Costco to Host Book Signing For South River

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - July 16, 2015 - PRLog -- Telling a story in pictures is South River, an addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series. The book is written by local authors Stephanie Bartz, Brian Armstrong and Nan Whitehead. The book boasts 200 vintage images, many of which have never been published, and showcases memories of days gone by.

First settled along a tributary of the Raritan River in 1720, South River was known as Willettstown and later as Washington. Part of East Brunswick until 1898, it emerged as an independent borough in Middlesex County with the passage of the state law to incorporate it. Although comprising fewer than three square miles, South River once served as a shipping and transportation link between New York and Philadelphia and has been home to industry since the first brickyard was established in the mid-1800s. Sand and clay mining, brick and tile manufacturing, shipbuilding, and textile and clothing manufacture have played significant roles in the development of the borough, as have the numerous ethnic groups in the community. Spanning the years from 1891 to 1906, the images included in this book document a time when hotels, embroidery factories, brickyards, and small businesses flourished while the population doubled and a trolley line simplified connections with nearby communities.

Highlights of South River include:

The book is based on the work of a single photographer, Richard Van Dyke Reid, who was South River's first unofficial historian.
It is the first of its kind for South River.
Proceeds will go to the South River Historical & Preservation Society, Inc. to help fund the organization's effort to preserve and promote South River history.

Join the author for a signing:

Where:  100 Grand Avenue

North Brunswick, NJ 08902

When:  Saturday, July 25th, 2015; 1:00 p.m. —3:00 p.m.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online (http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9781467122894/South-River).

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit http://www.arcadiapublishing.com.