Celebration of the History of New Providence

New Providence residents will enjoy learning about our town in this exhibit hosted by the Friends of the New Providence Library, that features the historical maps, photographs and paintings that are on loan from the New Providence Historical Society.

We have borrowed interesting artifacts of NP history from the 300 years since our founding!!

You can see who used to own your land, learn we had a dance hall on the Passaic River, and find out who were the founders of businesses that built the town of New Providence.

Adult Reading Room South Wall:

Mike and Lucy DeCorso in 1972, the owners of the bus companyt in New Providence.

The DeCorso Bus Company and Bus Garage was located where the DeCorso Senior Center now stands. it was the only bus company in town. The DeCorsos lived next door and donated the land and building to the town to establish a senior center.

There were four or five DeCorso buses which ran from the present location of Zita's ice cream on Union Ave and dropped you off at the Summit High School (today's Summit Middle School) and parked at the Summit railroad station.

One bus travelled along Springfield Ave and stopped if they saw anybody standing on the corner. They took school children and residents from home to the Summit train station. Another route picked up along Mountain Ave and went to the Summit high school.

The buses ran back and forth all day til about 11pm. Students were supposed to catch the bus home before 5pm because that is when the commuters started to come.

Tricentennial Celebration that didn't happen

Due to the Covid Pandemic, the celebrations were cancelled and replaced with zooms and displays on the internet.

Original 1885 photograph of the center of New Providence.

Original photograph of the center of New Providence in 1885: looking east on Springfield Avenue, in the 1880's. James Badgley who lived 1847-1907 is in the buggy. Highest sign reads, "Union Hotel, M.J.Post". The farthest sign reads "John F. Wahl, Blacksmith".

The house on the right was a Wilcox House and burned down sometime before 1902. Next two houses on that same side were still standing in 1976.. The first house became a shoe repair shop that existed until the 2000's, the second one was partly living quarters with a small shop on the west side. No utility poles are in this picture. The large pole on the left is the Liberty Pole installed during the Revolution! The House showing partially on the left is the Union Hotel.

The 1880 landowners are labeled in colored sections drawn on top of a more map of NP from the 1970's

David Osborne Pavilion Dance Hall on the Passaic River

Adult Reading Room East wall:

Don't miss the painting and article, in the East nook of the Adult Reading Room, of Celestine Mazzucco, who died in the famous crash of the dirigible, the Shenendoah, in 1925.

The dirigible, named Shenandoah, crashed in 1925, killing 6 airmen, including the New Providence resident, Celestine Mazzucco.

Framed photo and document donated by Bert Abbazia on 12/15/2020

Excerpts from the article "The Dirigible that Died Hard"

When the keel snapped, the ship had opened like an egg being cracked from the bottom. But the two sections were held together by the many control wires that ran along the bottom of the keel. Cullinan and O'Sullivan, whom Halliburton had seen drop out of sight, had caught onto the torn stern section and were hanging on desperately. Broom, a few yards away in engine car No. 5, and Spratley and Mazzuco in No. 4, saw them dangling But there was nothing the three mechanics could do to help. On the port side of the crew space, Malak and Cole stared in horror as daylight appeared forward. Allely and Cook Hahn had been watching the altimeter on the starboard. They both saw it reach 6,200 feet. Then there was a great roar forward, and they forgot about everything but saving themselves.

The two mien in the tail fragment of the Shenandoah saw what bad happened. Johnson and Russell, clinging to the ladder of No.I engine, saw gondolas 4 and 5 abruptly wrench themselves from the plunging middle section. The two motors tore out great hunks of the structure of frames 120 to 130. Cullinan, clinging to the ragged ends of frame 130, must have been flung off almost immediately (his body was found, hours later, in a gully a quarter of a mile from the engines). But O'Sullivan rode the wreckage down. With him, went Mazzuco and Spratley in engine car No. 4, and little Broom in No. 5.

The Adult Reading Room West Wall:

Learn about the Coddinton flower business, who produced the famous roses and gardenias promoted by celebrities and the Queen Elizabeth when she arrived in New York City.