Nutley Historical Society and Museum

Founded March 5, 1945

65 Church Street, Nutley N.J. 07110
973-667-1528

A not-for-profit organization dedicated to serve the educational, cultural and historical needs of our community.

80th Anniversary 1945-2025
Nutley Historical Society: in 1945, a group of local citizens established the Nutley Historical Society to collect, preserve and diffuse historical material associated with the history and genealogy of the people and Township of Nutley.

Nutley Museum Dedication Program, Former One-Room School House Renovated by Town Volunteers

Old Park School Bricks to Rise Again at Museum

Annual Meeting and Election, 7 pm, March 19, 2025

Got Historic Nutley Stuff?

Our trustees and docents continue to itemize, catalog and preserve as much Nutley history as we can. If you have an item tied to our town's history, please consider donating it to the Nutley Museum. Give us a call 973-667-1528, or email us for more information.

Thanks to Eileen Conti for these rare ITT logo t-shirts!

Alan Ballester presents local milk bottles to Nutley Museum Director John Simko.

NHS Meeting Room Available for Rental

We are happy to announce that our meeting room is now available for rentals. To inquire about availability and rental fee, please call 973-667-1528 and leave a message for our caretaker, Kerry Flynn.

Rent the historic first floor of the Nutley Museum for your event

Call Kerry Flynn, caretaker to rent the hall: Call 973-667-1528

PLEASE CALL AND LEAVE A MESSAGE BEFORE YOU EMAIL FOR RENTAL AVAILABILITY INFO - Thanks

Seating for up to 70 people. Meeting room is handicap accessible

More information on the Nutley Museum, and meeting room rental with photos.

Save time, download forms:

Hold Harmless Agreement

2024 Rental Agreement

For Room Rental: Call 973-667-1528

Did you know Annie Oakley lived in Nutley NJ?

”Annie Oakley: Little Sure Shot” by Gary Erbe

NEW: Video Tales of Nutley History!

Nutley History Teaser

The Story of Annie Oakley and Her Time in Nutley

The Story of the Nutley Velodrome

The Artists of 16 Enclosure

Ryan Lui wanted to do something unconventional for his Eagle Scout project. He put his interest in video editing to produce three mini documentaries that tell Nutley history. Lui enlisted fellow scouts in Nutley BSA Troop 147, other video editors, members of the Nutley Historical Society and local historians and together they produced three separate films about Nutley history. Lui is a 2023 graduate of Nutley High School and will attend Montclair State University in the fall.

YouTube videos will open in a new link

25 Nutley Sights You Can No Longer See

Many of these Nutley, New Jersey locations have been gone for generations. A few would appear in some more recent memories by those of us walking these tree-lined streets.

The Nutley Historical Society is dedicated to serve the educational, cultural, and historical needs of our community. That would include keeping a door open to our past structures and other sights that may no longer exist but played a part in making Nutley what it is today.

Nutley news and historical archives
Nutley History, from General George Washington's Retreat Route

to Annie Oakley to the Morris Canal on Our Western Border

to Quarry Town and Speed Racing Velodrome

to our Golfer's Heaven and Old Military Hall

to Presidential Visits and Professional Wresting

to Cold Ice Cream to our Cold War Anti-Aircraft Radar Camp

to the Arrival of Route 21 ...

Read all about it and more!
Article Index

TALES FROM – NUTLEY Yesterday - Today

Dutch Introduced Skating as Nutley Winter Sport

Few alive today would recognize most of the Nutley backwoods and ponds described in this memoir sixty-odd years ago. Bearskin Brook, Rusby's Pond, or Hillside Park ring a bell in your olde Nutley memories? Compare your memories.

The Rooming Houses of Nutley, NJ

Railroads brought growth to Nutley and workers needed boarding houses for a safe place to call home. Read about the many rooming houses in our hometown. Rooms for rent

TALES FROM – NUTLEY Yesterday - Today

When Bicycling and Auto Races Were Popular

When Sunday afternoon trotting races on a mile straightaway in elm shaded Washington Avenue were the town’s favorite diversion, bicycles captured Nutley’s favor. The wheel led to bicycles which led to the Nutley Velodrome which was the ancestor of the Tour of Nutley bike racing classic. Read all about it.

TALES FROM – NUTLEY Yesterday - Today

Artists of Nutley

Letter to Mark Twain:

“There isn’t much that is prettier than this end of New Jersey. It is all upland, tumbling into shallow valleys and bright sunny reaches along the Passaic River, and hillsides white as snow with the daisies, and everywhere trees, in little clumps or in long lines by the roadside.... You come. I’ll drive you around on Sunday and show you some views that will do your heart good. I’ll row you up the Passaic. I’ll give you a chance to play tennis.... Don’t be afraid. You can’t play worse tennis than I do.... The mosquitoes are very small this summer—few over an inch long...
Continue reading

TALES FROM – NUTLEY Yesterday - Today

Nutley Was Setting for Indian Thanksgiving Feast

A sort of Thanksgiving, the Indian ”Yantacaw” ceremony was also like the traditional Harvest Home celebrations. The meeting of the tribe on the banks of the “Yantacaw” River brought together, once a year, the many families of Lenni Lenape who hunted and farmed their own strip of forest or valley.

Continue Reading

TALES FROM – NUTLEY Yesterday - Today

Nutley Was Born in Strife, Strategy and Secession

Franklin, NJ Officially Becomes Nutley, NJ on March 5,1902

Taxation without representation is tyranny.”

That was the slogan which a Patrick Henry or a Benjamin Franklin thought up in 1776 for the American Revolution.

That was the slogan which won Nutley its independence from Belleville in 1874, laying the groundwork for the incorporation of Nutley as a municipality 58 years ago March 5 [1902].

Read more

TALES FROM – NUTLEY Yesterday - Today

Seven Foot Baron Made Nutley’s First Ice Cream

From Edmund Guthrie

Guthrie’s store, where the first telephone in Nutley was installed with wires strung on trees and where Nutley’s first ice cream was served, closed after a business career of three-quarters of a century.

The Lady, or The Tiger

Nutley Author Frank R. Stockton wrote The Lady, or The Tiger, and Rudder Grange; Nutley Library ‘Lady or Tiger’ Room Is Opened for Youngsters, Named for Frank Stockton, Noted Local Author

Frank R. Stockton was born in Philadelphia in 1834. He was one of nineteen children. His mother, who was his father’s second wife, brought to the old New Jersey stock a mixture of French and Irish blood, which may partly account for the capricious charm of Stockton’s fancies...

“Rudder Grange” was at first a story which he wrote for Scribner’s. Its cordial reception let him to enlarge it to the present delightful volume. This was the first book he wrote for “grown-ups,” although the elders had long been reading his children’s tales with delight...

Dr George Bronson Philhower MD

Much more than a 'country doctor with a casual approach'

A brief history by David Wilson

Read more

Ann A. Troy

Nutley Historian and Educator Serves as a Model Today

Miss Ann A. Troy was principal at the Park Street School (now Nutley High School) from 1919 to 1934, when she was named principal of Washington School where she stayed until her retirement in 1952.

In 1931, Troy was elected president of N.J. State Elementary School Principals Association. She was the first woman ever to achieve such a post.

She spent many years improving the quality of life in Nutley. As town historian, Troy was often asked to conduct genealogical research for some of the prominent residents of Nutley.

Always an avid student of history, Troy was one of the founders of the Nutley Historical Society in 1945. She was an essential part in creating a museum in which to collect and preserve genetic information, historical objects, museum materials, copies of local and private papers. She served as museum director from 1954 to 1972.

Ann Troy was the editor of “Nutley Yesterday-Today” which chronicles the history of the township and many of its families with many essays written from first-hand experience of the authors. The hardcover book was published by the Nutley Historical Society in 1961.

Read More about educator, historian and author Ann Troy

Nutley Historical Society

An Evening with Artist Gary Erbe

The Nutley Historical Society will host “An Evening with Gary Erbe” on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. at the Nutley Museum, 65 Church Street. The event will feature an interview with the internationally acclaimed artist and Enclosure resident, reflecting on his distinguished art career and discussing the directions of his current artwork.

Read more

Fall Pumpkin Festival

Come join the fun for pumpkin painting and light refreshments

Sunday, October 20, 2023

NUTLEY NJ -- Paint Your Real Pumpkin. All are welcome. Fun for children and families. The pumpkin festival is free. Step up for a tour of our second floor museum artifacts. Hosted by The Nutley Historical Society at Nutley Museum, 65 Church Street, Nutley, N.J.

What’s It Really Worth?

Antiques, treasures, or junk?

Is Peanuts cartoon worth peanuts?

NUTLEY NJ – The Nutley Historical Society “What’s It Really Worth?” event with expert appraiser Nick Dawes drew dozens of locals with their proud antiques at the Nutley Museum on October 17, 2024.

Before pouring over the items proffered for appraisal, Dawes explained what makes something valuable. He also discussed ratings, such and worth thousands, worth hundreds, worth five bucks, and worth sentimental value.

Dawes, senior vice president of Heritage Auctions, is an internationally recognized expert in valuing antiques, art, and other valuables, also explained how provenance can enhance an item’s value. Knowing the handling history of an item, such as an Annie Oakley artifact in the second floor Nutley Museum would help determine its value.

What is the value of this fancy belt buckle, “With Best Wishes To Miss Annie Oakley From Spratts Patent Ld.”? Is it something Annie Oakley wore? Was it something she was given and ultimately passed along to a Nutley neighbor? The proven history of the belt has a great effect on its value.

Another Oakley item from the Nutley Museum that Dawes held up was a pocket mirror that Miss Oakley actually used to aim when she fired behind her. This small item was something she held in her hand and used in her performances. He said it is one of the highest Oakley items in the museum.

The appraisal education played well as Dawes held up items brought in for big money dreams but were worth a few dollars or ‘sentimental value.’

Dawes selected one last item, a mounted illustration of a Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz.

He asked the owner how it came into possession. The item’s owner said it was being tossed into the garbage and requested it from the original owner.

Dawes noted that the early drawing featured two characters, Lucy and Charlie Brown. If only this Peanuts strip included Snoopy, then the mounted illustration would be worth even more than its estimated $10,000!

That’s not peanuts!

Made possible in part by a grant from Essex County Parks

NHS Grad, NFL Official Robin DeLorenzo to visit Nutley Museum

The Nutley Historical Society is proud to invite the public to hear NFL referee Robin DeLorenzo at a special event in the meeting room of the Nutley Museum, 65 Church Street, Nutley, N.J.

A Nutley High School graduate, DeLorenzo has been officiating football for 20 plus years, working her way up from high school games, the college ranks, and finally the National Football League.

She is entering her third year as one of only three female NFL officials, debuting in 2022 Giants vs. Patriots pre-season game in Foxboro, Mass.

A 1997 graduate of Nutley High School, Robin always loved football. But since she could not play, she became a cheerleader, which let her get close to the game. And because she also loved to compete on the field, she went out for both indoor and outdoor track and even competed in the NJSIAA states.

After graduating, she attended Fordham University, where she also cheered. Her father, Coach Rich DeLorenzo, supported her love of football and asked her to enroll in his class for referees. After passing the officiating test in his class, she joined her father’s crew on the gridiron and spent 11 years officiating at the high school level before advancing through the ranks in college football. Notably, she officiated high-profile games such as the 2021 Ohio State vs. Michigan matchup and the Fiesta Bowl featuring Oklahoma State and Notre Dame.

Following her college assignments, she worked for The Big Ten and began calling games for the USFL. Her journey led her to the NFL, where she currently officiates - a testament to the opportunities that football (and life) can provide to women as well as men.

"We are thrilled and honored to host Robin DeLorenzo at the Nutley Museum," says George Ackerman, Sports Historian at the Nutley Historical Society. Her achievements are an inspiration to young men and women who aspire to careers at the highest levels of sport."

Join the Nutley Historical Society and Robin DeLorenzo, at the Nutley Museum, 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 19, 2024.

Standing-room-only welcomed Nutley native and NFL Line Judge Robin DeLorenzo at the Nutley Museum on June 19, 2024. The Nutley High School graduate recalled her life lessons learned through sports from coaches and teachers through her years in the Nutley school system.

Events photos and more here.

NUTLEY IS EVERYWHERE!

Enclosure Artist Reginald Marsh Work on Display at Roosevelt House

Nutley Historical Society Art Historian Barry Lenson made a pleasant discovery recently while visiting Roosevelt House on the Upper East Side of New York City. There, Lenson spotted the work of Enclosure Artist Reginald Marsh.

Reginald Marsh’s parents were both artists living in Paris when Reginald was born in 1898. Two years later, his father, Fred Dana Marsh, moved to a new home and studio at 16 Enclosure, in Nutley. Throughout his childhood, young Reginald was taught to draw, influenced not only by his father, but also by contemporaries such as Albert Sterner, Ernest Haskell, and George Bellow, all frequent visitors to his Nutley home which became a popular weekend location for artists to exchange ideas.

Continue Reading about Enclosure Artist Reginald Marsh

Ice Cream for History, Thursday, June 6, 2024

The Nutley Historical Society is hosting its Annual Ice Cream for History night and museum tour at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, at the Nutley Museum, 65 Church Street, Nutley, N.J.

The Society is especially happy to welcome children to the museum along with their parents who will enjoy Nutley's rich history, including serving ice cream to Annie Oakley and Mark Twain more than 100 years ago.

Ice cream is free, and all are welcome to tour the Nutley Museum on the 2nd floor.

Ice Cream for History Night Celebrates Guthrie’s

If you wanted “iced cream” on a hot summer day, you had no choice—you went to Guthrie’s. Out-of-towners traveled miles to try some. Locals, like Annie Oakley, enjoyed it too! ... Local legend has it that Mark Twain tasted his first ice cream soda at Guthrie’s!

Seven-foot Baron Made Nutley's First Ice Cream

Together with Mark Twain, H. C. Bunner, the witty editor of “Puck,” Frank Stockton and an array of artists and writers from The Enclosure and Nutley Park, many strange characters moved through the quaint setting of the Guthrie store.

None was more striking than the exiled Baron de Saint Mart, who stood 7 feet tall in his cavalry boots and had been exiled from his homeland for having killed a man in a duel. With monocle screwed into his eye, he turned the handle of the first ice cream freezer ever used in Nutley while his wife, a daughter of the De Neuville family from the French court of the Bonapartes, painted miniatures in one of the great rooms upstairs.

Ice Cream for History Night Celebrates Guthrie’s

By John Simko, Nutley Museum Director

Patrick F. Guthrie moved from New York City to Franklin, New Jersey, when he married his sweetheart. He opened his first store in the 1870s on Passaic Avenue near today’s Mudhole, then moved it around the corner to his own building on Highfield Lane.

He originally ran a dry goods store. But when the town’s mills began closing, he reinvented himself. Guthrie’s reopened as a grocery store and an ice cream parlor, introducing that summer delight to Nutley...

'A Walk In The Park' 2024 Historic Tour

“A Walk in the Park” is an annual historic tour traditionally held on Memorial Day Weekend sponsored by the Nutley Historical Society, will be held on Sunday, May 26.

The tour, led by Nutley Museum director John Simko, the tour begins at 9 a.m. at the Mud Hole (near the intersection of Passaic and Vreeland Avenues) and travels along the Third River.

Simko will talk about the Yantacaw River’s role in Nutley history as a source for early industry, as inspiration for world-class artists, as a symbol of civic pride, as an important boundary marker, and as a fitting memorial to our war veterans.

Visit the sites of three former mills, see the pre-Revolutionary War Van Giesen homestead, find out why the Yantacaw, or Third, River splits in two, learn about the beginnings of our hundred-year-old Carnegie Library and even older Town Hall, and walk through one of Nutley’s oldest cemeteries.

“A Walk in the Park” ends at approximately 10:30 a.m., inside Nutley’s first brick schoolhouse (now the Nutley Historical Society and Museum).

The tour is free but is limited to a dozen people and requires registration.

Register for the tour by emailing johnsimko1014@gmail.com or by calling 973-752-8984 and leaving a message and your phone number or e-mail address. You will receive confirmation via e-mail or a phone call.

The Nutley Historical Society hopes you’ll join us for this fascinating walk through a beautiful setting while learning about Nutley history.

2024 Walk in the Park Event Recap and Photos

The Nutley Historical Society’s annual Walk In the Park held on Sunday, May 26, 2024, led by Museum Director John Simko was a big hit with a second tour added to meet demand.

2024 Event Recap and Photos

Previous Event Photos

Arbor Day Celebration

Nutley Historical Society Celebrates Arbor Day with the Nutley Tree Rescue at the Nutley Museum! Saturday, April 27, 2024

Arbor Art featured by local artists. Meet Audrey Noguera, author of Tiny Travelers FIND YOUR FOREST.

Free tree saplings to first 50 guests (one per family).

See event photos here.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

Nutley Museum hosts Meet & Greet

Nutley Dept. of Public Affairs kicked off Women’s History Month at the Nutley Museum with a Meet and Greet reception on March 5, 2024.

Annual Meeting and Election, 7 pm, March 20, 2024

The proposed slate of officers was unanimously approved a the NHS Annual Meeting and Election, held at 7 p.m., March 20, 2024, at the Nutley Museum, 65 Church Street, Nutley NJ.

Approved Slate of Officers – Two-Year Term – 2024-2026

Domenick Tibaldo - President

Suzanne Hagert - Vice President

Maryann Lauber - Treasurer

Barry Lenson - Art Historian

George Ackerman – Athletics Director

Mike Petrucelli – Director, Building & Grounds

Eleanor Slomkowski – Director, Membership

Nutley Historical Society profiled in

December 2023 print Nutley Journal

Dutch Treat

Nutley Historical Society Trustees and family enjoy an informal dinner together at year end. Trustees meet monthly to conduct society and museum business.

Nutley Museum Online Tour

Nutley Museum Director John Simko's online tour of the Nutley Museum, recorded December 5, 2020. Simko spotlighted the Annie Oakley collection and other select items featured throughout the Nutley Museum. Projects by the Nutley Historical Society were also highlighted.

Nutley Museum Online Tour video

Visit the Nutley Museum, Join the Nutley Historical Society!

Won’t You Join the Nutley Historical Society and Museum? We invite you to become a member of the Nutley Historical Society. It’s easy and fast to join. Membership Form

Nutley Historical Society

Founded 1945

65 Church Street, Nutley N.J. 07110
973-667-1528

Official Web Site
Nutley Historical Society

2025 Calendar

March 19

Annual Meeting & Election of Officers

May 25

'A Walk In The Park' Historic Tour

June 5
Ice Cream for History

October

Fall Pumpkin Festival

Subject to change

All events are free of charge, except as noted.

By renewing your membership, your support helps us to be able to continue to offer these programs to our community.

About Us

Museum

Museum Store

Join NHS Now

Officers

Copyright & Reprint Information

Directions

Contact NHS via email

Contact Room Rental, via phone, not email, Call 973-667-1528

Follow/Like Us on Facebook

Check-in When You Visit

Museum tours available upon request

For school groups and private museum tours, please CALL 973-667-4270

NOTE: SECOND FLOOR MUSEUM IS NOT HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE

Got Historic Nutley Stuff?

Our trustees and docents continue to itemize, catalog and preserve as much Nutley history as we can. If you have an item tied to our town's history, please consider donating it to the Nutley Museum. Give us a call 973-667-1528, or email us for more information.

NUTLEY Yesterday - Today - Ann Troy & Vivian Noyes Fikus

Where all great study of Nutley history begins

The importance of history in general cannot be doubted. It sets before us striking instances of virtue, enterprise, courage, generosity, patriotism and, by a natural principle of emulation, encourages us to copy such noble examples. History displays the dealings of God with mankind. It often leads us to view with awe His darker judgments and again it awakens the liveliest emotions of gratitude for His kind and benignant dispensations.

In 1945 the founders of the Nutley Historical Society wrote into its constitution the statement that:

“It shall be the purpose . . . of this association to do all in its power to collect all the available historical material connected with . . . the history of Nutley and carefully to preserve the same. . . . This shall mean ultimately the writing of the history of the town. . . Down through the years, work on this project continued until the present volume has been prepared.

So now, since History never stops, we in the Nutley Historical Society in 1961—like those who wrote the first History of Nutley in 1907— pass on the torch to those coming generations who at some future time will feel the need to once again issue a . . .

“HISTORY OF NUTLEY”

Robert F. Heald

First President 1954 to 1961

March 5, 1961 The Nutley Historical Society

From the Foreword

Hardcover keepsake copies are available at the Nutley Museum

Nutley Historical Society
Membership Benefits
As a member, you and your family are welcome to participate in any or all of our upcoming events. When you join or renew your membership, the Nutley Historical Society will be able to continue and expand our work to bring you interesting, informational and fun programs throughout the year. By making our history available and known to those who visit the museum, we continue to move forward by knowing about and appreciating our past. We can only accomplish this with your help.

Join Now

Now is a great time to join or renew your Nutley Historical Society membership.

Thanks to all our members who supported the Nutley Historical Society’s events and activities.

If you are interested in volunteering to be on one of our committees or for any additional information, please call 973-667-1528.

Membership Form

Rent the historic first floor of the Nutley Museum for your event

Call Kerry Flynn, caretaker to Rent the Hall: Call 973-667-1528

PLEASE CALL AND LEAVE A MESSAGE BEFORE YOU EMAIL FOR RENTAL AVAILABILITY INFO - Thanks

Seating for up to 70 people. Handicap accessible

More information on the Nutley Museum, and meeting room rental with photos.

Save time, download forms:

Hold Harmless Agreement

Rental Agreement

For Room Rental: Call 973-667-1528

1910 artist's view of Nutley, Ann Troy Gallery

Nutley Historical Society Celebrates 75th Anniversary

Thanks to all who joined us to raise a toast in celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Nutley Historical Society on March 5, 2020. Events included cake cutting and a birthday toast, an update on recent museum acquisitions and activities, and a special tour of museum highlights by the museum director.

Also of Interest in Nutley, N.J.

Kingsland Manor

Van Riper Trust

Nutley Little Theatre

Nutley Historic Preservation Committee

Nutley High Yearbooks

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Web site development & maintenance
provided at no cost to Nutley Historical Society, sponsored by:

Nutley Books

Email Webmaster

Links are subject to change

Contact NHS via email

Contact Room Rental via phone only, not email, Call 973-667-1528

Arbor Day at the Nutley Museum

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Featuring: *Memorial Tree dedications in memoriam to past board members: Past President Ed Stecewicz, Annie Oakley expert trustee Nancy Gruelich, Van Riper historian Patricia Williams, and trustee Michael Slomkowski.

*Arbor Art featured local Artists including Nutley Students

Sponsored by Nutley Historical Society, Township of Nutley, NJ, Arbor Day Foundation, and Nutley Tree Rescue

See Event Photos Here

Special Exhibit: Artwork of Carol Fortunato

The Nutley Historical Society hosted an exhibition of the works of Carol Fortunato (1958-2022) on November 11 to November 19 at the Nutley Museum, 65 Church Street, Nutley, NJ.

Fortunato resided in Nutley for many years before moving to Montclair in 1990. She was a Fine Artist in the Montclair area for many years. Carol’s paintings were exhibited in Dorset Vermont, and also in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts in New York with a degree in illustration, Carol continued her studies at the Art Students League. During this time, she discovered an interest in chiaroscuro (use of light and shade) painting.

Carol joined The Christina Gallery – On the Island of Martha’s Vineyard in 2009, and her still-life paintings were admired by many. She had solo shows at the renowned James Beard House and French Culinary Institute.

Carol enjoyed her quiet time in the studio but also loved painting en plein air landscapes in Vermont. In 2013, she spent the summer in south central England painting the Cotswolds and fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Email Nutley Historical Society

The Nutley Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serve the educational, cultural and historical needs of our community.

65 Church Street, Nutley N.J. 07110
973-667-1528
Copyright 2009-2024 © Nutley Historical Society

Web Master/Social Media: Anthony Buccino

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