Grover's Mill, NJ

This is Van Nest Park in Grover's Mill, NJ, the landing site of the Martians.  It was the night before Halloween, October 30th 1938 when twelve million people tuned in to Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre players adaption of H.G. Well's "War of the Worlds" for radio and created what is known as the "Night that Panicked America."

Susan and Rob bought the album years ago and heard the entire radio broadcast and Rob was just curious to see the town, so they first drove there in 2006.  They made the repeat trip this Memorial Day weekend at my request. 

The radio show, done as a news program, had all the markings of realism, especially if you tuned into the show about 10 minutes late when you would have missed the announcement about the Mercury Theatre and its theme music. People who tuned in after that heard only Ramon Raquello conducting his orchestra with an announcement that there were several explosions on Mars and that these were gases and headed toward Earth.  It wasn't long before another interruption, this time an interview with Professor Pearson from Princeton (played by Orson Welles) and shortly after that the Martians landing in Grover's Mill, not too far from Princeton.  It wasn't until the end of the broadcast that Mr. Welles provided a disclaimer saying that it was just a holiday radio show, but by then it was too late. 

Water Tower

The site was actually picked by producer Howard Koch by sticking a pencil in a map and coming up with Grover's Mill.  He plotted the advance of the Martians to New York City with radio announcements to back up their story.  People started flooding the local police stations with calls for any news that they could find.  Back in Grover's Mill, residents grabbed their guns and opened fire on a water tower thinking that it was one of the Martians. 

The monument was placed here in 1988 and every once in a while a celebration of the broadcast is held.  One year included a Martian ball.  


But there is a little bit of history to the town.  There actually was mill, operated by Daniel Wolsey in 1757,  It passed through several owners until it was bought in 1868 by John H. Grover.  It would stay in the Grover family until 1929 when Charles L, Dey buys the mill and the surrounding 40 acres of land and 5 houses.  Along with his brother, William T. Denison, Dey founds the Grover's Mill Company.  It is run by the Denisons until 1963.  In 1974 Jay and Robert Schwartz buy the mill from the Denisons.  It is renovated  to hold their graphic arts company.  In 1975, Art Gallery opens.

In 1976, Grover's Mill Pond is donated by the Denison family and in 1994 the mill became the home of Elizabeth and Mark Schulman.  After that, I have no research, but the pic in 2006 looked as if the mill was operating again.

Grover's Mill Company, 2006

Grover's Mill Pond, 2006

The town was quiet on the Sunday we drove in, just some fishing in the pond and a few people hanging out picnicking, but that was it.   So if you live close by, you can check out this small town where the Martians landed and caused havoc in 1938. 

I have lots of links this time including the actual 1938 Mercury Theatre radio show:

From the Mercury Theatre website.  This is the actual radio show that panicked America that night before Halloween on October 30, 1938.  If you go back to the original site, you can listen to any one of the shows that came before or after this one.
http://sounds.mercurytheatre.info/mercury/381030.mp3

Roadside America article:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2749

Everything you always wanted to know about any version of War of the Worlds.  If you click on the bar that say Radio, you will see some pics of Orson Welles and learn more about the broadcast.   On the right side there is a pic of the mill and the word Miscellaneous.  If you click here, you'll learn more of the history of the town.  There is a timeline as well.  A very interesting and informative site. 
http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/index.html

the script of the radio broadcast
http://www.waroftheworlds.org/Broadcast.aspx

Grover's Mill Pond, 2011

The John P, Humes Japanese Stroll Garden, Mill Neck, LI, NY

Here we are at the entrance of the John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden, a wonderful hidden gem on the North Shore that should not be missed.  Susan and Rob returned here since leaving Nassau County almost 4 years ago now.  They brought me with them so that I could get some idea of how lovely and quiet these gardens really are.  I was so impressed that I'm writing about it now.

Inside the Tea House

In 1960, Ambassador and Mrs. John P. Humes created this garden after returning from a trip to Japan.  He purchased a Tea House later that year and hired a Japanese American couple, Douglas and Joan DeFaya to transform two acres of woodland into a beautiful Japanese stroll garden.

At the suggestion of a landscape designer to preserve the garden,  Mr. Humes hired director Stephen Morrell in 1981 to rehabilitate the garden with the intention of opening it to the public..  Extensive additions were made, which expanded the gardens original two acres into four.  Finally, in 1986, the garden did open to the public, but something was missing.    Even with the extensive additions made by Mr. Morrell, it was discovered that more resources were needed if the garden was to succeed and in 1993, the Garden Conservancy assumed management.

A grant by the Japan World Exposition Commemorative Fund was awarded to the garden in 1997 and was successfully matched by the Garden Conservancy together with the Humes Foundation and Friends of the Humes Japanese Stroll Garden to restore the pond and waterfall.  The project was completed the following year.

The stroll garden should be used as a quiet place to reflect and meditate, losing all cares and worries from the outside world, creating an inner peace within..  Here you are one with the garden.

One of the fountains in the garden

A tea ceremony is held inside the Tea House on certain days of the month.  The tea ceremony is an important part of the Japanese lifestyle and a spiritual exchange between host, guest and the environment.  It is also a ceremony of friendship.  On Susan's first visit to the gardens, she was invited inside to take part.  

Outside the Tea House

So if you are around the area, please do not miss this fabulous Japanese stroll gardens in a beautiful section of Long Island. 

Here are some links:


Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_P._Humes_Japanese_Stroll_Garden


Article in the NY Gardening Examiner:
http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-new-york/the-john-p-humes-japanese-stroll-garden

another article:
http://www.jgarden.org/gardens.asp?ID=347

Amish Farm and House, Lancaster, PA

Nestled inside a strip mall, this is the Amish Farm and House in Lancaster, PA.   Since they were close, Susan and Rob decided to shoot me in front of this great place where you can learn a little about the Pennsylvania Dutch or Amish.

 The property was given to colonial Governor John Evans by William Penn, the original owner and founder of Pennsylvania  1715.

In 1792, the Lancaster-Philadelphia Turnpike was built and brought with it many changes to the area which was largely undeveloped wilderness.  Now known as Lincoln Highway or

Route 30, it was the first paved road in the United States.

As businesses boomed and traffic increased along this 62 mile highway, it also brought in an influx of people who found it fashionable to live along the Lancaster-Philadelphia Turnpike.  

Current house

The limestone barn was finished in 1803,  In 1895,

original descendents of the Evans family,  Isaac and Mary began construction of the current limestone house from stones found in the quarry located on the property.

  The property changed hands from Quakers to Mennonites and Amish,  this house has remained a farm though 150 years and seven generations of families. 

The Amish Farm and House became the first tourist attraction in Lancaster County on July 1, 1955,  It was the brainchild of Adolph Neuber, a local restauranteur and founder of tourism after witnessing increased tourist traffic to the area. This was largely due to new play on Broadway titled "Plain and Fancy."    

Neuber purchased the 25 acre farm mainly to educate the public on how the Old Order Amish lived and worked.  According to their website,   it was opened "to provide a quality educational experience reflecting the historical and modern customs of Lancaster County's Amish and that is authentic, accurate, cooperative and respectful of its Amish neighbors.

We are proud to say that we are the first tourist attraction in Lancaster County and the first tourist Amish attraction in the United States."

Since this house is located off of Route 30, there is a rare mile marker on the property. 

Here are the links:

The Amish Farm and House official website

http://amishfarmandhouse.com/Home_Page.html

Amish and Plain people site:

http://www.800padutch.com/amish.shtml

History of the Amish people

http://www.americanamishcompany.com/history/

Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish

Mile Marker

The National Watch and Clock Museum, Columbia, PA

We visited the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia yesterday and we were very impressed with their great collection of watches, clocks and timepieces.  This museum is dedicated to horology, which is the study of time and timekeeping.

In 1943, 52 members got together wishing to learn more about their collection of watches and clocks. It became nonprofit 1945 and opened their first chapter in Philadelphia.  These days, it is an organization with 174 chapters and over 23,000 members worldwide .

It has grown from a small private collection in 1971 to the building that you see here.  Currently there are approximately 1,500 watches and clocks on display, with an additional 12,500 archived timepieces for research. Exhibits range from the beginning of time to present day and includes many different kinds of clocks and watches including the Engle Monumental clock, .pictured below.  Built around 1876 by Stephen Engle, this monumental clock has 48 moving figures and two organs.  The admission fee of twenty five cents was charged to see the Eighth Wonder of the World, as it traveled around the eastern half of the United States.

 

The Engle Clock is demonstrated by hand every hour on the hour.  Many thanks to our volunteer Doug, for showing our group this fascinating clock.  

Many thanks also to Joe, pictured with me at the entrance to the museum who we connected with right away. 

There is also a research library on the premises, there are educational programs and you can learn clock and watchmaking.  There is also a short film shown before beginning your tour of the exhibitions.

Our stay at the museum lasted over two hours, but that's just not enough to enjoy all the services this great museum provides.  If you are in the Lancaster County area, the National Clock and Watch Museum is a must see.

.  As usual, here are the links

This is a link from the National Watch and Clock Museum's official site with more information on the Engle Monumental Clock. .

http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/museum-collection/the-engle-clock

 This is the museum's site

http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/museumlibrary

 

Sunken Forest, Fire Island National Seashore, Fire Island

Here I am, binoculars in hand, waiting anxiously for my first ever trip by ferry to the Sunken Forest at Sailor's Haven on Fire Island.  Actually, it was Rob and Susan's first trip there as well.  It was a cold day, but the trip was worth it.The Sunken Forest or maritime foresthas been around for 250 years   and many people do not believe such a place exists on Fire Island's sandy shore. 

A lonely deer and the Visitor's Center. 

 This is a 32 mile long barrier island where change occurs frequently due to storms and its own unique natural environment such as climate, vegetation and soil.  This forest not only supports Fire Island's many different ecosystems, but is the most stable natural feature on the Island. The trees never have to pruned or taken care of, salt spray from the ocean takes care of that.  This salt spray flows over the tops of the primary and secondary dunes, keeping the trees as tall as the inner secondary dune.  What happens is that this dune forms behind the primary dune, which faces the ocean side of the island. The secondary dune protects the forest and

Primary dune on the ocean side of the island

is the only reason that the forest exists here at all.  These dunes are an unusual feature of the island probably caused by an inlet that once ran from the Atlantic Ocean side to the Great South Bay.

While the salt spray keeps the trees low. it also provides the trees with the necessary essentials to keep them growing such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium aerosols.  This also causes the trees to form a sort of canopy by the time mid summer approaches.  This is a natural process which the trees take in through their roots and leaves. There are many examples of such trees which I will provide a little later. 

From the top of the secondary dune

Following a 1.5 mile boardwalk through the Sunken Forest provides a unique view of the beautiful and unique trees, plants and freshwater bogs.  Some of the trees are the rare American holly, shadblow and sassafrass.  According to the pamphlet we received at the Visitor's Center, this maritime forest is said to be at or near it's climax. 


Here are the usual links:

http://www.nps.gov/fiis/planyourvisit/sunken-forest.htm

The official site of the Sunken Forest.  This link below provides a virtual tour of the boardwalk, trees and plants. It also explains the history of the Sunken Forest. 


http://www.nps.gov/archive/fiis/SunkenForestTour.htm

Article from Loving Long Island :

http://www.loving-long-island.com/sunken-forest.html
 
An introduction to Sailor's Haven
http://sunkenforest.com/

Cherry Grove, Fire Island, 15 minutes away from Sailor's Haven and where we caught the ferry back from. 

http://ocean-beach.com/pl_cherrygrove.htm

Wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Grove,_New_York

Secondary dune at the back entrance to the ocean side of the island

Canopy tree

Freshwater bog

At the start of the Sunken Forest boardwalk on the bay side

Inside the forest

Untermeyer Park, Yonkers, NY

This is Untermeyer Park, once the estate of  corporate lawyer Samuel Untermeyer.  It is also known as the Untermeyer Garden Conservancy, a non profit organization dedicated to restoring the lovely Persian garden of Mr. Untermeyer.

I am sitting in the middle of a round temple pictured below on the head of Medusa from the Greek myths.  For those who don't know, one look in her eyes and all men would turn to stone.  Perseus would finally end her reign by beheading her.  This round temple sits atop a swimming pool, also decorated with mosaic tiles depicting sea life, such as fish, sea horses and a lobster. 

The gardens were designed by Welles Bosworth in 1912 and covered over 150 acres overlooking the Hudson River.  At one time it was maintained by 60 gardeners and was supplied by 60 greenhouses.  It was also open to the public every week in the 20's and 30's.  According to the official website, in 1939,  30,000 people visited the gardens in just one day. In 1946,  Yonkers acquired only a part of the gardens and in 1990, would acquire another part making a total of 45 acres.

Entrance to the walled garden

Samuel Untermeyer was a prominent lawyer in his day, and later became a trust buster.  He had a large part in creating the Federal Reserve System and set up legal reforms for the stock exchanges.  He was a Democrat and a close friend of Woodrow Wilson.  His wife, Minnie, was famous for bringing conductor Gustav Mahler to the New York Philharmonic in 1909.

But Samuel Untermeyer was also a passionate horticulturist and wanted these gardens to be the "finest in the world."    He knew much about gardening and often recruited English gardeners to maintain his beautiful gardens.  According to the official website, if he had to live his life over again, he would have wanted to be Parks Commissioner. 

Griffins by Paul Manship. . It is said that these mythical creatures always guarded something precious such as music and culture. In this case they guard the small amphitheater in back.

The outside wall before entering the garden.  Note the battlements and towers typical of Persian gardens.

Back of the garden taken from the stage of the amphitheater.

The Persian Gardens are divided into four sections, featuring the elements of fire, ice, water and earth, The enclosed gardens symbolizes paradise while the four water segments symbolize the rivers of paradise.  Corner towers were served as forts, lookouts or just summer housing.  There is also a spectacular view of the Palisades. 

Swimming pool and lovely view of the Palisades

Eagles Nest also known as the Temple of Love. You can climb down the steps to a cave.

The Temple of Love or Eagle's Nest was designed as a centerpiece for a rock garden which no longer can be seen.  You can climb up to the top and look out at the magnificent view of the Palisades, then climb to the bottom to visit the cave.  There is also a gruesome history to this park. It is rumored that Son of Sam visited this park often and some animal sacrifices were performed at the cave in the 70's. 
 Here are some more pics that were taken yesterday.

This is Tom who helped us find the Temple of Love and gave us some history of the park.

Lower gardens

Here are some links.


Official website.  This not only contains extensive history of the gardens but there is a gallery full of before and after pictures of the garden and the mansion that once the Untermeyers lived in.  It has been torn down and is now a hospital. Check out the Smithsonian collection of slides of the beautiful gardens from 1940 located in the gallery section.   
http://www.untermyergardens.org/index.html

Abandoned New York site.  This tells the history of the Son of Sam and the animal sacrifices inside the cave.
http://www.abandonedny.com/untermyer_park_son_of_sam_park.html

Wikipedia site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Untermyer

Lost Beauty.  More pictures of Untermeyer Park
http://lostinnola.blogspot.com/2007/07/untermeyer-park-yonkers.html

Magnificent view of the Palisades

The cave

Raynham Hall Museum, Oyster Bay, LI, NY

Here I am at Raynham Hall Museum in Oyster Bay, LI, NY.  While Susan and Rob have already toured the house, I talked them into stopping as they went past.  The house was not open on this particular day so we just photographed the outside of the house and decided to share its history with you.

After purchasing the property in 1738, Samuel Townsend and his wife moved into  a four room frame house with an orchard across the street and a meadow leading down to the harbor. By 1740, the house, now known as "The Homestead" had grown to eight rooms to accommodate a large family and a growing mercantile business.  Mr. Townsend had become a wealthy merchant who owned four ships that sailed to Europe, South America and the West Indies. Samuel also owned and operated a general store out of his home where he sold a variety of goods.  He served as a Justice of the Peace and was also the Town Clerk and was an elected to the New York Provincial Congress. 

During the Revolutionary War, while many Long Islanders were Loyalists, Samuel Townsend considered himself a Patriot. His son, Robert, was a part of the George Washington's Culper Spy Ring and was known as Culper Junior.  While the British occupied the town until the end of the war, it was during a six month period from 1778 to 1779 that the Queen's Rangers made their headquarters at the Townsend home.  According to legend, Sally Townsend overheard two officers discussing Benedict Arnold's plot to surrender West Point to the British.  She passed the information on to her brother Robert and the rest as they say is history. 

In 1851, the house was purchased by Samuel Townsend's grandson, Solomon Townsend II, also a wealthy merchant and importer.  He transformed the house into a Victorian villa and renamed it Raynham Hall after an ancestral home in Norfolk, England.  It was mostly used a summer house until 1861 when it became a permanent residence. He was also involved with the Town of Oyster Bay and served on the State Legislature. By 1860 he was one of the wealthiest and most respected men in Oyster Bay.

Relatives of the Townsend's bought Raynham Hall in 1914 to prevent further change. It was used as tea room and a meeting place for the Oyster Bay Historical and Genealogical Society until 1941 when the house was donated to the Daughters of the American Revolution.  They kept the house open until 1947 when it was  passed to the Town of Oyster Bay.  In 1953, the house was restored to the original  "saltbox" of the 1740's with the help of the Friends of Raynham Hall. 

I have included some links which will explain more about the house:

This is the official Raynham Hall site.  Very informative site and includes pictures, blueprints and history of the house where I borrowed some pictures from.
http://raynhamhallmuseum.org/default.asp

 Wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynham_Hall_Museum

Long Island Paranormal Investigators site:

http://www.liparanormalinvestigators.com/raynham.shtml