Hometown - or Why Jersey Rocks #2

Here is my hometown: Newton, New Jersey. Sorry the audio is some overly-serious and self-important guy responding to a deeply probing question posed by Terry Gross. Focus instead on the blue sky and same-old, same-old of Spring Street. It really never changes, which is comforting.



Continuing on the NPR front, Newton was also featured just last week while I was there, on Michael Feldman's "Whad'Ya Know?" as the town of the week. Fascinating.

Here's the transcript from the end of the second hour of the show. Doesn't it sound lovely? It actually is.

:50 - Town of the Week, Newton, New Jersey.This town lies upon the slope of a gentle hill of slate and limestone. At its foot, a spring sends forth the first waters of New Jersey's Paulinskill River. Newton is centrally located in the Kittatinny Valley, resting on the decline of the Great Slate Mountain. The town is about 60 miles north of New York City. The New York Road, or Route 206, climbs through narrow gaps in the hills, passing Culver's Gap on its way to the Great Lakes. It enters Newton on Main Street, not far from the Sussex County Courthouse. Newton Township was formed back in 1750, and the name was carried there by the Hunts and Pettits, pioneer families who originally settled in Newtown, Long Island. Construction of the Merriam Shoe Factory in 1873 introduced the modern factory system to the county, and inaugurated an age of enterprise. This was a prosperous era for Newton, which is reflected in its many elegant homes and places of business. Up until 1950, Sussex County led New Jersey in the number of dairy cows, boasting more cows than people. But, the building of I-80 through the 1960s has transformed the area into a "bedroom community." Amidst suburbia and commuter-congested highways, Newton affords a sociability, charm and convenience long associated with village life. Its 8 thousand residents will be enjoying their annual celebration of the Newton Day Festival next Saturday, June 14th, at noon. A town with pride of place, it's our Town of the Week, Newton, New Jersey.