Views: 897 Maps are such a great source of history, and this 1766 map doesn’t disappoint those looking to learn more about Somerset County, New Jersey’s history. Completed in 1766 by surveyors Benjamin Morgan and Joseph Hills, the Morgan–Hills Map… Read More »Five Landowners That Owned Half of Somerset County, New Jersey
Views: 323 The 1766 Morgan–Hills Map of Somerset County Unlike most eighteenth-century maps that depict only towns and transportation routes, the Morgan–Hills map provides a remarkable snapshot of the county’s agricultural landscape by assigning numbered tracts to individual owners in… Read More »1766 Somerset County, New Jersey Map Tells So Many Stories
Views: 4,285 “Pluck-em-in” and Middlebrook AND America 250 – Perfect Together. Get to know this Great American History Story. During the winter of 1778–1779, the Middlebrook Encampment stretched across the Somerset Hills while, at Pluckemin, General Henry Knox established the… Read More »Middlebrook / Pluckemin MLH Series: Tell America About These Rev War Jersey Destinations
Views: 837 Historic archeologist drops a verbal bombshell announcement at a New Jersey conference: The Rev War Pluckemin Cantonment WAS America’s first military academy, confirming the construction was done 24 years before the United States Military Academy at West Point.Dr.… Read More »Was Pluckemin America’s First Military Academy? Expert Breaks Silence & Takes Position
Views: 1,222 From Rev War Soldiers to Gliders to Gun & Rod Clubs: The Transition on Schley Mountain There is no well-documented evidence of a formal, dedicated police or public shooting range in the “The Hills” development itself. But we’re… Read More »Remembering Gun and Rod Clubs Around Schley Mountain in the Somerset Hills
Views: 1,571 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 »Middlebrook Symposium – Pluckemin’s Rev War Academy Analysis with Dr. John Seidel
Views: 1,160 Part of our Mr. Local History Train Series….. For years, the Mr. Local History research team has been digging into New Jersey’s railroad history. As we traced old rail lines town by town, something curious began to appear… Read More »Northside or Southside – Train Determines Socio Economic Town Dynamics
Views: 642 A Retrospective The Mr. Local History Project conducted a deep dive into the beginnings of railroads in New Jersey, focusing on east-west corridors that sought to connect Pennsylvania with New York through New Jersey’s crossroads. Long before the… Read More »Passaic Valley & Peapack and the West Line Railroad – What if the West Line Succeeded?
Views: 203,224 America’s First Military Academy, the Pluckemin Academy (Dec.1778), was 24 Years BEFORE West Point (March 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.… Read More »Twenty-Four Years Before America’s West Point Military Academy (USMA) There was Pluckemin
Views: 1,475 Picture a country barn set back from the road. Cars parked along a tree line, never too close together. Men arriving quietly, some local, others from out of town. Inside, cages line the walls and a small pit… Read More »Cockfighting in the Somerset Hills – How Times Have Changed
Views: 12,913 The anniversary of America’s Alliance with France was celebrated on February 18, 1779, at Pluckemin, New Jersey, at a very elegant entertainment and display of fireworks given by General Knox and the officers of artillery. It was postponed… Read More »The 13 Paintings at the 1779 Pluckemin Academy’s French Alliance Ball Grand Pavillon
Views: 16,862 New Jersey is known as the “Cockpit of the American Revolution” for a reason – because it was. More battles, more encampments, more strategies took place in New Jersey than in any other colony of the original thirteen.… Read More »New Jersey Rev War Series Mr. Local History Project
Views: 6,800 As with all Mr. Local History retrospectives, we often update the post when we learn stories and are sent photos from our community. We will continue to expand this piece as information becomes available. If you have any stories to… Read More »Retrospective: Lost & Torn Down Memories From the Somerset Hills
Views: 4,879 Want a quick way to search for articles about the history of one of the towns we love to cover?The Mr. Local History Project has created a few quick searches to give you a head start. Our researchers… Read More »Quicklinks – Tracking History From Selected Jersey Towns
Views: 20,923 Sister Towns in New Jersey and England Share a Common Bond – and a Name How fun was it when our friends across the pond contacted us, inquiring about what they were calling a “sister town” in New… Read More »The Tale of Two Bedminsters