200 Plus
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•September 22, 2021
Leave No One Behind
The modern question of whether to leave America’s fallen buried on foreign soil, or bring them home, had its origin just over 100 years ago as World War I was coming to an end. Over 110,000 Americans…
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•September 15, 2021
ZR-2 Casualties Return Home
In September 1921, as America debated the future of airships and the huge hangar at Lakehurst, the funeral services began for the Americans who had died in England preparing to fly the giant ZR-2 on…
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•September 8, 2021
Will Dirigible Program Continue?
The crash and massive loss of life caused when the ZR-2 exploded over England as it prepared for its transatlantic flight to Lakehurst, N.J. triggered two debates in the United States. First, should…
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•September 1, 2021
Was ZR-2 Doomed From the Beginning?
As August 1921 ended, the smoldering remains of the ZR-2, the world’s largest dirigible, were visible above England’s Humber Estuary.
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•August 25, 2021
Excitement Turns to Disaster
By Aug. 25, 1921, all was ready for the second crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship. In England the American crew of the world’s largest dirigible, the British-built ZR-2, had spent the…
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•August 18, 2021
Preparing for the Behemoth
In August 1921, the final test flights were underway in England with an American crew that was about to take command of the world’s largest airship. On the other side of the Atlantic, in Ocean…
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•August 11, 2021
The Dreadnought Cometh
One hundred years ago this month, Ocean County, N.J. was preparing to become the center of the aviation world. The U.S. Navy had purchased the R-38, the world’s largest dirigible, from Great Britain…
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•August 4, 2021
Recovery Efforts Face Challenges
The three-masted ship Francis had set sail from San Francisco, in January 1897, on a voyage around South America to New York City with a cargo that included fine California wine and canned Alaska…
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•July 28, 2021
Salvage Not Such a Boon
On May 8,1897, the three-masted ship Francis, out of San Francisco and bound for New York City, caught fire and was beached south of Beach Haven. The nation was in the throes of the worst depression…
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•July 21, 2021
Bounty From the Francis Wreck
On May 8, 1897, the three-masted wooden clipper ship Francis was 111 days out from San Francisco, bound for New York City, when a fire broke out on board as it was just south of Beach Haven.
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•July 14, 2021
Ship’s Crew Rescued From Fire
The shoreline of New Jersey was once called the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” and is remembered for disastrous shipwrecks, with the loss of all hands on board or the daring rescues carried out by the…
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•July 7, 2021
Francis Sets Sail Into Legend
In 1914 George B. Somerville repeated a well-known local story in his book The Lure of Long Beach.
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•June 30, 2021
Buried Treasure of the Liquid Kind
When we hear the term “buried treasure,” we at once envision pirates and sailing ships, but 100 years ago this summer newspapers across the country carried the news of treasure being buried in…
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•June 23, 2021
World War I Over at Last
Newsreels exist of the celebrations following the announcement of peace being declared and ending World War II and the signing on the battleship USS Missouri of Japan’s surrender. But the official…
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•June 16, 2021
Finally Ending World War I
This July 4th weekend marks the 100th anniversary of a key moment in American history, but since it took place in New Jersey, it is all but forgotten or ignored.
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•June 9, 2021
Taking Lighthouse to the Top
Today, Barnegat Lighthouse still stands at the northern tip of Long Beach Island, a symbol of hope and strength. But 100 years ago it was becoming a pawn in the battle between sentiment and progress.
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•June 2, 2021
Senator Calls in Big Guns
As you stand at the base of LBI’s Barnegat Lighthouse it’s easy to visualize the danger it faced from advancing tides and storms. What you don’t see is the battle of wills that took place to keep the…
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•May 26, 2021
Barnegat Lighthouse on Shaky Ground
As 1921 began, the historic Barnegat Lighthouse was under siege by two forces: First, from the relentless erosion of the ground on which it stood, and second, from the federal government, which…
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•May 19, 2021
Airships Coming to Lakehurst
Throughout the spring of 1921, the citizens of Ocean County had fought a losing battle with the U.S. Army, attempting to prevent the Lakehurst Chemical Warfare installation from moving to Maryland.…
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•May 12, 2021
Ocean County Gets Bad News
For Ocean County, N.J., the year 1921 was one of disappointment and what-ifs.
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•May 5, 2021
National Woman’s Party Moves On
February 1921 marked a historic crossroads for the National Woman’s Party and feminism in general. For the past eight years, the party, led by its president Alice Paul of Burlington County, had been…
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•April 28, 2021
Where to Go From Here?
The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention on women’s rights is cited by many as the launching point for the drive to enfranchise women. Less known is the 1921 Washington, D.C. convention called by Burlington…
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•April 21, 2021
Statue Stuck in the Crypt
In February 1921, New Jersey-born Alice Paul called for a meeting that would determine the future of the women’s movement for the next generation. The Baltimore Sun of Feb. 12 set the stage.
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•April 14, 2021
A New Cause for Alice Paul
One of the advantages of having a long-running history column is that you have the opportunity to follow up on people and issues over an extended period of time. One example would be the suffrage…
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•April 7, 2021
Chief Joseph, Tilton Both Honored for Bravery
During the early fall of 1877, a detachment of U.S. troops under Gen. Nelson A. Miles had defeated and captured over 400 Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph, at the battle of Bear Paw Mountain in the…
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•March 31, 2021
Chief Joseph’s Remarkable Feat
In early October 1877, just south of the Canadian border in the Montana Territory, a detachment of the U.S. Army, commanded by Gen. Nelson A. Miles, had surrounded a band of Nez Perce led by Chief…
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•March 24, 2021
Siege Leads to Surrender
As September 1877 ended, a battle was taking place on Bear Paw Mountain, in the Montana Territory.
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•March 17, 2021
The Battle of Bear Paw
In September 1877, a battle was fought in the Bear Paw Mountains of present-day Montana. While the battle is not one that is often discussed or the topic of historians, it did secure one man’s place…
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•March 10, 2021
Army Moves Against Nez Perce
The U.S. Department of Defense website gives a brief background to the creation of the Congressional Medal of Honor, saying, “Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy medal of valor…
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•March 3, 2021
Troops Face Bitter Winter
If you ask someone to name the Medal of Honor recipient from Barnegat, who is buried in Arlington Cemetery, you usually would be met by a distant stare into space and silence. Thus began my search…
