Pictured are members of the Bicentennial Committee: Alan Russo, Norman Mitschele, Carol Huck, Patty Arnold (Chair), Russ Jones (Co-chair)

Livingston will be celebrating its 200th birthday throughout 2013 and the planning is well underway.  The Bicentennial, “Livingston at 200,” which will be celebrated townwide with events and activities for all residents, has begun its research by inviting residents with photos, documents and artifacts from Livingston’s past to join them at the Livingston Public Library to scan these items, which will then be exhibited around the community in 2013.

Several scanning sessions were held between January 14 and 18 and were successful. The Bicentennial Committee seeks even more residents’ photos and artifacts documenting Livingston’s rich history.

The second set of scanning sessions will take place in the Library’s History Room and are scheduled as follows: Saturday, January 28 from 10.30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 29 from 1.30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

“We were very happy with the turnout at the first scanning and archiving sessions, and we would like to include even more of Livingston’s memories for our ‘mobile museum’ that will be displayed in 2013 in areas of the community, such as: the Town Hall, Senior and Community Center and Livingston High School,” says Patty Arnold, the Bicentennial Historical Committee chairwoman.

Photos and documents the committee particularly seeks are those depicting past Livingston family members, or, anything that shows part of Livingston’s history, such as a Playbill from a high school production, a graduation photo, or an artifact from an old store in town, but not limited to these items.

When the historical committee is ready to exhibit that artifact, a member will contact the resident to bring it in for display behind a glass case. If not interested in displaying the item, the committee will use the picture that has been catalogued for the mobile museum.

Participants in the scanning sessions will be asked prior to scanning to complete an intake form, giving the committee permission to use the item as needed for the bicentennial. The committee is not responsible for stored items.

For further information, call 973.992.1180 or send an e-mail to Patty Arnold at part333@aol.com.

Livingston’s Bicentennial, “Livingston at 200,” which will be celebrated town-wide with exciting events and activities for all residents throughout 2013, is beginning its research by inviting residents with photos, documents and artifacts from Livingston to join them at the Livingston Public Library to scan these items, which will be exhibited throughout town in 2013.

Three “scanning sessions” will take place in the Livingston Public Library’s History room, this weekend and one day next week, where members will scan and inventory residents’ precious mementos for future exhibits. There are only three designated dates and times for the first scanning sessions.

The dates are as follows: Saturday, January 14 from 10:30 a.m.to 1:00 p.m., Sunday, January 15, 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Wednesday, January 18 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Continue reading →

Welcome to Livingston200.com, the official website of the Livingston Bicentennial celebration, where you can get information on Livingston’s bicentennial celebration and participate in celebrating the town’s history.

The year 2013 marks 200th anniversary of Livingston’s incorporation as a township. To celebrate our town’s 200th birthday, a Bicentennial Committee is hard at work planning a year of fun-filled events and activities for the entire community.

One of the key components to our celebration is this Livingston At 200 webpage. As we inch closer to the bicentennial year, this website will grow. Both history buffs and amateur historians alike can look forward to features highlighting significant events in township history, as well as written recollections from long-time residents. Interactive features, such as trivia questions and games are also in the works. If you haven’t already, be sure to ‘Like’ us on Facebook and follow our account on Twitter.

One way you can be a part of the preparation is to participate in “Digitization Events” at the Livingston Library in which we will be scanning in residents’ photos to add to our expanding digital library of Livingston artifacts.

Feel free to share any additional thoughts or ideas with us via email at LivingstonNJ200@gmail.com  Here’s to another exciting 200 years of Livingston history!

Image Credit: Google Maps

The early inhabitants of Livingston, NJ were the Lenni Lenape Native American Indians.  After the Dutch and later the English arrived to the New York area, some Native Americans moved north and west to avoid more conflict with the new settlers. Some of these inhabitants settled into what is now Livingston. Continue reading →