New Jersey

Hop aboard the Blue Comet for a ride to Atlantic City or croon along with a Hainesport ghost. New Jersey history can keep you up late, so stop by an all-night diner. The moonlight only adds charm to the Victorian architecture of Cape May, while Richard Biegenwald’s murderous legacy casts a shadow over the Jersey Shore. From William Carlos Williams setting pen to paper in Rutherford to the joy of a Clementon lake in summer, these New Jersey history books make time for the Garden State. [View all New Jersey books]

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North Jersey Legacies

New Brunswick and the Civil War

Morris County's Acorn Hall

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Gund

9780738537108

$24.99

Gund, America's oldest and most recognized stuffed-toy manufacturer, has produced millions of quality toys for more than one hundred years. Since Adolf Gund launched the company in Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1898, Gund has prided itself on its founding values of quality, workmanship, and huggability. The photographs in Gund document significant events in the company's history, including prestigious awards, lovable products, and important people. Gund was making stuffed bears four years before teddy bears became the namesake of President Theodore Teddy Roosevelt. From Snuffles the bear to Muttsy the dog, these plush playthings fill millions of homes and hearts.

Wood-Ridge

9780738535562

$24.99

Located in northeastern New Jersey some twenty minutes from Manhattan, Wood-Ridge was incorporated in 1894. Once a place of farms and woods, the borough was transformed first in the 1920s by Sunshine City, a thousand-house development, and then in the mid-1900s by the renowned airplane-engine manufacturer Curtiss-Wright Corporation, which built its headquarters here. Wood-Ridge highlights early landowners-among them the Brandenburgs and the Brinkerhoffs-and later people of accomplishment, including Grace Castagnetta, Frank Lovejoy, and Frankie Muniz. It also looks ahead to the proposed redevelopment of Westmont Station.

Deptford Township

9780738511641

$24.99

Discover how New Jersey's Deptford Township outside Philadelphia has progressed from an agricultural community to an important Gloucester County town over the last century.

Known mainly for its pig farms and ice production in its early days, Deptford Township remained rural until after World War II, when residential building exploded and local malls, movie theaters, restaurants, and other commercial development put the community on the map.Deptford Townshipexplores this area's history with tales of Revolutionary War scout and hero Jonas Cattell, who was born and buried in Deptford, and the Clement Oak, under which the Lenni Lenape held council meetings.

Locally, the logo of a hot-air balloon celebrates North America's first aerial flight, which took place in 1793, when Jean Pierre Blanchard traveled 15 miles from Philadelphia to land 46 minutes later in a clearing on Clements Bridge Road. Also included are images of Deptford Day and the notorious honey hunt, a fundraiser held for the Almonesson fire department in the 1930s and 1940s.

Brielle

9780738554938

$24.99

When incorporated in 1919, Brielle was a summer tourist destination with a fledgling recreational fishing industry. The Manasquan Inlet permanently reopened in 1931, ensuring Brielle's status as a center for recreational sportfishing. Anglers flocked to Brielle to participate in tournaments, party boat passengers drove down the shore to enjoy a day of fishing, and a fleet of sportfishing
boats grew at the docks. The personalities and stories of individual anglers are as varied as the fleet of vessels, from the anonymous fishermen who fluked along the Manasquan River to Lou and Eugenie
Marron, a husband and wife team whose record-setting swordfish catches in the late 1950s remain unbeaten today. Exploits of Brielle anglers are recorded in fishing journals and sporting magazines from coast to coast.

North Jersey Legacies

9781609495565

$21.99

Did you know that the Dust Bowl hit New Jersey? Twice? How about that a mysterious experiment in subliminal advertising was conducted at a Fort Lee, New Jersey movie theater? Or that railroad communication was advanced on a northwest New Jersey railroad line? Or that America first heard about the Russians launch of Sputnik 2 (with a dog onboard) thanks to a Ukrainian refugee in Perth Amboy, New Jersey? Or that prisons could buy a custom electric chair from a Trenton, New Jersey electrician? Or that aviation matured into an industry thanks to Newark Airport? This book is a collection of articles from www.GardenStateLegacy.com, an online quarterly magazine devoted to New Jersey history that the author began in 2008. The Garden State features to some degree even as a footnote in larger historical stories far more often than one might think. It could just be a matter of someone from the state going on to something of historic importance somewhere else; or that by dumb luck something just happened to occur within its borders. New Jersey may be a footnote in these tangential tales, but they are the kind of unexpected connections that makes exploring New Jersey's history so delightful.

Fords

9780738510439

$24.99

Fords is part of the state's oldest original township, Woodbridge, chartered in 1669. The area was once a prime area clay-mining region, and the bricks made from that clay helped put the township on the map. Originally known as Sling Taile, Fords borders Hopelawn, Keasby, Iselin, Menlo Park Terrace, and Edison. Settled early by immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and other European countries, Fords was an agricultural community until the twentieth century, when local industry flourished. Fords exhibits vintage photographs of the very early Cutler House, old shops in the business district, local churches, Dalina's Tavern, and the Fairfield Union School. The book also includes images of the trolleys, which were later replaced by the motorcar, and of the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike, both of which pass through town. Drawn from the collections of longtime residents, local libraries, schools, organizations, and churches, these photographs, along with the well-researched text, bring the past to life.

Finding North Jersey

9781609498115

$21.99

Northern New Jersey is one of the most densely populated places in the nation, but it is constantly defined by its relationship to New York City. In this insightful study, longtime North Jersey resident James Marcum asks why, looking well past the false stereotypes to a distinct regional culture and fascinating history. How did North Jersey become what it is today, and even more fundamentally, can we define its boundaries? Is it essentially suburban? What characterizes the region and its people? Join Marcum as he explores these and other issues to come to a better understanding of one of the most intriguing and diverse corners of the Garden State.

New Brunswick and the Civil War

9781626191747

$21.99

At the beginning of the Civil War, New Brunswick was positioned at the transportation and manufacturing hub of New Jersey. Many of the city's young men exchanged manufacturing equipment for rifles, and those whom they left behind witnessed the war through letters from their sons, brothers and husbands. Patriotism, a longing to earn more money and adventure lured these Brunswick Boys--close friends and co-workers--to enlist. Their recollections offer insights into everyday life in New Jersey during the war--New Brunswick's factory system, education and medicine. These letters also reveal their struggles to survive amid battles and close encounters with death that so many soldiers faced, as well as their difficult transition back to civilian life. Local author Joanne Hamilton Rajoppi presents the fascinating stories of New Brunswick and the Civil War, gleaned from the letters of those who experienced it.

Rutherford

9780738510576

$24.99

Then & Now: Rutherford documents the changes that have occurred in Rutherford through the years by comparing and contrasting numerous vintage photographs with views of today. Rutherford is a lovely tree-lined town of many stately old homes. Today, the small-town atmosphere is still maintained while Rutherford's location provides its residents access to all of the convenience of the cosmopolitan, social, economic, and cultural advantages of nearby New York City.

This volume reflects on a time when horse-drawn carriages traveled on dirt lanes and when children were educated in one-room schoolhouses. Rutherford today enjoys modern modes of travel and national blue-ribbon schools of excellence. These pages trace the emergence of a diversity of churches and schools, tour significant homes, and explore the transportation system that helped shape the entire region. Most importantly, this history reflects on the people of Rutherford, including the town's connection to poet William Carlos Williams. Then & Now: Rutherford is an enlightening journey back in time to discover the people, places, and events that shaped this Bergen County community.

Morris County's Acorn Hall

9781626196315

$21.99

Acorn Hall has always been a home. In 1852, Dr. John Schermerhorn conceived the sprawling estate and mansion, and he spent four years decorating it in a lavish Rococo style. Banker Augustus Crane later bought the estate and mansion, had it redesigned and rechristened it Acorn Hall, and it remained in his family through two world wars and numerous financial crises. Mary Crane Hone donated the landmark to the Morris County Historical Society in 1971. After its devoted members lovingly restored the hall, it became a focal point for the community and a beautiful setting for the society's collections. Today, it is imbued with a sense of purpose, tradition and reverence for the past. Local historian Jude Pfister tells the remarkable story of Morris County, New Jersey's Acorn Hall.