ANDOVER, NJ - Four Vintage Views

This is a 1906 view of my hometown of Andover, NJ. Obviously, it's a bit before my time, but it is amazing how familiar it does look.


And here is another view of Andover (probably dating a bit later than the above) that I know very well. It is the Presbyterian Church and the the old schoolhouse behind it. When I last lived in Andover, ca. mid-'70s, the schoolhouse had become a giftshop (still preserving the original interior).

The Grist Mill:    

And here is a place where I spent many delightful hours. Long after its days as a mill, this building became a summer stock theater that brought many big-name stars to the area. Alas, I was too young to enjoy it in that heyday, but later it became the Grist Mill Musical Playhouse. No "stars," but good performances that helped me develop a taste for the American musical. By the early '70s, however, the playhouse was no more, and the building was converted into an A&P supermarket.

And about three or four miles northeast on Rt. 517...
An Old (ca. 1920s or '30s) Postcard
Aerial View of Perona Farms 		A Strikingly Similar View
As It Appears Today
Click on the above images to see them in more detail.
Note especially the old cars in the foreground of the first one.
I worked as a waitress at Perona Farms for a couple years after college in 1974-76 when it looked a lot less like the vintage view but not yet quite like the current one. (The road, Rt. 517, that goes off into the top middle of both cards leads in about two miles to what was our family home in Lake Lenape.) Perona Farms is an interesting place with a history that goes back quite a way. One day I'm going to order some of their smoked salmon!

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