About

Welcome

This blog is designed to allow myself, and anyone else for that matter, to display a collection of historic post cards, epherma, and other antique artifacts related to the town of Ramsey, NJ. The posts (ideally) will display the item (usually a post card) and provide some historic context around the image drawing from some of the great books written over the years about the town.

Over the years I have collected postcards depicting scenes from Ramsey dating from the early 1900′s to the 1960′s and some paper documentation (old receipts, letters, and so forth from the estate of Dr. John Finch, our town’s first mayor). Years ago a family member flipping through a book of cards suggested a neighbor (whose current house was pictured in one of the old postcards) would like a copy of that card. Extending that thought, there are probably a number of neighbors interested in seeing what Ramsey looked like 40, 60, and 100 years ago.

The goal is to publish two new pieces each week.

Historical Information

The important history books written about the town that are: The Birth of Ramsey by Smeltzer (and John Y. Dater), Images of America: Ramsey by Kase, and Portraits of Ramsey by Welk (along with contributions from Tom Dater). The last two are drawn upon for information for the posts.

Frequently Asked Questions:

I also have old postcards, photographs, etc.. Any interest in displaying them?

That would be wonderful, please send a picture and description to ramseynjhistory(at)gmail.com, and we’ll work together to publish a post about the postcard or related item. If you need help getting the image in a digital format, that’s something I can help you with (portable scanner, etc.).

Old Postcards on a Web Site?

It seems to make sense, as the right mix of old and new.

Is this affiliated with the borough or the Historical Association?

No, this is a project of a private citizen. I have been a member of the Historical Association though, they do excellent work with the Old Stone House. They are located online at: http://www.ramseyhistorical.org/.

I see a mistake. I can provide more information.

Please let me know, so I can fix it. Alternatively you can comment on the blog post.

Are there rules about comments?

Comments are not moderated before posting, that said comments that are libelous or do not fit the raison d’etre of the site may be removed.

Who are you?

My name is Daniel Kennedy. I grew up in Ramsey, attended the Ramsey School system, moved away after college, and moved back after brief sojourns in Manhattan and Ridgewood. So in all I’ve lived in town about 22 years in aggregate.

In my day job I work in information security for a firm called Praetorian, but was also a web developer for many years after college working on brokerage web sites for a Wall Street clearing house.

Contact Information

E-mail: ramseynjhistory(at)gmail.com