Welcome to the Mr. Local History Project
“A 501c3 Non-Profit Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Jersey History with a Social Twist”
As the Holiday Season Approaches…
See why Jersey and Thanksgiving is BIG – The holiday season is a time to reflect on what truly matters: family, tradition, community, and history. At the Mr. Local History Project, we celebrate the stories that bring our towns and families together, preserving the moments and memories that shape who we are. As the year comes to a close, this is also a critical time for giving. Your donation helps sustain our non-profit mission to honor local heritage, educate future generations, and keep the spirit of community alive throughout the year. From all of us at Mr. Local History, we wish you peace, happiness, and cheer this holiday season, and our heartfelt thanks for being part of our story.
Cat’s Meow Keepsakes and Flags
Section
Exclusive keepsakes commissioned exclusively for the Mr. Local History Project. What started to honor Basking Ridge history has now expanded to over 40 collectibles across New Jersey, including Bernardsville, Westfield, Cranford, Wildwood, Asbury Park, and Jersey Food Icons like White Mana hamburgers, Krugs Tavern, and Jimmy Buff’s Italian Hot Dogs, and of course, NJ Diners. Check out the entire collection and availability HERE.
Clothing, Stickers, Bags Section
Print on Demand Service
Over 300 lost businesses have been digitally remastered from original ads from their time. We have collections for Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Cranford, Westfield, Route 22, Diners, Jersey Food, Jersey Motorsports, and more. You pick sizes, colors, and styles, and we ship right to your door.
Check out the entire collection HERE.
Our Readers’ Top 10 MLH Posts this Week
Town Specific
History Posts
Hundreds of researched posts: Bedminster, Basking Ridge (Bernards Township), Bernardsville, Bridgewater, Far Hills, Warren, Westfield, Cranford, Peapack, and more…
Take a look.
“Wear Lost Local History” Clothing, Stickers, Magnets, Collections
Brings Back Memories
MLH has digitally recreated lost businesses from the 1900s to the 1980s, producing over 250 designs of iconic vintage logos.
Click Here
Latest Updates & Research
- Jersey Businesses That Have A Line Out the Door Every Christmas Eve
Views: 4,619 One thing is for sure: You can guarantee that each of these businesses in New Jersey will have lines out the door and down the block every Christmas Eve. Most are also “CASH ONLY,” so make sure you have planned for all the necessary protocols if you want to put “Jersey’s Best” on… Read More »Jersey Businesses That Have A Line Out the Door Every Christmas Eve - Mr. Local History 2025 Holiday Gift Giving Guide / MagazineViews: 182 Sneak Preview: If you got the word, you get the head start on the End Of Year Holiday News, Specials, Events, and MLH Stories The magazine is free and our gift to you.Please consider making a REALLY BIG YEAR-END DONATION to support our writers and our non-profit organization so we can hold events… Read More »Mr. Local History 2025 Holiday Gift Giving Guide / Magazine
- Colonial Christmas To Shine Again at Bedminster’s Vanderveer HouseThe Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster, New Jersey, is celebrating Colonial Christmas, an annual fundraiser event that combines history, tourism, tradition, and Christmas spirit. It offers an array of activities including music, reenactments, crafts, and holiday shopping.
- Basking Ridge Christmas Eve On the Green – Watch on Your DeviceThe town of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, welcomes its annual Christmas Eve Sing on The Town Green at 7pm on Dec. 24th.
- Peapack Gladstone Barn Tour Shines as “Barn-ers” Visit Historic VenuesViews: 568 On November 15, 2025, Peapack and Gladstone opened its doors to the past as visitors stepped into the 2025 Historic Barn Tour. For one crisp autumn day, the borough invited guests to wander through seven of its most storied barns, each a quiet survivor of earlier eras and a poignant reminder of how… Read More »Peapack Gladstone Barn Tour Shines as “Barn-ers” Visit Historic Venues
- MLHP History Gift ShopViews: 7,266 Jersey is all we do. We make each of these collectibles to promote New Jersey history, as our motto states: “History with a Social Twist.” Whether it’s our Wear Local History collection, flags, wooden keepsakes, or other items, the goal is to get history in your hands so you can share it. BE… Read More »MLHP History Gift Shop
- Bernards Township’s 2025 Political Earthquake – First in Almost a CenturyViews: 541 Bernards Township Political Map Goes Blue, Changing the Political Landscape for the First Time in almost 100 years. First of all, this is not a political post, and it is not meant to take sides on candidates or positions. The Mr. Local History Project prefers to tell “history with a social twist,” and… Read More »Bernards Township’s 2025 Political Earthquake – First in Almost a Century
- Vintage Toys Are the Best History Ever – Playing vs. CollectingViews: 462 PREVIEW READ: For those who are previewing the story, thanks! We’re also waiting for one more piece to add to the story. Share your favorite toy memory. When did you get it and do you still have it? Add a comment at the end of this post. New Jersey has been shaping America’s… Read More »Vintage Toys Are the Best History Ever – Playing vs. Collecting
- Honoring WW2 Veterans Book In Service – 1941-1944 Now OnlineViews: 462 Mr. Local History’s “Operation Honor Roll” Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, honoring ALL those Bernards Township residents who have served in our military. We’re seeking volunteers to undertake this ambitious endeavor “In Service 1941-1944”: The Somerset Hills Military Service Committee’s Tribute During the height of World War II, when sons and daughters from the… Read More »Honoring WW2 Veterans Book In Service – 1941-1944 Now Online
- Before the West Point Military Academy (USMA) There was Pluckemin
Views: 195,726 America’s First Military Academy, the Pluckemin Academy (Dec.1778) was 24 Years BEFORE West Point (Mar. 16, 1802). One of the greatest untold stories of the American Revolution.The Pluckemin Winter Cantonment, part of the overall Middlebrook Encampment of 1778-1779. One of the lesser-known stories of the American Revolution is the truth about the Pluckemin… Read More »Before the West Point Military Academy (USMA) There was Pluckemin - America 250: The Pluckemin Series – Now Go Tell America About This
Views: 554 “Pluck-em-in” and America 250 – Perfect Together. Get to know this Great American History Story Pluckemin, New Jersey, pronounced “PLUCK um in“, carries three enduring name stories. Some trace it to a Lenape word for persimmon tied to early Algonquian place terms. Others repeat the roadside tale of tavern keeper Jacob Eoff, who… Read More »America 250: The Pluckemin Series – Now Go Tell America About This - Operation Honor Roll Looks for Help To Indentify ALL Bernards Armed Services Active Duty & VeteransViews: 1,917 UPDATE: Volunteer as a researcher to help validate the list. Draft letters are being prepared to send to veteran organizations, and validation of the Bernards Township Honor Roll is underway. The initial list is now available online for public verification. Sign up and volunteer below. Mr. Local History’s “Operation Armed Services Honor Roll”… Read More »Operation Honor Roll Looks for Help To Indentify ALL Bernards Armed Services Active Duty & Veterans
- Middlesex County Volunteer Fifes and Drums Corp Marches thru Morristown and SomervilleViews: 347 It’s been on our radar to prepare a post and video since one of the nation’s top fife and drum units made their march into New Jersey during a warm spell in July 2023. First in Morristown at the Ford Mansion, and then a stop the next day in Somerville, the capital of… Read More »Middlesex County Volunteer Fifes and Drums Corp Marches thru Morristown and Somerville
- Looking Back (and Down) with a Drone View Across Historic New JerseyViews: 180 The Mr. Local History Project is fortunate to have volunteers who continually push the envelope, finding new ways to share local history. New technologies such as AI and Drones have pushed storytelling in new directions, and we love that. We launched our drone program in 2022, and we’ve now had the opportunity to… Read More »Looking Back (and Down) with a Drone View Across Historic New Jersey
- MLH Drone Crash – Help NeededViews: 475 SAD NEWS: Our Drone Took a Hard Fall – Hoping Our Fans Can Help. November 2, 2025 SAD NEWS: Our Drone Took a Hard Fall – Hoping Our Fans Can Help. We are sad to share that our aerial history photography program has hit an unexpected setback. While capturing breathtaking fall foliage for… Read More »MLH Drone Crash – Help Needed
- Thanksgiving History & Memories Jersey StyleViews: 221 New Jersey played a significant role in shaping the nation’s Thanksgiving tradition, from Governor Sir Francis Bernard’s colonial proclamations to Governor William Livingston’s 1783 Day of Thanksgiving, to local congressman Elias Boudinot inspiring President George Washington’s first national Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789. Thanksgiving in New Jersey has always been more than a meal.… Read More »Thanksgiving History & Memories Jersey Style
- Bernards Plateau and the Bernards Commons Community – Every Home Faces a Shared ParkViews: 660 1930s: Bernards Plateau and the 60-acre Bernards Commons & Decker’s Park Community Project The Bernards Plateau was named for the broad upland just west of the Basking Ridge village center, located just across Route 287 today, an area once filled with corn fields, pastures, and orchards that drew early farm families with good… Read More »Bernards Plateau and the Bernards Commons Community – Every Home Faces a Shared Park
- 1901: Basking Ridge Former Slave Dies at 110Views: 243 EX-SLAVE DIES AT 110 YEARS OF AGE. Sold at one time for a yoke of oxen by his New Jersey OwnerBasking Ridge, July 16. 1901 Nathan Woodward, a colored man, familiarly known as “Uncle Nate,” died this morning at the age of 110 years. “Nate” was born at Whitehouse. Hunterdon County, and was… Read More »1901: Basking Ridge Former Slave Dies at 110
Recent Comments
The comment above mine is a pathetic one to see on a historically-oriented article. McPherson, leave history to people who…
I remember my Mom told me about this. She was a teenager when this broadcast happened. She remembered sitting around…
It went down and down into a ravine with little waterfalls sliding down rock walls and at the bottom, a…
That was before she was in Bedminster at Fox Chase Stables, but that’s Winchester, and Macaroni. I knew those horses…
My mom used to tell us stories that when she was a kid, she would see them at local horse…
I was a nurse at Matheny School/Hospital in Peapack and had to make a run to the pharmacy (which looked…
Plenty of places to sign up on the site. Real simple.
It’s No. 41 on the list and on the map. Look again.
Your list above does not including Island Dragway (near Hacketstown, NJ) which is still active to this day.
Test us. Search for a local history topic and see what comes up. Focus is New Jersey 🙂
The Mr. Local History 2025 Holiday Shopping Guide / Magazine
See our quarterly digital magazine. Full of great local Jersey History.
Events Calendar
Signature Events, Tours, Fundraisers, and Speaking Engagements.
The New Jersey Historic Village Wooden Collection
40 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.
No, but we are a 501(c)(3) registered charity and non-profit, meaning you can donate to the Mr. Local History Project, and your donation is 100% tax-deductible. Every penny goes back into our programs.
Help Preserve and Promote
Local History Together
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Hi there! Is there a way where I can receive notifications about future barn tours? If there is a mailing…