PERTH AMBOY - The America on Wheels Roller Rink opened up Christmas Day 1939. It was the largest roller rink in the world at that time - and in Perth Amboy! We would love to bring this back! We think it would bring people into Amboy for good clean fun, family orientated entertainment that will not break your budget. Maybe an roller rink/ice skating rink? Send your comments to us. We would love to have your thoughts on this matter. *Photo Courtesy of Chester Fried

It was a week of many WOW’s speaking with youthful visitors to Kearny Cottage and the Library. A family of three children came to the library and wanted to know about Perth Amboy’s History and several came to Kearny Cottage’s Festival Day event to ask questions and to talk about our history. They were fascinated to learn about Dr. Solomon Andrew’s inventions and that he was the Mayor of Perth Amboy and how the British barracks was located where the Board of Education building is now and how it housed British troops that fought at Bunker Hill and Saratoga, and how there was once a roller skating rink at the end of Market Street and how once there was an arena on New Brunswick Ave and Jefferson St. where they had boxing matches and other sporting events, and how at the end of High Street where the park is was the Long Ferry Tavern, and very important land of the city’s founders, and how Perth Amboy was a theatrical town where Broadway actors tried out their shows, and how so many artists were attracted to the area because of the Terra Cotta Industry, and how Eagleswood attracted progressive thinkers and that Perth Amboy was an intellectual and artistic center, and that Florida Grove was once not only a road but a resort area at the western end of Smith Street, and how Commodore Kearny helped open trade to China and helped save Hawaii from the British and how he was also Mayor of Perth Amboy.

All of this caused WOW’s and, it seemed, a thirst to hear more and a desire to come back to the library and to join Kearny Cottage. These youth are the future and they sure loved to hear about Perth Amboy’s past and its relevance to United State’s history and they left saying they were proud that this is their town and that so many really cool things happened in their city. I think they will carry this history with them and nurture it and know that this is their history and that they will tell their friends what a great city we live in and will let their imaginations be grounded in that history so as to build a better place and create a fine culture right here in the city where they live and that they love.

As members of the Historic Preservation Commission it gives us great hope that the history of Perth Amboy will not be forgotten. That is why it is important that we have our youth interested in the city in which they live.

We observed how these two young women were inquisitive not only about the Kearny Cottage but about other pictures that were hanging in the Cottage of other historic sites in Perth Amboy. There was another young man visiting the Cottage and they also engaged him in a conversation dealing with the history of Perth Amboy. We know that these two young women are determined not to let the historical significance of Perth Amboy to fade away.

If I were a politician I would pay close attention to our youth, especially when they show great concern for the City of Perth Amboy. They are the ones that will keep Perth Amboy going in the right direction.

We’re going to blow our own horn. There are several books written about Perth Amboy by local authors that have lived here all or most of their lives. Some of the books are: Arcadia’s Images of America by Joan Seguine-Levine, Then and Now: Perth Amboy by Paul Wang and Katherine Massopust and now a new book Stories From Perth Amboy from The History Press (coming out August 21, 2012). And don’t forget to watch PA-TV and look for John K. Dyke’s documentaries about Historic Perth Amboy. You should also check your local bookstores for Arcadia and History Press Books to find out if there have been books published about your specific town. You may be living in a town which you think had nothing to offer in the past or present but often these books will tell about the hidden treasures in your town.

We would love to have the two young women who visited the Cottage to start a Junior Branch of a Historic Society. This is greatly lacking in every Historic organization. Local history is not being addressed in the schools as they should be. They talk about it but don’t carry it out and maybe it’s time they should.

V.N. (Vilma Novak – guest editorial) & C.M., K.M. & P.W.