Bernards Township Research

The town of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, welcomes its annual Christmas Eve Sing on The Town Green at 7pm on Dec. 24th.

Views: 7,244 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… Read More »MLHP History Gift Shop

Views: 519 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… Read More »Bernards Township’s 2025 Political Earthquake – First in Almost…

Views: 461 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… Read More »Honoring WW2 Veterans Book In Service – 1941-1944 Now…

Views: 1,903 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… Read More »Operation Honor Roll Looks for Help To Indentify ALL…

Views: 657 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… Read More »Bernards Plateau and the Bernards Commons Community – Every…

Views: 8,466 Dr. Robert Finley’s Work To Help Blacks, Defeat Slavery, and Colonize Liberia Original Post: October 19, 2000Updated: October 26, 2025 An abolitionist, as the name implies, is a… Read More »Dr. Robert Finley, Founder of a Classical Prep School…

Views: 862 Before the Schley Glider Field rose to fame in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, a quiet field in the Lyons section of Bernards Township launched the state’s first glider… Read More »1930 – Lyons Glider Field: Where New Jersey’s Soaring…

Views: 1,025 While history recognizes President Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation, many don’t know that two New Jersey statesmen persuaded President George Washington to declare the last Thursday in November “a… Read More »Thanksgiving Proclamation Way Before Lincoln Did It -Thanks Jersey…

Views: 1,738 In the mid-1930s, after the Schley Field opened for Glider Competitions, the glider game changed. However, there was a glider field just east in the same town, which… Read More »Gliders Soar at Historic Schley Field in Liberty Corner,…

Views: 1,180 In the early 1700s, German Lutherans settled around Pluckemin and established one of the region’s first congregations. By 1715, they had built a small log church on what… Read More »The Hills Church & Cemetery & Pluckemin’s Pigtail Mountain

Views: 15,257 Tucked below the Hills on a quiet cul-de-sac in the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township, New Jersey, sits a turreted French Norman-style castle known to locals as… Read More »Bill Beatty and the Hills Haunted Phareloch Castle

Views: 2,455 🏈 The Ridge–Bernards Thanksgiving Day Turkey Bowl Rivalry. We could hold our tongue no more. It needs to come back so we had to tell the history and… Read More »Bring Back the Thanksgiving Ridge vs. Bernards Turkey Bowl

Views: 3,788 👻 The 3rd Floor “Spirit of the Astor Estate” in Basking Ridge. A spirit has haunted owners and workers wandering the third floor causing ghostly havoc at times.Reported… Read More »Paranormal Oddities at Basking Ridge’s Astor Estate Town Hall

Views: 24,907 On September 11, 2001, we lost friends, family, neighbors, and loved ones in a tragedy that changed our nation forever. Their absence is felt every day, yet in… Read More »Then & Now: Post 9/11-Somerset Hills Family Friends and…

Views: 8,363 Memories and a BIG Photo Collection The official end of summer was upon us. People were coming home from summer vacation. Football practice was underway at the high… Read More »Kiwanis Fair Basking Ridge Marked the End of Summer…

Views: 1,801 UPDATE:Another Dayton family discussion came up…. we couldn’t refuse the query. MLH Introduces Ezra Dayton and the Dayton Families The name “Mount Airy” first appears in printed atlases… Read More »Bernardsville’s Lost Dayton Home, Orchards and Mount Airy Nursery

Views: 1,413 MLH Mini-Series: The Basking Ridge Rushmore 5 of All Time What better way to preserve local history than by writing about people who have made Basking Ridge one… Read More »Basking Ridge’s Historic Rushmore 5 All Time

Views: 1,319 MLH Mini-Series: The Basking Ridge Rushmore 5 of the Modern Era Meet John Packo, Bill Hine, Irwin Richardt, John Placko, Nick Sant Foster, and Bobby Thomson. Okay, so… Read More »Basking Ridge’s Rushmore 5 of the Modern Era

Views: 2,339 Remembering Bill Hine – the Pope of Basking Ridge Every once in a while, we come across a human interest story that’s so much more than history; we… Read More »The Pope of Basking Ridge – Bill Hine’s Presence…