Post Views: 5,536 Distilling in the Somerset Hills New Jersey has a deep history in distilling spirits that goes back to colonial times. The Somerset Hills is a area in central New Jersey’s Somerset County grouping six similar towns, villages,… Read More »New Jersey Hills are Alive with Distilling History
Post Views: 720 What better way to share New Jersey’s local history then with games. In an effort to create a fun and entertaining teaching method, the Mr. Local History Project presents a number of interactive puzzles and games for… Read More »Program Pilot: Local History Games/Puzzles
Post Views: 14,919 Basking Ridge, New Jersey’s Most Famous Incident At about noon time on December 13,1776, General Charles Lee (1731-1782), was alarmed by Major Wilkinson while he was writing a letter to General Gates about George Washington in an… Read More »Widow White’s Tavern in Basking Ridge was more than a Grog Stop
Post Views: 1,367 Ridge High School senior Pari Mandalapu is the recipient of the 2021 Mr. Local History Project Scholarship for Community Service in local history. Pari has lived in Basking Ridge most of his life, and has been involved… Read More »Pari Mandalapu Chosen 2021 Ridge High School Mr Local History Scholarship Winner
Post Views: 1,210 The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of New Jersey’s historic resources of local, state, and national interest. Created by the New Jersey Register of Historic Places Act of 1970 (N.J.S.A. 13:1B-15.128 et… Read More »Why List a Historic District on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places?
Post Views: 5,828 UPDATE: While we wrote this piece years ago, the Bedminster Charter came back in the news on October 21, 2019 when it was announced that the Forbes family was donating the charter back to Bedminster Township. The… Read More »The Lost Charters of Bernards Township & Bedminster
Post Views: 1,740 JOIN US THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3 for a VIRTUAL EVENT from 7-8pm. DID YOU KNOW BASKING RIDGE AND OTHER TOWNS WERE ALMOST LOST TO A SUPER REGIONAL AIRPORT IN THE 1960S? Taped: December 3, 2020 Background 61 years… Read More »VIRTUAL EVENT: Filmmaker Scott Morris Honors Saving the Great Swamp- The Fight to Defeat the Jetport
Post Views: 1,926 Schools in the Somerset Hills area of northern Somerset County have been a mainstay back to the mid-1700s. We honor the history of these memorable facilities in images from various sources now in our digital research archives.… Read More »MLH Honors Back to School with Historic School Images From the Somerset Hills
Post Views: 1,884 Congratulations to our 2020 Ridge High School senior and MLH History Student of the Year – Annie Kleinle. A history volunteer since the MLH was founded, Annie Kleinle has been involved with local history. In addition to… Read More »Congratulations to Annie Kleinle, the 2020 MLH Project High School Student of the Year.
Post Views: 1,850 In recognition of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.S., and the ratification of the 19th amendment guaranteeing all American women the right to vote, the Mr Local History project recognizes this great accomplishment in American… Read More »100th Anniversary Honors Women’s Right to Vote in New Jersey
Post Views: 3,038 We’ve been testing out a new piece of technology and wanted to share with our community. The project is to compliment what has traditionally been a guided walking tour in Basking Ridge. We’re thinking of hiring one… Read More »Virtual Tour of Historic Basking Ridge Village
If you’ve been touched by the story of the Basking Ridge Historic Oak Tree’s 600 year history, you have to see this new book. “The Historic Basking Ridge Oak Tree Project” is a compilation of the areas children from Kindergarten through High School who have written or drawn pictures of one of the most historic trees in America.
The keepsake book is a fundraiser that not only includes some of the most touching writings and images, but it also gives back to the community. Up to $10 from each book sale is donated. T3 Consortium (the publisher) has also agreed to donate a portion of the proceeds to a local history scholarship fund.
Below are a few examples from the 145 page collection of stories and images of the Great White Oak of Basking Ridge (Click Images to enlarge):
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The Basking Ridge Historic Oak Tree Project sought students from kindergarten through high school to participate in The Historical Society of Somerset Hills “Tree Views” writing contest and the William Annin Tree Shirt Contest & Fundraiser. The essay premise was that students would write as if they were the historic oak and describe events they felt notable. Every school in Bernards Township participated including Cedar Hill School, Liberty Corner School, Mount Prospect School, Oak Street School, William Annin Middle School, Ridge High School, and the St. James Catholic School and one from the Assumption School. The tree shirt contest raised over $5440 selling tee shirts while the Historical Society presented a $500 scholarship to the High School essay winner.
The inaugural run of the book became available on Thursday, June 8, 2017 starting at 7pm at a the Tree Views Essay Reception at the historic Brick Academy, home to The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills, located at 18 W. Oak Street, Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The venue was moved to the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church’s Westminster Hall when over 100 guests registered to attend the event.
Books are now available online:
Click Here to visit our Gift Shop Etsy Store
This is the 2nd book that T3 Consortium has partnered with Mr. Local History. The other is a 36 page coloring book entitled; Somerset Hills History Coloring Book.
The coloring book is available now at the Mr. Local History Store as well – Click Here
Post Views: 3,398 Coloring History Opportunity for Kids T3 Consortium, a local company in the Somerset Hills, is proud to announce a new program for education programs to create a great program to make available for children while teaching them… Read More »Kids Event Planning: History Coloring Book
T3 Consortium, a local company in the Somerset Hills, is proud to announce a new program for education programs to create a great program to make available for children while teaching them about some of the greatest historic people, places, and events in New Jersey’s Somerset Hills area including Bedminster, Bernards Twp, Bernardsville, Far Hills, Peapack & Gladstone.
What better way to teach kids about local history than by having them color some of the greatest events in Somerset Hills history with over 34 historic images including:
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Basking Ridge – The historic 600 year old oak tree |
| Bernardsville – Phyllis the Ghost |
| Bedminster – General Knox and the Vanderveer House |
| Pluckemin – America’s First Military Academy |
| Basking Ridge – The capture of General Lee |
| Peapack/Gladstone – The great lime kiln |
| Somerset Hills – The great Lene-Lenape Indians |
A great idea is to distribute the book to each student, pick maybe one image per week, tell a brief story about the event, person or location. Let the students either do it in class, or take home for an assignment.
Do the same as the school program, or consider doing some sort of event where the children get to color an image (their choice or yours) and then they get to tell about what they did when they complete the drawing (e.g. color selection or maybe adding an activity where the child gets to write something the person in the image might have said.
Pick the image that you like the best (e.g. your facility or story), have the children complete a xeroxed copy of that image. When they present their colored image back, post them on the wall. THEN, when they think they’re done, GIVE EACH OF THEM THEIR OWN BOOK! Watch their eyes light up! Then create a follow up activity and have the kids (and their parents) come back to your facility. A great traffic enhancer!
Yes, real estate agents! What better way to welcome a new family to town than with a coloring book for their kids that shows them the rich history of the Somerset Hills area. For such a small gesture, imagine how happy the kids will be when they get the chance to color historic figures from their new town. A nice touch to say the least!
Here’s a great offer at half the price. Why not have your kids learn about local history and spend time enjoying what they do.
Want Colored Pencils instead?
Mini kit of 20 colors – add $1.50 each.
To take advantage of this offer, visit our contact page and provide your details and we’ll contact you.
If you have any additional ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to post your comments below or drop us a note – Click Here
Thanks! And keep on sharing our local history!
Post Views: 3,498 Historic documents often meet their tragic ending with swiftness and tragedy. In 1850 in Bernards Township there was known to have been a massive fire at the home of the township administrator, burning all of the townships… Read More »Recreating the Historic Charter of Bernardston