Welcome to the Berkeley Heights Digital History Project

A Steam Locomotive Passes by The  Berkeley Heights Station**

The purpose of this blog is to provide a narrative of the significant historical events which determined both the character and other unifying traits that comprise the community of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.

Based partly  on pictures and records from the Berkeley Heights Public Library historical collection, I will post both articles and pictures about Berkeley Heights' past and present. 

An abbreviated history of the township of Berkeley Heights follows: my source is a 1978 Study of Berkeley Heights,by the League of Women Voters.*

"Berkeley Heights started out as a portion of pre-revolutionary Elizabethtown, which later became the capital of the colony of New Jersey... In the late 18th century it left Elizabethtown to become part of the newly formed Springfield Township, where it remained until 1809. Then the area comprising Berkeley Heights, New Providence and a portion of Summit separated to become New Providence Township. In 1869 Summit withdrew from New Providence Township. In 1899 the remaining area was divided into New Providence Borough and New Providence Township.The confusion of having two New Providences side by side persisted for over half a century, until 1952, when New Providence Township, which had existed as a political entity in its present 6.2 square mile since 1899, changed it's name to the Township of Berkeley Heights." (1)

-Matthew G. Taylor

Related sources:

*Link to the digitized version of the 1978 pamphlet about Berkeley Heights which can also be found in the library's vertical file. http://www.flickr.com/photos/berkeleyheightsnj/sets/72157633159485292/

**Link to digitized photographs of the train station from the library's local history collection. http://www.flickr.com/photos/berkeleyheightsnj/sets/72157632871801791/

According to Virginia B. Troeger's book "Berkeley Heights' (94), the above photograph of a steam train pulling into the Berkeley Heights train station was taken around 1920. It was then the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 'familiarly known as the "Delay, Linger, and Wait"...