Interest in Historical Tours?
I'm not an expert, but I wasn't aware of any historical importance or even anything of historical interest in Maplewood Village. However, Ridgewood Road and Tuscan Road were old Indian paths and were roads at he time if the Revolutionary war. There are a number of houses on those two roads that predate the revolution and a number of very prominent former residents of Maplewood. I've been told hat the Timothy Ball house belonged to George Washingtons cousin and was visited by him when he spent the winter in Morristown. The parking lot at the corner of Ridgewood Rd and Millburn Ave was the site of an important revolutionary war skirmish. Anyway, as much as I love the village I don't know if it has enough historical interest to warrant a tour , but I think the rest of the town certainly does.
I was thinking more along the lines of how our town's center evolved, what stood at various places that were part of our town's development, and the part played by the railroad and the park.
My idea was something walkable, but I've also done station tours on the Morristown Line, usually SO, Madison and Morristown. If folks are more interested in that or other local history, let me know!
I know my neighbor went on a Maplewood historical tour a few years ago. I don't know who sponsored it, but it sounded great. I would go if I there were one scheduled that I could attend.
Maybe check with Durand Hedden House http://www.durandhedden.org/archives/topics/maplewood_history
Maybe this can be an event they sponsor?
I don't mean to hijack the thread-but there is a 3 mile guided walk ( of maplewood village & surrounds) on 9/12/15 in honor of Angelo Vayas-yes a donation is requested. see the link on MOL home page.
oots
I'd go on a historical tour. Perhaps there could be more than one type, i.e. village & then history around town? Marketing would be an issue. Not this would be something that would have enough interest to be weekly. Could be cool if you could personalize it if a group had specific interests.
oots said:
I don't mean to hijack the thread-but there is a 3 mile guided walk ( of maplewood village & surrounds) on 9/12/15 in honor of Angelo Vayas-yes a donation is requested. see the link on MOL home page.
oots
Thanks for the heads up. I'll definitely talk to Risa as I don't want to duplicate what she's planning. Might make sense to look at other parts of Maplewood or SO.
I checked Durand-Hedden's calendar, and there's actually nothing for 2015. If there's interest in a Maplewood based tour, I'll certainly talk to them. Keep the comments coming!
Wasn't there house tours a few years back? Each year different houses would be featured. It sounded great but at the time had two young children and was never able to attend .
You should have talked to OhNo, Engage Maplewood or Village Keepers. They would have lobbied on your behalf to have all proceedings halt and wait for you to raise your children first before having the tour, so you'd have time to attend it.
favabean said:
Wasn't there house tours a few years back? Each year different houses would be featured. It sounded great but at the time had two young children and was never able to attend .
How about if I rephrase the question?
What kind of interest is there in tours of specific historic areas/neighborhoods in our towns? As an example, I did a tour of Midland park four years ago that was well attended and folks seemed to really enjoy. If there's some kind of consensus for a replay of that tour, or another area, I'd be more than happy to give it a test run and see what people think. A tour of NJ Transit stations is also possible.
How does that sound?
dk50b, I think this is a terrific idea. I would suggest connecting with the Durand-Hedden folks to see if they would be able to help, advise, partner, etc.
I have a terrific collection of old Maplewood post cards (1895 - 1914) that, despite the comment, will establish some historical significance of the Village.
If you would be interested in taking a look at the post cards to further inspire your idea let me know. Have a great day - John
I would be very interested in local historical tours. If the focus was Maplewood, I'd try to get my mom to come along; she grew up in Maplewood and still has a very warm spot for it although she hasn't lived there for decades.
Yes. Reach out to South Orange and Maplewood historical societies
Tom_Vilardi said:
Yes. Reach out to South Orange and Maplewood historical societies
South Orange: http://sohps.org/
Maplewood: http://www.maplewoodonline.com/housetour/
An historic tour of Maplewood is a great idea. I'm interested in the story of the WWI memorial in the park and the soldiers it commemorates. Here's the Maplewood Historic Preservation Commission website: http://www.historicmaplewood.com
More thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely talk to the folks I know on the commission.
I'm wondering what level of interest there is in a historical tour of Maplewood Village, including Memorial Park and the train station. Would it matter if a nominal fee was charged? I'm thinking two hours would be about right.
I welcome your thoughts..