. Please take the survey and tell… Read More »Vote For Bernardsville’s Most Historic Venues
- Lost Racetrack Series: Auto Racing’s 10,000 Seat Track In Union, New JerseyViews: 490 Jersey 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 for night racing and seating capacity for up to 10,000 racing fans. According to… Read More »Lost Racetrack Series: Auto Racing’s 10,000 Seat Track In Union, New Jersey
- Retrospective: Auto Racing on Jersey’s Westfield-Clark BorderViews: 384 Jersey 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 were typically held on weekends at 2 p.m. and Tuesday Nights at 7:45 p.m.… Read More »Retrospective: Auto Racing on Jersey’s Westfield-Clark Border
- Bernardsville 100 – A Birthday Party – Ah the HistoryViews: 312 1924 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. There are so many ways to honor Bernardsville’s history. On September 14, 2024, “Bernardsvillers”… Read More »Bernardsville 100 – A Birthday Party – Ah the History
- Jersey’s Jared Isaacman – A High School Dropout Who Went to Outer Space (AGAIN)Views: 9,663 HUGE UPDATE: September 12, 2024—Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman conducted the first private spacewalk with SpaceX, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. The mission, part of the Polaris Dawn program, tested new spacesuits and involved extensive training. Isaacman and his crew launched from Florida and orbited 460 miles above Earth, demonstrating the potential… Read More »Jersey’s Jared Isaacman – A High School Dropout Who Went to Outer Space (AGAIN)
- #911neverforget-Somerset Hills Family Friends and Neighbors & Their StoriesViews: 14,641 Special Community Ask: MLH would love to know any positive outcomes that have come since this tragid day in American history. If you have a story to share, please post at the end of this story (e.g. did you know four children were born after the tragedy? True. 2019, 2020 and 2021 were… Read More »#911neverforget-Somerset Hills Family Friends and Neighbors & Their Stories
- #911neverforget in the Somerset HillsViews: 5,416 On the clear crisp morning at 8:46 am on September 11, 2001, the first plane hit the North Tower, and our community was changed forever. Please take a moment to remember those 21 residents from Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, and Peapack who never came home that day. This is our tribute to the families.… Read More »#911neverforget in the Somerset Hills
- Westfield Penny PostcardsViews: 616 Walk 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 you were visiting. Taking a weekend trip and sending a few cards from your… Read More »Westfield Penny Postcards
- Wearing Lost Westfield Area Businesses is Fun HistoryViews: 517 Mr Local History loves history with a social twist. It’s our motto! So we thought: How fun would it be to share some of the most loved Westfield, New Jersey businesses that have disappeared? (Two of our Trustees grew up in Westfield, in case you’re wondering why us.) We started researching and then… Read More »Wearing Lost Westfield Area Businesses is Fun History
- Vote for Westfield’s Most Historic IconsViews: 581 Time to see what Westfielders feel are the most historic icons in town. Is it The Westfield train station, Rialto Theater, Tamaques Park, Stoneleigh Park, Westfield Fire Department, Jolly Trolley, WWI Memorial, Kehler Field House, Westfield High School, Miller Corey House, the Presbyterian Church, Echo Lake Country Club, or something else? We’d love… Read More »Vote for Westfield’s Most Historic Icons
- Loved Businesses Lost In Westfield – The H-GOAT GAMEViews: 14,651 How 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 you which one you like more. Then everyone votes. The one with the most… Read More »Loved Businesses Lost In Westfield – The H-GOAT GAME
- The Hall-Mills Murder: The Country’s First Sensationalized TrialViews: 974 Television executives have always known people have an obsession with true crime. It is quite possible that this obsession can trace its roots back to an unfortunate event that occurred in Somerset County. On the night of September 14, 1922, a New Brunswick church rector named Edward Hall and a churchgoer named Eleanor… Read More »The Hall-Mills Murder: The Country’s First Sensationalized Trial
Recent Comments
Jackie also rented a small ranch house in Peapack owned by Anne Casey in the 1970s. We lived on that…
Diedre Locati That was so much fun; although I’ve been gone for 50+ years, there wasn’t one I didn’t remember.…
Gus Manz I’ve lived in Flemington for the past 30+ years and Flemington Speedway existed for almost 100 years from…
Dan Becker I love that race track photo. That is larger than the UHS football stands. I wonder if the…
Alan Naso We lived in Union from 1953 until 1967 . I never knew there was a race track there.…
Susan J Doyle My dad told me it closed in 1942 due to WW2 and a ban on all Motor…
The main competition in my mind was The Music Staff.
It was fun, brought back tons of memories. So glad Rialto won, it was our trademark theater!!
Such great memories! Thanks for having this fun game for all of us!! It was like going down memory lane…good…
Enjoyed the game. Great memories of my hometown. I was rooting for the Jolly Trolley but Rialto is a worthy…
This was so much fun and my husband (a lifelong Westfielder) had such a ball remembering all the businesses!
Oh I’m so glad The Rialto is a classic I couldn’t believe that it was such a tight race with…
I thought the game was a lot of fun. Brought back so many good memories. Thanks to all involved!!
Love this. My family owned the building. What great memories! So blessed growing up in Wstfld when I did.
Great game. I actually have one of your models of the Rialto
I am interested in this lineage of the Southard family since my branch of the Southard family was said by…
Fun reading this article! My uncle’s (Joe Petrone) brother-in-law was Joe Cirillo. He had moved his grocery store from Bernard…
This is a google sheet embedded into the story as updates are made live to the data, thus making updates…
CitySports Westfield (may have the spelling wrong here) East Broad Street Sports Equipment and Clothing
Jersey History Posts
Jersey history – over 450 researched stories.
From Fort Lee to Cape May and everywhere in between.
Take a look.
“Wear Local History” Collection
Brings Back Memories
MLH has digitally recreated lost businesses from the 1900s to the 1980s, producing over 200 designs of historic vintage logos.
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Stories, Stories, and More Stories
Researched by Mr. Local History himself, see over ten years of research on the internet to share the history.
The Mr. Local History 2024 Fall Magazine
See our quarterly digital magazine for FREE. Full of great local Jersey History.
Events Calendar
Signature Events, Tours, Fundraisers, and Speaking engagements.
The New Jersey Historic Village Wooden Collection
30 iconic local Jersey Collectibles made exclusively for the Mr. Local History Project by the world famous “Cat’s Meow Village” of Wooster, Ohio. Once they sell out, they’re usually gone forever.
Like Historic Photos?
Over the years our researchers have gathered some great historic photos. Take a look as we “Dig In the Archives”
“I love sharing stories about the history of Jersey food. If one thing people miss when they leave Jersey, it’s the food. We dig in!”
Brooks Betz aka Mr. Local History
“What is the point of being alive if you don’t know history?”
Meg Wastie – Education Team Lead
“The Mr. Local History Project covers some really unique stuff. I mean who digs into the history of Jersey Food? MLH does”
Ms. Paula Axt – Tour Guide and Education
Frequently Asked Questions
The Mr. Local History Project is a 100% volunteer organization. Want to join us? No problem. There are no membership fees, and you only need to support one of our efforts. Programs include education, research, guided tours, or one of our many events.. You can even start something of your own. Visit our Contact Us page and drop us a note to get involved.
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Carol, that must have been around the same time that she moved her horses out of Fox Chase where I…