historic photos of new jersey

One of the thirteen original colonies, the state of New Jersey is a study in contrasts. It is both the Garden State, home to the Rutgers tomato, but also the birthplace of the nation’s first industrial complex, Alexander Hamilton’s Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures.

The onetime industrial behemoths, from Paterson in the north to Camden in the south, give way to legendary resort towns along the coast like Ocean City and Cape May. Baby Parades that began at Asbury Park still delight New Jerseyans, where once the Lindbergh kidnapping at Hopewell engendered grief. In 1877, Menlo Park became the birthplace of Edison’s phonograph, and in 1938 Orson Welles would use a radio broadcast to bring an imaginary invasion of Martians to Grover’s Mill. The Miss America Pageant grew famous in Atlantic City, just as the Hindenburg airship disaster at Lakehurst remains etched in the historical memory of Americans everywhere.

Historic Photos of New Jersey is a kaleidoscopic tour of this colorful state, from the early days of photography in the 1860s to the recent past in the 1970s. Nearly 200 photographs reproduced in vivid black-and-white, with informative captions and introductions, tell the story.