Metuchen on the Move

9 a.m. to 2 p.m. - It’s opening day for the Metuchen Farmers Market located at the Town Plaza, corner of New and Pearl streets.

2-6 p.m. - Opening reception for Metuchen High School’s National Art Honor Society Art Show at the Bowery Art Collective, 335 Main St. The show will be up through June 18.

Additional gallery viewing hours are 2-6 p.m. on Sunday, June 11, Saturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18.

June 11

June 3

5-8 p.m. - Downtown Pride on the Metuchen Plaza, corner of New and Pearl streets. Presented by Metuchen Downtown Alliance and Metuchen Human Relations Commission.

June 3 and 17 – 1-2 p.m. – Paws to Read with Niles, the loveable therapy dog at the Metuchen Public Library, 480 Middlesex Ave.

June 4

4-6 p.m. - Join mignolo dance, in partnership with the Fall for Fall/Spring for Spring Dance Festival and the Metuchen Arts Council, for the Spring for Spring Dance Festival on the Metuchen Plaza, corner of New and Pearl streets.

June 7

5-7 p.m. – Metuchen High School (MHS_ Music Department presents Scholastic Jazz on the Plaza, corner of New and Pearl streets. Rain date is June 8. The night will feature the MHS Jazz Ensemble, MHS Jazz Band, Edgar Middle School Jazz Band, MHS Chamber Strings, Vocalist Aaron Honig and Vocalist Katherine Meyer.

June 10

5-8 p.m. – Celebrate the borough’s Great American Main Street Award Celebration with a Downtown Funhouse – from Coney Island to downtown Metuchen.

2-4 p.m. – Cornerstone Jazz Series: Roseanna Vitro & The Jazz Ambassadors at the Metuchen Public Library, 480 Middlesex Ave.

June 17

5-8 p.m. – Juneteenth celebration. On June 19, 1865, around two months after Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued more than two and a half years earlier on Jan. 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln. The holiday received its name by combining June and 19. The day is also sometimes called “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.”

June 20 he was an actual person, and John Ayers was aware of him in 1720. So, he was real. I can’t say what his name meant. But Native Americans are still here today, and not entirely gone.”

1-5 p.m. – Kid’s Takeover. Presented by the Metuchen Downtown Alliance.

The Brainy Borough Blossoms

As American history marched on, the town of Metuchen was established, and more notable figures moved in. Both the Historical Society (Reuter and crew) as well as the Historic Preservation Committee (Zerbe and her fellowship) continuously work to educate and remind people about the unique Metuchen community.

The Historic Preservation Committee specifically looked at past Metuchen residents’ dwellings and hangouts to preserve buildings and districts in town. As it happens, many intellectuals flocked to Metuchen during early American history—earning the name Brainy Borough.

“We found an impressive list of people who lived in this town. We haven’t stopped being brainy, but looking back the list is impressive. The nickname first appeared in the early 20th century. In 1914, there was this little humor of it in local papers—an editor at the Metuchen Recorder and his counterpart in Glen Ridge. They’d put one accomplished person from their town in the paper. While the other town would highlight another ‘brainy’ person in competition,” explained Zerbe.

Clubs and organizations were created out of the “brainy” individuals’ interest and drive to fraternize with the increasingly high-brow community. In the late 1800s, Metuchen was home to the Young Men’s Literary Society, Quiet Hour (a literary, social, and feministic discussion), the Metuchen Book Club, the Delphic Dramatic Association, the Chautauqua Literary Circle, among others, according to Metuchen: The Brainy Borough by the Metuchen Historic Preservation Committee.

“After some research, we got a grant to put together a little booklet. Committee members as well as volunteers like Reuter from the Historical Society transcribed and put the info together. We used the grant money to print copies,” recalled Zerbe.

Reuter described an intelligent, “avantgarde” group of writers, artists, educators, activists, and others who flocked to Metuchen-Edison region in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“Very notable was Mary Wilkins Freeman—who moved into Metuchen in 1902. She had married a local man and was visiting writers in the area—like Henry Mills Alden,” Reuter noted.

Much like today, Metuchen was a central location for bankers, engineers, editors, innovators, and businessmen to live and travel between New York City, Jersey City, Newark, Trenton, and Philadelphia.

While Metuchen’s newspaper competi- tion with Glen Ridge made this an official debate, there is a paper trail which mentions Metuchen as the brainy borough beforehand too.

“People started to refer to the brainy borough because of the people here. People like Gustav Lindenthal and Lewis Nixon— even Mark Twain would come out and visit Henry Mills Alden,” said Reuter. “Quotes from a newspaper in 1908 read, ‘For brains you can’t beat Metuchen.’”

The intellectual revolution inside Metuchen also had a large female influence, included Reuter. In that same 1908 article, the writer remarks on the presence of “Lots of clever women too,” as the list of over 24 Metuchen residents was nearly half female artists and writers.

The Hole in the Doughnut

Over the years, much has changed. Most notably, the geographical evolution of Metuchen has squeezed the town into Edison, New Jersey. As a result, the modern name for Metuchen has shifted to the “hole” inside the greater “doughnut” of Edison.

“You can’t leave Metuchen without going through Edison,” explained Reuter.

Many of the “brainy” individuals who once claimed Metuchen as their home lived in modern-day Edison. So now, what’s left?

Luckily for current citizens, modern historians and lovers of Metuchen are putting in hours to preserve Metuchen’s past and educate current residents about the place they call home.

“We’re trying to promote that Metuchen has an important history, and buildings here have value,” explained Zerbe. “Large lots get bought up and knocked down for big houses. But towns can have ordinances to protect private property—in compliance with municipal land use law, you must have historic preservation element in the master plan. Metuchen never had this until we got a small grant and I worked with Chris Cosenza, the borough planner. He and I coauthored a historic preservation element in 2021. Now, more people are aware of preservation and loss of historic buildings. And lots of this work has been done on volunteer effort—not just when we receive grants.”

The town’s important people in prominent positions seem to be stepping up to preserve history. Zerbe and her team continue to fight so that historic buildings and districts aren’t knocked down to build new houses, apartments, commercial buildings, or condominiums.

On the other hand, efforts from organizations like the police department are hard to ignore when the police badge now displays a Native American figure. Plus, Reuter and the Historical Society continue to work—in some cases literally uncovering brand new information from Metuchen’s past, buried underground.

“The borough has supported us while working at the Colonial Cemetery which dates before the American Revolution. Our study utilized ground-penetrating radar to find unmarked graves. In the past, there were no records of local natives and slaves who were buried. And we uncovered a lot more than we thought,” said Reuter.

Reuter plans to present her report to the mayor to recognize this site as well as to gather never-before-known information about the Metuchen inside a still-unsure American history. Moving forward, it’s not clear if Metuchen is still a haven for the brainy. What’s more, it’s hard to say that the town is much more connected to Native American history aside from one police patch. However, it does seem that Metuchen and its residents have and will continue to try to better the town and the community.

“This place has been known for nonprofit and activist groups, as well as charities that provide civic engagement,” said Reuter. “Metuchen prides itself on being inclusive and helpful. There are lots of volunteers and people willing to lift a hand to offer a sense of community.” 