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Bergen County Historical Society : Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

New Bridge Landing NJ, Bergen County Historical Society on this day in history , “We hope everyone has a Happy St. Patrick’s Day! There are certainly many traditions on this day, but one event will have a lasting impact on Bergen County. On this date in 1776, British forces will evacuate Boston and will regroup to determine their next strategy. Where will the British go next? Their decision will have a MAJOR impact on New Jersey, Bergen County and New Bridge as war will come to NJ’s door. From the fall of 1776 to the late fall of 1783, NYC will be occupied, leading to numerous incursions, battles and plundering of Bergen County and its inhabitants by both sides of the war. It is an often overlooked and unfortunate side of the war but an important story to tell. “

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Bergen County has 192 Sandstone Houses listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

New Bridge Landing NJ, Bergen County has 192 Sandstone Houses listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places as “Stone Houses of Bergen County, Thematic Resource.”

These houses really say “Bergen County”, this very distinctive building type is not known to be found anywhere else in the world. 
(Okay, there are examples in Rockland County)

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New Jersey State Review Board for Historic Sites approves the Zabriskie-Schedler house for the state and national registers

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Anyone can prepare a New Jersey and National Register application. Applications are typically prepared by individuals, cultural or historical organizations, government agencies, and professional consultants. Completed applications are submitted to the Historic Preservation Office where a staff member reviews and evaluates them for eligibility, technical completeness, and substantive sufficiency. Property owners and county and local officials are notified and given an opportunity to comment, and a public meeting is held for large historic districts.

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400th Anniversary Commemorating the First Documented Arrival of Africans in Colonial America

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

New Bridge Landing NJ, August 2019 marks the 400-year anniversary of the documented arrival of the first Africans arriving in colonial English America. Dr. Evelyn McDowell and Camile Amadio will discuss one of the women captives, Angela, and lead into a presentation about women, quilting, and slavery. We will briefly review the history of early colonial quilting and discuss the significance of quilting in the African-American community. We will end our talk with a discussion of the 400-year Commemoration Quilt Project currently underway and sponsored by Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage. We will leave time for a hands-on demonstration of the block used for the commemorative quilting project. The talk begins at 1:30 pm in the Steuben House. The whole museum site is open for tours.

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Village Offices Are Closed for Presidents day

mount rushmore presidents day

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood residents – there will be no sanitation or recycling collection today, Monday, February 18th. Village Offices will be closed in observance of President’s Day holidays. There will be no sanitation or recycling pickup on these days and the recycling center will be closed. This information is posted on the Village website and calendar. 
Please help keep Ridgewood clean and safe by sharing this information with neighbors who have placed curbside recycling/garbage. 

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Washington’s Birthday 2019

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photo courtesy of Bergen Historical Society

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

New Bridge Landing NJ, Dance mistress Denise Piccino and the Tricorne Dancers will give two one hour public performances in the Steuben House at 1:30 and 3:00 pm. Ridley & Anne Enslow will provide musical accompaniment on fiddle and hammered dulcimer. Throughout the afternoon, Rodger Yaden will portray General George Washington. Hot cider and crullers will be served in the restored 18th-century tavern in the Campbell-Christie House, where our gift shop is also located. Visitors may also see open-hearth cooking demonstrated in the Out-Kitchen, featuring meal items that General Washington might have eaten during his stay at New Bridge in 1780 and recipes from Martha’s cookbook. Re-enactors from the 3rd New Jersey Regiment will demonstrate military life. Activities for Children include: Soldier Drills, Paper Dolls & Scavenger Hunt.
Sunday, February 24, 2019, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

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Coldest Winter During the American Revolution

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, from the Bergen County Historical Society :
As the cold weather breaks, a look back to one of the coldest winters during the Revolution, the winter of 1780.

1 February 1780. The coldest winter in human memory, something we can relate to this year, continued in Bergen County. Loyalist spies continue their detailed observations on the surrounding countryside, both to avoid surprise in New York City, and to look for opportunities for the British to strike at Washington’s isolated outposts, such as the one in Paramus…

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The Ridgewood Historical Society is sponsoring their 2nd annual “Letters From History” contest

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Historical Society is sponsoring their 2nd annual “Letters From History” contest is now open to all Ridgewood High School students! Students are competing by writing a letter in a fictional and historic voice based on items from the current Schoolhouse Museum exhibit. Winner receives $100 gift card and certificate, The Deadline is January 8th .

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Bergen County Historical Society : The long retreat across New Jersey continues. Washington checks in with General Lee from Newark.

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photo courtesy of the Bergen County Historical Society

GEORGE WASHINGTON TO GENERAL LEE
Newark November 24th 1776
DEAR SIR
I wrote you this morning of the probability that some of your letters to me had fallen with the mail into the enemy’s hands My apprehensions on that head have been since confirmed by direct intelligence from their camp I am informed that a letter from you is confidently said to have come to their hands and that measures are taken to intercept your march

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NEW EVENT DATE: BIG SANTA IS BACK at Westfield Garden State Plaza

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photo courtesy of the Paramus Police

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus NJ, NEW EVENT DATE: BIG SANTA IS BACK at Westfield Garden State Plaza

November 20th ,Tuesday , 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

This holiday season, Westfield Garden State Plaza is excited to celebrate the return of its legendary, iconic “Big Santa” display!

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PLEASE STOP BY – LAST DAYS TO VISIT the amazing “THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA’S STORY – THE WALL”

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PLEASE STOP BY – LAST DAYS TO VISIT the amazing “THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA’S STORY – THE WALL”
Hosted by American Legion Post #53 – Ridgewood NJ
Bethlehem Lutheran Church – 155 Linwood Ave
Final days in Ridgewood: November 16 thru November 18
Friday & Saturday 10:00 am – 8:30 pm
Sunday 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
CLOSING CEREMONY Sunday 11/18 @4pm

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Reader says , ” There is a saying ,you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts”

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It must be the same few people that have misquoted figures for the restoration time and again! There is a saying “you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts” The cost has been quoted from the Council time and time and time again and the County has publicly listed its grants to the town.
Maybe the author doesn’t care that across 17 is an area of thousands of taxpaying Ridgewood residents who have been marginalized. First they were cut off by the “improvements” on Route 17, which took away their ability to cross directly to Ridgewood; second their school was taken away; and third the only large parcel of land, 7 acres, was to be a 90 foot baseball field and a historic house torn down. Finally they gathered together and showed the town that they deserved better. They deserved a park; they agreed to a small playing field; they deserved a meeting place which will be the house; and someday maybe they will actually get their school back. The house which the author maligns is listed on the NJ Register of Historic Houses. The author and others keep coming to the mic at public meetings and ask for “proof”, which they have received time and again. Is one taxpayer more equal than others? Is his/her tax money more important than that of a resident of the East Side? Why doesn’t the author and his compatriots who seem to criticize everything, take his/her ire somewhere else? With all that is going on in this world, guns, nationalism, bombs, fires, why keep criticizing the restoration of one house. And I will sign my name, unlike the author.

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The American Revolution: 3-part Series at the Ridgewood Public Library

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Public Library will host a The American Revolution: 3-part Series starting Tuesday, Oct. 16, 10:00-11:30am (October 16, 23 & 30: 0:00-11:30am)
information call 201-670-5600. Please join Myrna Nahas for a 3-part series covering various aspects of the American Revolution. All are welcome.

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9/11 ATTACKS

9/11 wtc

On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Often referred to as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters.

https://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks