Cool things about your Central Jersey city or town

When you live in New Jersey, you take pride in where you are. But how much do you really know about the city or town that you currently reside in, or where you grew up? These stories are great conversation pieces around the barbeque or summer party that you can tell when people come to visit.

When I asked my listeners and social media followers about cool things that happened in their cities or towns, I got so many responses that I’m doing a three-part series: The cool things that happened in your New Jersey city or town”; starting with Central Jersey, which is defined as Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Monmouth, Ocean, Mercer, and Union counties.

Cool things about your North Jersey and South Jersey towns will be in other posts.

Here are a few examples from my New Jersey 101.5 listeners and social media following:

The cables for the Golden Gate Bridge were made here. The wire for the original slinky was made here in Trenton

Mark Lemma

Home of many celebrities like Epstein from Welcome Back Kotter and the world-renowned magician David Copperfield. Also, that time a really cool chef found Sir Paul McCartney wandering the streets of…. Metuchen. Also, Metuchen was just recently honored with the Best Downtown Award in the Country.

John Manzo

The battle of Trenton, started momentum which won The, Revolution….major turning point in the history of Man, and democracy

Gino Formaroli

Basking Ridge has a nudist colony

Jordan Jansson

Middlesex (Bourogh) Sampling Plant was a 9.6-acre site that was used to stockpile pitchblende uranium ore from 1943 to 1959(?), under the direction of the Manhattan Project.
We used to ride our dirt bikes back in there. I believe that’s where I get that “certain glow” from.

Kevin Keenan

Trenton Makes bridge

Mark Vizza

A few famous people were born in what was then known as Fitkin Hospital (today Jersey Shore University Medical Center) in Neptune, most notably Jack Nicholson and “Southside” Johnny Lyon.

Tom Strauss

Battle of Mount Holly
If this battle doesn’t happen, Washington doesn’t successfully cross the Delaware River.

Justin Gonzalez

Cranbury school just had its 125 anniversary

Brett Gash

Lindbergh baby case. Hopewell Township

Charlene Friedman

Roosevelt has all kinds of cool stories! How about Eleanor Roosevelt attending the dedication of “the head” sculpture being her last public appearance? Is or Albert Einstein exiting the front door of 30 Homestead? And the mud!! Have you heard about the mud?

Gigi Luigi

The Mercer car back in the early 1900s was made in. Hamilton twp Mercer county right on Klocner rd. Then we have the Kuser mansion where famous people in the late 1800s and early 1900s used to stay for retreats. Nothing today though except for more and more warehouses going up one after another.

Mike Darkwater

Matawan 1916 shark attack!

Gloria Manchester

A little local old circus history. from what was the old royal ranch wild west circus that was based out of Colts Neck from the early 1960s until it folded up in 1978. it was owned by Ozzie and his wife Lila Schlitz. and here are a few photos of stuff and others from it. including a letterhead from it. a poster and photo of Ozzie himself. Ozzie would pass away in 1991 and Lila would pass away in 2007. after the circus went out of business they both retired and moved to Valdosta Georgia.

Steve Eccles

Neptune Twp. It is home to the historical Great Auditorium. It is in the Ocean Grove section of Neptune Twp. The wooden building was constructed in 1894 and still remains the same. It is the host of great acoustics due to the barrel-vaulted ceiling, also constructed out of wood. Inside is one of the twenty largest pipe organs in the world that organ builder Robert Hope-Jones installed in 1908. Our Neptune H.S. graduations are held here.

Suzanne D’Ambrose

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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