Welcome to the Mr. Local History Project
“A 501c3 Non-Profit Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Jersey History with a Social Twist”
The Mr. Local History Project begins here with our story about preserving history in a new way, utilizing wood, art, and researched history. Wildwood, Sandy Hook, Old Barney, The Stone Pony, and Lucy the Elephant are the first five honored. Why do we care to preserve and promote these landmark icons? Because they’re the best!
This Week’s Top 10 Posts
Test us. Search for a local history topic and see what comes up. Focus is New Jersey 🙂
If your search results are empty, try our new AI History Assistant, which is in the lower right-hand corner.
Jersey History Posts
Jersey history – over 500+ researched stories.
From Fort Lee to Cape May and everywhere in between.
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
- America’s Oldest Nudist Colony is in Liberty Corner, New Jersey
Views: 19,020 NOTE: As with all Mr. Local History retrospectives, we often update the post when we learn stories and receive photos from our community. We will continue to expand this piece as information becomes available. “I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked; I am mad for it… Read More »America’s Oldest Nudist Colony is in Liberty Corner, New Jersey - Memorial Day Tribute
Views: 135 Honoring those we’ve lost and those veterans who have served. 2025 Bernards Township Parade updates are below the tribute video. Soldiers showcased in the video who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country: 2025 Bernards Township Memorial Day Parade Update More Mr. Local History Additional Stories: The Tale of Jersey’s Devil Tree… Read More »Memorial Day Tribute - Bernards Township Research
Views: 29 Additional Stories: Summer MLH Hits The Tale of Jersey’s Devil Tree The Founding Families of Bernards Township (Basking Ridge) Quicklinks – History From Your Town - Summer MLH Hits
Views: 26 Here are a few fun posts to get you ready for those Jersey Summer Dayz! History with a social twist. Additional Stories: The Tale of Jersey’s Devil Tree Mapping New Jersey’s Historic Schoolhouses Student Rules Then and Now Bedminster Map Project Reveals Historic Pluckemin Artillery Park - TROG – The Race of Gentlemen – Pure Jersey History Right in Front of Your Eyes
Views: 10,917 Known as The Race of Gentlemen, the event has been revived since the 1950s by a local club called the Oilers of New Jersey. For one weekend in early October, racers, gassers, and fans gather on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, for one of only two instances of beach racing in the… Read More »TROG – The Race of Gentlemen – Pure Jersey History Right in Front of Your Eyes - Remembering Fairview Cemetery – History of Westfield, New Jersey’s Largest Resting Place
Views: 344 Being raised in Westfield was a great experience. As I look back now, there are so many great stories; it’s funny how they all start to tie together. Who would’ve thought a 12-year-old growing up on East Broad Street would come to find fun and beauty in a cemetery? Looking back now, that’s… Read More »Remembering Fairview Cemetery – History of Westfield, New Jersey’s Largest Resting Place - Book Remembering Bernardsville, New Jersey in the Gilded Age
Views: 268 This is a fantastic look into the history of the Bernardsville, NJ, mountain colony through the eyes of a wealthy Gilded Age family member at the turn of the 19th century. And we have a digital copy here for your reading pleasure. A. (Allison) Wright Post (1867–1944) was the son of renowned American… Read More »Book Remembering Bernardsville, New Jersey in the Gilded Age - Crumbcake Burger – Jersey’s B&W Crumb Cake Meets a Krug’s Burger
Views: 89 UPDATE:We have NOT Agreed on a Date yet – Sign Up to receive an update when we have details The Mr. Local History Project is sponsoring the first-ever “Crumb Cake Burger Flat Top Challenge,” which will introduce Jersey’s best-rated 1/2-pound burger inside a piece of Jersey’s best-rated crumb cake. Two New Jersey institutions are… Read More »Crumbcake Burger – Jersey’s B&W Crumb Cake Meets a Krug’s Burger - Bernardsville’s Boylan House on New Jersey’s 10 Most Historic Endangered List
Views: 323 Preservation New Jersey announced the 2025 list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places, highlighting places across New Jersey that are at risk of being lost due to neglect, development pressures, lack of funding, or natural threats. For Bernardsville’s Boylan House, being one of the ten most endangered, as noted by Preservation New Jersey, recognizes… Read More »Bernardsville’s Boylan House on New Jersey’s 10 Most Historic Endangered List - Video Series: Inside the Blairsden Mansion in Peapack, New Jersey
Views: 157 This story brings the history of the Gilded Age, also known as the Golden Age of America, where wealthy Americans built some of the most lavish mansions and estates in America from the late 1800s to the post-depression era. The Central New Jersey Beaux Arts estate has been intriguing since its construction started.… Read More »Video Series: Inside the Blairsden Mansion in Peapack, New Jersey - Gilded Age New Jersey Mansions Honored for Their Historic Design
Views: 83 Honoring Two Stories – Two Men – Two Estates A key mission statement of the Mr. Local History project is to find new ways to “Share History with a Social Twist,” which means we try to incorporate the social aspects of people, places, and things that tie back to tell their history at… Read More »Gilded Age New Jersey Mansions Honored for Their Historic Design - The Far Hills Inn – Remembering Dining Elegance
Views: 136 The Far Hills Inn along Route 31 (Now Route 202) was in Bridgewater, not Far Hills, and not Somerville. While researching the history of Far Hills, New Jersey, we found this former treasure, the Far Hills Inn. While named Far Hills, it was actually not in Somerville or Far Hills but in Bridgewater,… Read More »The Far Hills Inn – Remembering Dining Elegance - Historic Fires in the Somerset Hills
Views: 7,897 While you’d think that hurricanes and floods wreak the most havoc, there has been nothing more destructive to properties in the Somerset Hills than fires. The Mr. Local History Project is gathering information regarding large fires in the Somerset Hills area of northern Somerset County, New Jersey. Looking back at history, we’ve started… Read More »Historic Fires in the Somerset Hills - Grand History of the US Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone, New Jersey
Views: 219 United States Equestrian Team Foundation Headquarters Hamilton Farm – Gladstone, New Jersey You must thank James Cox Brady of Bedminster, Peapack, the Wall Street Financier, for his vision for his “million-dollar coach barn.” Let’s Start with the History James Cox Brady, born in 1882, was instrumental in managing his father’s estate and played… Read More »Grand History of the US Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone, New Jersey - Grand Mansions and Historic Estates Mapped in New Jersey’s Somerset Hills
Views: 35,264 Many people have asked why you post all this history stuff on the area you’re calling the Somerset Hills. Well, call it passion. Call it intrigue. Call it local awareness. I think the main reason is that the information wasn’t available whenever I asked a question about the area’s history. I didn’t want… Read More »Grand Mansions and Historic Estates Mapped in New Jersey’s Somerset Hills - Quicklinks – History From Your Town
Views: 1,932 Want a quick way to search for articles about the history of one of the towns we cover? The Mr. Local History Project has created a few quick searches to give you a head start. Official Name Nickname/Origin Photo Tidbit Link Bedminster Derived from Bedminster, a district in Somerset, England Has recently become… Read More »Quicklinks – History From Your Town - St. Bernard’s Cemetery is Bernardsville History
Views: 253 Historical Note: Bernardsville was still part of Bernards Township up until 1924. Cemeteries are one of the best sources for historical research and MLH leverages many burials in cemeteries to understand families and their history. Before St. Bernard’s cemetery, the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church cemetery was used as early as the mid-1700s. Cemetery… Read More »St. Bernard’s Cemetery is Bernardsville History - PREVIEW: John Placko – A Basking Ridge Icon
Views: 253 SUBSCRIBER PREVIEW: If you signed up for our alerts, we’re releasing this story as a preview as we’re hoping you, or other people will read and share additional photos or stories they have of Basking Ridge’s John “Honey Bee” Placko. If you have more to add, please contact us here. For those who… Read More »PREVIEW: John Placko – A Basking Ridge Icon
Recent Comments
Bayonne West 8th street and Broadway across from park 1974ish and was a child so don’t know cost
I don’t understand why the majority of people dismiss the KKK theory out of hand. To me it makes the…
What a fascinating piece of history! I had no idea that such a significant nudist colony existed in New Jersey.…
Al’s Submarine shop, Shector’s Hardware, Brown’s Variety, The Corner Sweet Shoppe, Milt’s Luncheonette, The Red Coach Grille, Swan’s Cleaners, Bob’s…
Could’ve been a nice country inn with Jackie memorabilia in the lobby. Instead some rich couple demolished it. Shame really.
Every time I pass this, I can’t help but think, “I found Jesus! He really is out there standing in…
The road was named after my uncle’s brother, a WWII vet who did not return. I swam in his parents’…
I was a friend of J’s when I was briefly dating his best friend. He was 16 at the time,…
When I was running marathons, that’s around where one of my routes would end. Hence, he’s been Finish Line Jesus…
The Mr. Local History 2025 Spring History Magazine
See our quarterly digital magazine for FREE. 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 501c3 registered charity 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
Click the Button to see how we can help each other.
This is such an intriguing piece about Liberty Corner! I had no idea that America’s oldest nudist colony was right…