Views: 268 Certainly, everyone knows when they’re in Peapack and when they’re in Gladstone, right? First off, a little clarification: the “Established 1701” on the borough’s sign date refers to the Peapack Patent, when the land encompassing present-day Peapack-Gladstone was… Read More »So What Defines Peapack Village from Gladstone’s Village
Views: 190 Just when you think you know everything about New Jersey, the state pulls another surprise from its seemingly bottomless bag of tricks. We already have ocean beaches, mountains, waterfalls, sprawling farms, colonial villages, busy cities, and some of… Read More »A Historic Boardwalk on Jersey’s Lake Mohawk
Views: 727 Walk into Bardy Farms on Washington Valley Road in Warren Township, and you are entering one of New Jersey’s increasingly rare family farm businesses. Fresh produce still fills the market, plants crowd the greenhouses in Spring, pumpkins arrive… Read More »Bardy Farms: From a Russian Immigrant’s Fields to a Somerset County Farming Dynasty
Views: 33,799 Twenty-five years ago 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 the years since that heartbreaking morning, we… Read More »Then & Now: Post 9/11-Somerset Hills Family, Friends and Neighbors & Their Legacy
Views: 285 For Over Half a Century, the Frippery is Watchung’s Original Treasure Hunt Long before thrift shopping became trendy, generations of bargain hunters were already climbing the stairs and rummaging through the shelves at one of Watchung’s best-known hidden… Read More »“The Frippery” Thrift Store Extraordinaire is a Watchung Historic Gem
Views: 338 Washington Didn’t Build His Fortress. New Jersey Did. So we start by coining a phrase, one that defines what we think Washington knew all along. A geological fortress is not an artificial fort of stone walls, towers, and… Read More »Washington’s Rev War Fortress – It Was New Jersey Itself
Views: 1,531 RUMOR CONFIRMED:As Crane Farm approaches another turning point, word has begun circulating that Tyson and Doris Mertz are retiring October 31, 2026 and will not be renewing their lease with Somerset County. The Mertzes have not owned the… Read More »Crane Farm: The Little Farm Stand Preserves Basking Ridge’s Farming Past
Views: 2,154 The Millington Quarry property in the Millington section of Bernards Township is one of the largest former industrial sites in Somerset County and has been the focus of redevelopment discussions for more than a decade. Covering approximately 180… Read More »Meandering Basking Ridge’s Newest Largest Lake – The Millington Quarry
Views: 984 Noe Pond began as a natural, spring-fed farm pond on the Noe family’s roughly 800-acre property in Chatham Township. Dating to before the Revolutionary War, the pond supplied water to the family’s dairy farm, rose greenhouses, and surrounding… Read More »Noe Pond & the Browers- Chatham’s Swim Club People Remember
Views: 232 Before the Millridge Swim Club existed, it was known as Reggie’s Playland Farm, and we found a strange real estate listing from 2002 that read: This story is part of the Mr. Local History Project’s New Jersey Swim… Read More »Millington’s Millridge Swim Club Bulldozed Back into the Great Swamp Landscape
Views: 132 UPDATE: A New Life for Westfield’s Rialto After sitting largely dormant since closing as a movie theater in 2019, Westfield’s historic Rialto is now headed toward a major rebirth. In July 2026, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority… Read More »Westfield’s Rialto Theater History and Next Chapter
Views: 474 As Cranford prepares to celebrate the theater’s 100th birthday on November 29, 2026, we’re taking a look back at the little movie house that became a Cranford institution, and the generations of people who have kept coming through… Read More »Celebrating 100 Years of the Cranford Theater
Views: 8,180 Remembering classic movie theaters that not only showed first-rate films, but anchored our towns and kept us full of memories. Three of the last remaining old-time, downtown movie theaters in New Jersey, each with over a century of… Read More »NJ Cinemas Honored in Exclusive Miniature Wooden Collection
Views: 622 For many families growing up in the Somerset Hills and surrounding communities, summer meant one thing: the local swim club. From the 1950s through the 1980s, private clubs, lakes, beaches, and municipal pools became summertime gathering places where… Read More »History Remembers Lost Swim Clubs – Now It’s Your Turn
Views: 1,410 Clover Hill Swimming ClubA Beloved Summer Retreat That Changed New Jersey History This story is part of the Mr. Local History Project’s New Jersey Swim Club Series, exploring the neighborhood pools, freshwater ponds, and private clubs that shaped… Read More »Looking Back at Millington’s Clover Hill Swim Club