The summer of 1976 settles into its rhythm at the Jersey Shore. A morning walk, an old family pizzeria, a grandfather's house frozen in another era, and a conversation between two new friends begin revealing histories neither boy fully understands.

As the Kid learns that his friend's family can trace its New Jersey roots through slavery in Newark, he shares the story of his own Campobasso immigrant family, whose story in Newark began in the 1880s before they built a life from the stone of the Palisades. Neither boy realizes just how closely their families' histories have crossed.

Meanwhile, Mom is getting ready for a weekend at the Latin Casino and a night with her beloved Engelbert Humperdinck. But down the Shore, another singer is becoming harder and harder to ignore: a Jersey guy named Bruce Springsteen.

So who wins the summer of '76: Engelbert or Bruce?

Set against pizza parlors, beach days, family stories, Newark memories, Bicentennial America, the Latin Casino, and the music of Bruce Springsteen, Bicentennial Summer continues its journey through a New Jersey where the past is never quite as far away as it seems.

The New Jersey History Podcast blends historical fiction, New Jersey history, family memory, and 1970s nostalgia in a story unfolding between the Jersey Shore of 1976 and Revolutionary New Jersey in 1776.

This is part of our ongoing foodways series. Pizza is a New Jersey tradition, but how did it first reach the Jersey Shore? Most people know the story of boardwalk pizza. But what if pizza arrived at the Shore farther inland first, years before it became a seaside staple? Join The New Jersey History Podcast as we explore the surprising origins of pizza in Ocean County, Italian-American settlement, and the forgotten history that may rewrite how we think about one of New Jersey's favorite foods. And it's very personal for me.

Does anyone remember the places we talked about?

Email me, or drop a comment: [email protected]

Join me as I tell you the story of an old railroad worker who pointed new immigrants away from the tenements of NYC and North Jersey, and toward the sandy soil of South Jersey.

In this episode of The New Jersey History Podcast, we uncover the remarkable story of Hammonton, New Jersey, where Sicilian immigrants established the oldest continuously running Italian-American feast in the United States, decades before the famous Feast of San Gennaro, and whose labor propelled the blueberry to its status as the state fruit.

Email me: [email protected]

Two boys — one English, one Lenape — set out on a merchant's errand through the New Jersey Pine Barrens, carrying a satchel whose contents neither of them understands. Along the way, they stop at Indian Stage, a quiet landing on the Metedeconk River, and at Brotherton, the first Native American reservation in the colonies (and US). Neither boy has any idea how far this errand is about to take them, or what they'll find waiting at the end of the road. A story about the places that connect people — and the history that happens around them, before anyone knows it's happening.

Email me: [email protected]

Before Trenton. Before Princeton. Before Washington's retreat across New Jersey. Before the Declaration of Independence.

On June 29, 1776, the American Revolution may have fought its first engagement in New Jersey at Turtle Gut Inlet, a forgotten waterway near present-day Wildwood Crest.

In this special 250th anniversary episode of The New Jersey History Podcast, we begin with a fictional vignette inspired by the location before exploring the true story of the American brig Nancy, British warships, John Barry, the desperate effort to save precious gunpowder, and the dramatic explosion that marked one of the earliest Revolutionary War actions connected to New Jersey.

Was Turtle Gut Inlet the first Revolutionary War battle in New Jersey? Historians debate the terminology, but its place in New Jersey's Revolutionary story is undeniable.

Join me as I uncover one of the Garden State's most overlooked Revolutionary War stories.

Also, I am now accepting listener submissions. Email me: njhistorypodcast@gmail.,com

The summer of 1976 rolls on as another day at the Jersey Shore begins with a trip to B&B, a family crabbing expedition on the bay, and the unmistakable sights, sounds, and smells of a Shore town during America's Bicentennial. Along the way, the Kid meets someone new, and an ordinary summer day quietly becomes the beginning of an unforgettable friendship.

From Ocean Pacific shorts and Sun-In to crab lines, creosote, canasta, and evenings with family, this episode recreates the little moments that defined a generation. Sometimes the biggest stories begin on the most ordinary days.

Before we go, I want to put out a call for listener submissions. We've grown to thousands of subscribers across the podcast platforms and nearly 30,000 followers on social media, and I'd love to feature more stories from you. If you have a New Jersey history story, a ghost story, a family story, a local legend, or anything else connected to New Jersey, email it to [email protected]. If it's a good fit for the podcast, I'll turn it into an episode.

While researching family history, an unexpected discovery appeared in an 1860 Newark census record: a 75-year-old Black woman named Hattie living in the household of a prosperous New Jersey family.

Who was Hattie?

A servant? A family friend? A former slave?

The historical record offers few answers, but her presence opens a window into a forgotten chapter of New Jersey history.

In this special Juneteenth episode, we begin with a fictional vignette inspired by Hattie's life before exploring the realities of slavery in New Jersey, the state's gradual emancipation laws, the little-known "apprentices for life" system, and New Jersey's surprising refusal to initially ratify the 13th Amendment.

This episode examines how one name in a census record can reveal a much larger story about slavery, freedom, family history, and the people history nearly forgot.

Email me: [email protected]

Topics include:
• Juneteenth
• Slavery in New Jersey
• Newark history
• Bergen County history
• The 1860 Census
• Gradual Emancipation
• The 13th Amendment
• African American history in New Jersey
• Family history and genealogy

#NewJerseyHistory #Juneteenth #BlackHistory #Genealogy #NewarkNJ #NJHistory #AmericanHistory #SlaveryInNewJersey

Bicentennial Summer is a storytelling series that alternates between two Jersey Shore summers separated by 200 years: 1976 and 1776.

Each numbered episode unfolds across both timelines, exploring the people, places, and traditions that connect generations across centuries.

In Episode 1, Part 2: Jersey Shore, 1776, we leave behind the Bicentennial summer and step into a very different New Jersey Shore. There are no boardwalks, no beach houses, and no Garden State Parkway. Instead, Squan Beach is a working coastline of merchants, fishermen, sailors, and travelers living through one of the most consequential summers in American history.

As debates over independence spread from taverns to docks and dinner tables, a young merchant's son begins to question the world around him. A summer morning, a crowded tavern, and an unexpected encounter will send him inland toward a destination neither he nor his new companion expected to be searching for.

I write these as I go along, so feel free to email me with suggestions: [email protected]

Topics include: New Jersey History, American Revolution, Revolutionary War, Colonial New Jersey, Jersey Shore History, Lenape History, Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Loyalists, Patriots, and 1776.

Welcome to Bicentennial Summer: Jersey Shore, 1976, the new narrative-history series from the New Jersey History Podcast.

Like last year's The Gilded Age: Jersey Shore, 1892, each episode begins with a work of historical fiction grounded in real places, real events, and real history. After the story concludes, we'll step out of the narrative and explore the historical details behind what you just heard, separating documented fact from creative interpretation.

Memorial Day Weekend, 1976. An eighteen-year-old wakes up in his family's Jersey Shore bungalow as another summer begins.

As he spends the morning wandering through town, a breakfast sangwich, a Bicentennial quarter, a disco-versus-rock showdown at the basketball courts, and eventually a pair of six-packs of Schaefer beer become part of a day that seems ordinary at first.

If you have a bicentennial summer memory that you'd like me to include in a future episode, email me: [email protected]

Welcome to Bicentennial Summer: The Jersey Shore, 1976, the new narrative-history series from the New Jersey History Podcast.

Like last year's The Gilded Age: Jersey Shore, 1892, each episode begins with a work of historical fiction grounded in real places, real events, and real history. After the story concludes, we'll step out of the narrative and explore the historical details behind what you just heard, separating documented fact from creative interpretation.

Memorial Day Weekend, 1976. An eighteen-year-old wakes up in his family's Jersey Shore bungalow as another summer begins. His father is outside washing the Lincoln, his mother is polishing the paneling, his younger siblings are glued to Land of the Lost, and the kitchen is stocked with Butterfly Gold Corelle, Tang, and the promise of company stopping by after church.

As he spends the morning wandering through town, a breakfast sandwich, a Bicentennial quarter, a disco-versus-rock showdown at the basketball courts, and eventually a pair of six-packs of Schaefer beer become part of a day that seems ordinary at first. By day's end, he begins to realize that America's 200th birthday might mean something more than fireworks and flags.

Email me with suggestions for upcoming episodes:

⁠[email protected]