West Orange

by Joseph Fagan

Overview

Although West Orange is best known for Thomas Edison, there is much more to this New Jersey town than its famous inventor. Through vintage postcards, West Orange explores the town's history from the days of cable cars that once climbed the mountain to the long-gone amusement park at Crystal Lake. Postcards illustrate how Llewellyn Park and Eagle Rock share a common beginning and West Orange once had two train stations. The familiar roads of home come alive as images reveal West Orange's rich history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738563572
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	04/15/2009
Series:	Postcard History Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Joseph Fagan has family roots that span over four generations in West Orange. Raised and educated in town, he is also the author of Eagle Rock Reservation. The images in West Orange have been proudly selected from the author's personal collection.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Along the Beaten Path: Main Street 9

2 The Pleasant Valley: Pleasantdale 27

3 The Mountain Roads: Northfield, Mount Pleasant and Eagle Rock Avenues 35

4 The Erie Railroad: Watchung/Orange Branch 59

5 Cable Cars to Trolleys: Cable Road 65

6 Laying the Foundation: Praying and Learning 81

7 The Orange Mountain Resort: Eagle Rock 91

8 The Forgotten Era: Crystal Lake 101

9 Behold Nature's Beauty: Llewellyn Park 119

Editorial Reviews

Title: The Forgotten History of West Orange

Author: Erik White

Publisher: Baristanet

Date: 5/29/09



Baristavillians in West Orange and frequent visitors to Eagle Rock Reservation might enjoy a history lesson tomorrow afternoon.



Author Joe Fagan will be at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, Saturday 1- 2 p.m., signing copies of his book on Eagle Rock and his new book on the history of West Orange just released by Arcadia Publishing in their well-known Postcard History Series.



West Orange features some fascinating postcards from Fagan's own tirelessly assembled collection, showing a West Orange long since paved over. It includes images of Eagle Rock and Crystal Lake— the small lake near the bowling alley— when they were tourist hotspots, and when a cable car used to climb the mountain.



Fagan, who is possibly the world's only plumber/historian, finds that Thomas Edison's connection to West Orange tends to outshine the rest of the town's past and is hoping his books will change that. Fagan is outwardly proud of being the fourth generation of his family to grow up in West Orange, even though he now lives in Sussex County. "I've lived where I do now longer than I did in West Orange, but I still consider it my hometown," he says.



Fagan hopes all the newcomers to the area see local history as required reading. "You can have a whole generation of people in West Orange who know nothing about it's history. My objective in writing the books is to give them the means to understand their town."

From the Publisher