1923: DIDN'T I TELL YOU HAMILTON TOWNSHIP WAS A RURAL COMMUNITY?

I'm sure I will run across the article that tells of the "elimination" of the wandering wolf that had Hamilton residents on edge some 88 years ago. Early articles tell a very interesting story about wildlife in Hamilton in years gone by. There was an account of Bald Eagles appearing in the area, wandering bears, and I'm sure other forms of wildlife. In my 77 years, at least 45 of which have been dedicated to bird watching, I have seen the bird population evacuate a lot of the area in which I live. Kuser Farm, before the township took it over was my favorite site for "birding." There were Brown Thrashers, Thrushes, Phoebes, Towhees, Woodcocks, Catbirds, Red Wing Blackbirds, Baltimore Orioles, and too many others to mention. All have left the area that was once loaded with deep forestation, all of which has been removed so that visitors to the park wouldn't be subjected to poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and the brambles of the blackberry bushes that once proliferated in an area created by the Almighty. I miss those vestiges of rural Kuser Farm, but as the man said, "PROGRESS."

1940: MEMBERS OF THE JUNIOR 3 BOYS' AND GIRLS' SCHOOL SAFETY PATROL

How proud we were to wear those Keystone Automobile Club belts and badges, identifying us as the traffic assistants for our under-class men! I don't know if Junior 3 was sponsored by Keystone as we were in Hamilton Township, Perhaps an alumnus can enlighten us.

1987: HAMILTON CELEBRATES AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK

One of the sad things about aging as I approach my 77th year, is the absence of many of my old friends from "back in the day." Jack Rafferty, Bob Callahan, Al DeMartin, and Mary Anne Giovaninini, and even though I was commuting to New Brunswick during his tenure as Mayor, Maury Perilli, personal requests were amicably received and responded to immediately. The folks in the photo above come to mind. Sorry to say I never had the privilege of meeting Bob Smith nor Joe Weber. Jack Rafferty, Al DeMartin, and Bob Callahan were among the most approachable executives; always at the beck and call of the citizens who were paying their salaries. In retrospect, I can't recall a time when I telephoned any of them and got that dreaded, "can I ask you what it's about?" or "He's in a meeting." But alas, Hamilton has grown into a huge megalopolis and as it grows, burgeoning in all directions, it will probably be more difficult to receive individual one on one return phone calls or email responses.

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM....I CAN REMEMBER AL DeMARTIN WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG FELLOW AND ONE OF MY BROTHER'S FRIENDS. THEY WERE A FINE GROUP OF GUYS AND ONE OF THE REASONS WHY "CHUCK" ENDED UP BEING A FINE DOCTOR IN HIS LATTER YEARS.

1943: WORLD WAR II HAMILTON RECYCLES FOR THE SCRAP DRIVE

Communities all over America were "mobilized" on the home front back in the very early years of World War II. With the dearth of over 70 senior citizens on the web, I would guess that few visitors to this website recall how we stripped the paper labels off of tin cans, opened both ends, placed the bottom and top lids into the open ended tin cans and crushed them flat. This process was all a part of what we called the "scrap drive," where rubber, steel, aluminum, and any other recyclable material was sent to the junk yards for converting back to steel, aluminum, etc. for wartime materiel. Mothers were saving the grease that accumulated with their cooking chores for Uncle Sam, who needed the grease for the glycerin content.

1987: THE RAFFERTY TEAM

Honest now, would you buy a used car from these guys? Count on it; I would. Were it not for Rafferty, Lacy, Angarone and the members of the "The Rafferty Team," there would be no Hamilton Township Public Library Local History Collection. Many years ago, I approached Jack Rafferty with a proposal to set up an archives featuring Hamilton's splendid historic heritage. Bottom line: He did. I have been an archivist at the Hamilton Library ever since, and as it says in my profile, I'll be digging out local history until I reach the age of 100, or my gray matter ceases to compute; whichever comes first!

Republican Club 1931 Easter Egg Hunt,

From the "POLITICS-HAMILTON" folder in the Hamilton Library's Local History Collection comes this photo from the 1931 Easter season.