Bill Hart of Plainsboro had a busy October. His third book is “Images of America Series: East Orange” and he has already had book signings in East Orange and at the recent Plainsboro Historical lecture. He also led two of the three Plainsboro Trolley Tours on October 21.##M:[more]##
Hart pointed out more than 18 historical sites as the trolley drove through the town, and presented information about the old post office, Plainsboro Hotel, the two-room and the four-room school houses, churches, cemeteries, Sears & Roebuck houses, the site of the Walker Gordon Farm, the Elsie the Cow monument, the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and St. Joseph’s Seminary. The trolley even drove through private property for passengers to get a peek at the now deactivated nuclear reactor lab built in 1957. The tour ended at the Wicoff House built circa 1880, now the Plainsboro Museum.
In his book, “East Orange,” Hart captures the first 100 years of East Orange history, from 1876 to 1976, with descriptions and emphasis on the period surrounding the turn of the 20th century.
Hart, a vice president with the Bank of New York on Wall Street, was raised in East Orange and lives on Sayre Drive with his wife, Andrea. His first book, “East Orange in Vintage Postcards,” was published in 2000, and “Plainsboro,” also in the Images series, in 2003.
“The East Orange of 50 to 100 years ago was much like the Princeton of today. It was a center of wealth, learning, and influence,” says Hart. “Ironically, there was an association between the towns in the early years of East Orange. In 1899 East Orange beat Princeton in the high school state football championship game. East Orange residents built bonfires and paraded around the city into the wee hours of the night. The high school newspaper kept tabs on events at Princeton University and many graduates went on to attend college there. East Orange even has a Princeton Street, named for the university.”
Hart, 50, is a long-time member of the Plainsboro Literary Group and the Plainsboro Historical Society. His published works have carved his niche as a local historian. He has written numerous articles on East Orange history for the Star Ledger and East Orange Record. In 1998 Hart also wrote a series of articles about Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds.”
Hart prefers to write fiction when on the train to and from New York. Two of his short stories have been published and he has been interviewed twice by Plainsboro resident Savannah Jackson on “Vox Artis,” Princeton’s public access program. Hart has also appeared on News 12 New Jersey.
The book is available at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.overstocks.com. “Arcadia books sell just about everywhere,” he says. “You never know where someone ends up living after years in another town.”
