April 2012
Mrs. Henrietta Herring's Garden, 1915.

Mrs. Henrietta B. Herring was the founder of the Plainfield Garden Club. She resided at 807 Third Street in Plainfield.

The Plainfield Garden Club (PGC) was established by Mrs. Herring, who met with 19 local ladies in April 1915 at the Plainfield Public Library to gauge interest in forming such an organization.  The Club was officially and enthusiastically formed one month later, in May, with 48 charter members.  Dues at that time were $2 per year.  By 1965, the membership had grown to 84, with dues of $25 to $30 based on membership type.  The PGC became an official chapter of the Garden Club of America in 1944.  Since its inception, the major interests of the Club have been conservation, horticulture, and botanical exhibitions. 

The Club is most notably credited with the creation and maintenance of four specific projects in the Plainfield community: The Shakespeare Garden, The Cornus Arboretum, The Iris Garden, and the Vest Pocket Garden; all but Vest Pocket Garden exist today.  The most well-known is the Shakespeare Garden in Cedar Brook Park.  This garden was initiated by Mrs. Howard C. Fleming of the Plainfield Shakespeare Society and planted by the PGC in 1927.  Originally planned as a small project, it received strong backing by the local Park Commission. The Olmsted Brothers of Boston, the famous landscape architects, were hired to plot out two 100 foot beds with four additional flower beds.  The PGC members filled them with flowers from Shakespearean works, labeled them with botanical and folk names, as well as quotes and phrases of literary interest – a practice continued to this day.

In March 2012, The Shakespeare Garden became site #54 on New Jersey's Women's Heritage Trail.

Photo # V7617 - Part of the Plainfield Garden Club Collection

March 2012
Riding School, circa 1919.

Students and staff of a local riding school "ham it up" for a photograph. The ladies and girls are grinning - suppressing a laugh.

Plainfielders have had an interest in equestrian activities ever since the 1800s. For years, horseback riding was a favorite past-time of wealthy residents.  During the 1880s, clubs and organizations were formed to accommodate this local interest. The Plainfield Riding Club began in the 1880s. By 1893, there became a need for an actual school. Mrs. Percy Ohl took on this challenge and opened Plainfield's first riding school. She leased the Crescent Rink building, tore out the dance floor, and had it converted into a horse-riding ring. At the time, the Rink Riding School was the largest in New Jersey.

More schools and clubs opened up in the following decades. In the early 1900's Hugh Gormley's School on Kensignton Avenue opened and catered to women and children. In 1904 the Plainfield Riding and Driving Club was established. In the 1910s, Joseph Grandl purchased Gormley's school and It became the Kensington Riding School. The Park Riding School opened during the 1920s and was active into the early 1930s.

Photo # C21124 - Part of the Paul R. Collier Photograph Collection.

Last February, Mr. Adams generously donated six prints of his artwork to Plainfield Public Library's Fine Arts Collection. In an effort to encourage Plainfield youth to "pick up a paint brush instead of a gun." He has plans to donate even more artwork, valued over $10,000, to various New Jersey organizations.

Part of the Fine Arts Collection

January 2012
Ice Skaters, circa 1910.

This old glass plate negative shows groups of people ice skating on a frozen stream in Plainfield's Cedar Brook Park. Skating has always been an enjoyable winter past-time. Tier's Pond (formerly Boice's Pond) was also a popular ice skating spot in Plainfield.

The wet collodion process, developed in the 1850s, was a photographic process that created "wet" glass plates as negatives that, exposed to light, could capture images for printing. The process utilized chemical salts which were dissolved in collodion, a solution of pyroxylin in alcohol and ether. It was poured onto a cleaned glass plate, and the plate was then placed into a solution of silver nitrate and water, which would convert the salts to silver iodide, bromide or chloride, depending on the salt used. Once this reaction was complete, the plate was removed from the silver nitrate solution, and exposed in a camera while still wet. It was developed with a solution of iron sulfate, acetic acid and alcohol in water. It was the first widely used photographic process which resulted in a negative image on a transparent photographic medium (such as glass).

Photo # C10580 - Part of the Paul R. Collier Photograph Collection.

October 2011
The New Children's Library is Open, September 2011.

The newly renovated Plainfield Public Library’s Children’s Library, “the Reading Rainforest”, is our gift to the children of Plainfield.  Featuring a rainforest mural, new computers, a media center, puppet theater and a special area for tweens, the space emphasizes today’s environmental issues while paying tribute to the multiculturalism that is Plainfield .

September 2011
The Big Flood of July 30, 1889.

In the summer of 1889, the city of Plainfield was ravaged by a great flood, which began with a tremendous torrent of rain on the afternoon of July 30th.   The mountainsides rushed with water that poured into the city. The flood swept through Wetumpka Falls and the gorge, and then on through Stony Brook, where it brushed through the Coddington Dam and ice houses. The Wilson Dam, and ultimately five others, also gave way.  The lower bridge connecting the Boice estate with Somerset Street was torn from its abutments.  The Stony Brook section was completely submerged. By 5 o’clock, the three dams at Feltsville were demolished, and the water poured into Plainfield.  Seeley’s paper mill was entirely destroyed and part of Tier’s Dam fell.

At that point, the flood forked in two. One side raged straight ahead and submerged the business part of the city. According to the Plainfield Daily Press, it "carried Martin’s blacksmith shop to the middle of Somerset Street, partly tore down French’s carriage factory and grist mills, twisted a Chinese laundry all about,... tore a gap thirty feet wide and ten feet deep through the street itself, and flooded the entire central section along the line of Green Brook." The residents of the tenement houses behind French’s Mills were rescued in boats!

The second fork changed the course of Cedar Brook back into its old bed which ran along Berckman Street through Richmond and Broadway.  The Park Avenue Baptist Church was partly submerged.

It was also reported that excited Plainfielders were up all night and in the streets; telegraphic communications were cut off. There were a few small washouts of the Central Railroad.  Although they were remedied, the trains were far behind time. Bound Brook was completely underwater. The 1889 flood was the worst natural disaster that New Jersey had seen in many years. Three people were drowned (none from Plainfield), and many crops and farm animals were lost.

Here's a photograph of what the scene looked like the following day after the water subsided.

Photo # T2050 - Part of the Guillermo Thorn Photograph Collection.

This photograph of a quiet spot in Plainfield's Shakespeare garden in Cedarbrook Park won Honorable Mention in the Library's 2010 Photography Contest, East Side, West Side, All Around the Town. Heather Meyer Bissett, photographer.

Photo # V7484 - Part of the Local History Photograph Collection.

July 2011
Plainfield Porch Oasis - Welcome, Come In, 2010.

This photograph, taken by local photographer Elizabeth King, is one of Plainfield's beautiful porches. It won "Third Place - East Side" in the Library's 2010 Annual Photo Contest. Porches were an important part of our American lifestyle.  As the pace of life slowed to allow time for leisure, the porch took on both social and architectural importance. Check out more of Plainfield's porches in our online exhibit, Plainfield Porches, 1900-1950.

Photo #V7501 - Part of the Local History Photograph Collection.

June 2011
Autumn in the Shakespeare Garden, 2009.

This photograph of the Shakespeare Garden in Plainfield's Cedar Brook Park was taken by William Monroe for the Library's Annual Photography Contest in 2009. The garden was initiated by Mrs. Howard C. Fleming of Plainfield's Shakespeare Society and planted by the Plainfield Garden Club in 1927.  Originally planned as a small project, it received strong backing by the local Park Commission. The Olmsted Brothers of Boston, the famous landscape architects, were hired to plot out two 100 foot beds with four additional flower beds. Garden Club members filled them with flowers from Shakespearean works, labeled them with botanical and folk names, as well as quotes and phrases of literary interest – a practice continued to this day.

Photo # V7372 - Part of the Local History Photograph Collection.

May 2011
Four generations of Vail women, circa 1934.

Formal portrait of four generations of Vail women: Elise Ditzel Leis, Ida Leis Steihl, Ida Steihl Vail and Marjorie Estelle Vail as a toddler. The Vail family was one of the first families to settle in New Jersey. The Vails have always been an integral part of the life of Plainfield, and were a dominate influence from its beginning.  Three of the original twelve Pioneers of Plainfield were Vails. 

Photo # VV60200 - Part of the Vail Photograph Collection.

April 2011
St. Mary's Columbus Cadet Corps Band, ca. 1920s.

This is a group photograph of the clergy, staff and student members of St. Mary's Columbus Cadet Corps band of Plainfield, NJ. Part of the larger, national organization, the Columbus Cadet Corps of Plainfield was formed by the Knights of Columbus in 1922, in collaboration with St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, to teach leadership skills to boys age 12 to 16. Reverend Walter A. Hennesey, Curate of St. Mary's from 1916 to 1935, was president. Concerts were often held at Columbus Hall on West Front Street. If you have more information about the Columbus Cadet Corps, please contact the Local History Department.

Photo # C40658 - Part of the Paul R. Collier Photograph Collection.

March 2011
Women appear on the jury of the Plainfield District Court for the first time, April 13, 1921.

On April 13, 1921, women sat on the jury in the Plainfield District Court for the first time. Judge J. Henry Crane presided over the case, which was that of Ignacia DeFynfo, a real estate operator, who accused John Miklos and his wife of Rahway of unlawful detainer of a property. The defense attorney was John Stamler of Elizabeth and the attorney for the plaintiff was Irving Kunzman. The jury women, who sat in the front row, were Mrs. Florance Runyon, wife of State Senator William N. Runyon; Mrs. Florence Anthony, wife of Dr. William H. Anthony of Plainfield; and Mrs. Eva Van Hoesen, wife of Stephen G. Van Hoesen of Fanwood. The jury decided in favor of the defendants. During the proceedings, Judge Crane permitted Paul Collier and Henry Bryniarski to take a photograph of the jury and others in the court room. After the verdict was returned, each juror received a 75 cents juror fee. According to a Plainfield Courier News article the following day, "...the women expressed the opinion that it was not such a difficult matter to do duty, although Mrs. Anthony remarked that she could have accomplished much more if she had spent the afternoon at home." The other jurors who served that day were: Edward A. Laing, John Dahl, Lamar Van Syckel, George Edwards, Donald McInnis, Francis Wernig, Charles S. Thorp, James Harrison, and Charles Keller.

Photo # C40121 - Part of the Paul R. Collier Photograph Collection.

February 2011
A heart as big as a house, February 11, 1938.

This photo shows the nearly completed construction of the Plainfield Humane Society on Rock Avenue. The five new outbuildings and the dog warden’s home (in the photo) were painted with large red hearts in time for Valentine’s Day. The buildings were decorated at the insistence of long-time benefactor and Plainfield resident, Samuel W. Rushmore. The grand opening was publicized in the daily newspaper with the phrase, "Have a Heart - Help Your Pals!"

The Society opened in 1933. The original shelter was broken down and in need of repair by 1938.  Rushmore, a local inventor, contributed several thousand dollars towards new veterinary equipment, and he personally installed the 54-foot sign on top of the hospital.  The new building became more than a simple shelter, but was devoted to the hospitalization of the city’s sick and injured animals. The Humane Society still operates and is located at 75 Rock Avenue. The photograph was taken by R. H. Sears.

Photo # CN2080 - Part of the Courier News Photograph Archive

Coretta Scott King, widow of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., urges Plainfielders to reelect Jimmy Carter at a rally in front of the Democratic headquarters on Front Street in Plainfield. Mrs. King said,

"If we're going to have a government that's all inclusive - blacks, Hispanics - then all people must be involved."

In addition to human rights issues, she stressed the importance of voting and the Equal Rights Amendment. She also noted that President Carter has, "not done all the things he may have wanted or we wanted, but it takes time to change policy."

Listening behind her are (from left to right): City Council candidate William Merritt, Councilman Rick Taylor (Mayor of Plainfield from 1984 to 1989) and city Democratic Chairman Joe Montgomery.

Photo # C20210 - Part of the Paul R. Collier Collection.

Photo # CN1331 - Part of the recently acquired Courier News Photograph Archive.

September 2010
The Shakespeare Club, May 1890.
Early members of The Shakespeare Club (later known as the Shakespeare Society) of Plainfield. This image was photographed by flashlight, a newly invented technology using a magnesium-coated wire in a glass globe to light the scene. This image was part of the Courier News "As It Was" series in the 1950s.

Photo #CN2087 - Part of the Courier News Photograph Archive.

July 2010
Double Winning Float, July 4, 1949.
Passing in front a house West Front Street (at the corner of Plainfield Avenue); Drake House is to the left; hidden by foliage.

The Steuben Society of America’s Peter Muhlenberg Unit #398 float in Plainfield’s 80th Anniversary and Fourth of July Parade was awarded first prize in the most patriotic float division and third prize in the most appropriate division. The side banner reads, “Spirit and Patriotism such as theirs, made cities like ours possible.” Sign on back reads, “Gen. Von Steuben Society.” On this elaborate float are: Molly Pitcher, Revolutionary War heroine, and Betsy Ross, along with a scale model of Plainfield City Hall.  The model was designed and built by Ludwig Herrmann, chairman of the float committee. That year’s celebration witnessed a record sweltering heat of 104.4 degrees, which was accompanied by dust and rain storms that almost prevented the grand fireworks display that evening.

Photo by Harold Morse; Part of the Local History Collection

April 2010
Plainfield Public Library's Carnegie Building Reading Room, ca. 1912.
The Plainfield Public Library was incorporated in 1881, following a resolution by the Plainfield Common Council. The first library was a rented room, in which the librarian began to build a collection of books and periodicals. Job Male, a Plainfield philanthropist and the first Mayor of Plainfield, offered to donate the land and a library building on the condition that others donate money and art works. The building was completed in 1886 and donated to the Library Board of Trustees. In 1912, a Carnegie grant funded an addition to the Job Male Library. As was typical of Carnegie library buildings, Plainfield's had an imposing entry staircase and an airy, light-filled Reading Room.

Part of the Local History Collection

September 2009
Tennis anyone?, circa 1905
A Tennis Group Picture taken on Elm Street in back of bridge.

Photo #T2007 - Part of the Guillermo Thorn Collection.