Bolger Heritage Center, Ridgewood Public Library

Bolger Heritage Center, Ridgewood Public Library Check out the Heritage Catalog: https://ridgewood.catalogaccess.com/home The Center is located on Level 2 and is open during all library hours.

The Ridgewood Public Library Bolger Heritage Center has a wide variety of resources for the study of genealogy and of Ridgewood and New Jersey history. Special assistance is available by emailing [email protected]. For more information about the Heritage Center see www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/localhistory.

The Bolger Heritage Center wishes everyone a safe and relaxing Labor Day. But we would be remiss if we didn't take a qui...
09/07/2026

The Bolger Heritage Center wishes everyone a safe and relaxing Labor Day. But we would be remiss if we didn't take a quick moment to explain the historical significance behind the holiday...which began in the late 19th century as an annual celebration of the social along with economic achievement of American workers. It is held on the 1st Monday in September. At first it was celebrated by labor activists and individual states, and by 1894 Congress passed an act making it a legal holiday.

**Image is from the archival collection and is just identified as a "parade". Please feel free to share your photographs from Labor Day weekend so that we can add them to our collection (email [email protected])

Back in the days when we didn't have social media, people instead reported social events through the newspapers. Looks l...
09/04/2026

Back in the days when we didn't have social media, people instead reported social events through the newspapers. Looks like the annual clam bake will be next Saturday...1927

**social announcement below is dated September 4, 1927, in the Ridgewood News

Bidding a fond farewell to the Summer of 2026 with a look at Graydon Pool 66 years ago, August of 1960. The pool is clo...
08/31/2026

Bidding a fond farewell to the Summer of 2026 with a look at Graydon Pool 66 years ago, August of 1960. The pool is closed starting today but will reopen on Saturday for Labor Day weekend.

Photo by James Lockard (one of many in the Bolger Archives)

This just in --- Your Ridgewood library card now gives you access to EVEN MORE historical newspapers! The Wall Street Jo...
08/24/2026

This just in --- Your Ridgewood library card now gives you access to EVEN MORE historical newspapers! The Wall Street Journal, going back to 1889; the Washington Post, to 1877; the Los Angles Times, to 1881; and the Chicago Tribune, to 1847...all those in addition to the historical New York Times, Bergen Record, and Ridgewood newspapers we've already offered you. And you can access them from home with your card.

We tried looking up a couple of events -- the devastating Chicago fire in 1871, and the first mention of Marilyn Monroe in the Los Angeles Times, which happened in 1947. But whether you're researching the Civil War for school or just curious about the creation of the New York Mets -- take a time machine back to that moment in history with these old newspapers.

Enter the "Local History and Genealogy" section of the library website, then click on "Online Newspapers," then the "Proquest, Historical Newspapers" option, then you can single out one publication or try several at once -- with specific dates.

As for Marilyn -- she'd gone to a Hollywood talent scout's home to babysit. And he thought she might have a future.

Did you know you have access to the Ridgewood News going back to 1891 on Newspapers.com, available at the Ridgewood Publ...
08/21/2026

Did you know you have access to the Ridgewood News going back to 1891 on Newspapers.com, available at the Ridgewood Public Library? You can learn a lot of fun little facts about the development of Ridgewood and the people that lived here by perusing the "local" news section. So here's a glimpse of what was going on August 21....1891

Opened a big box of photos in the archives to see what there was to see, and this one was right on top. It's the beef st...
08/17/2026

Opened a big box of photos in the archives to see what there was to see, and this one was right on top. It's the beef steak dinner for Ridgewood's White Star Athletic Club, held in November of 1911. The Ridgewood Herald headline for the event was "STEAK! STEAK! I WANT STEAK!!!"

The White Star Athletic Club started around 1904 and was, to quote the paper, "composed of the prominent young men of the village, who are inclined toward base-ball, football and other out door sports. They number over one hundred members."

But back to reports of the steak dinner: "They looked jolly, all in white aprons and towels...Then there was the steak. We would like to have it every morning for breakfast."

Even the photographer got a shout out: "Photographer Aljian shot off his machine, and those who are stuck on themselves can get pictures of the way they looked at that particular moment...it was a good picture."

Can't argue with that.

Bolger Heritage Center's small item (English to Dutch Dictionary)...next to it's largest (1867 map from Palisades to P...
08/14/2026

Bolger Heritage Center's small item (English to Dutch Dictionary)...next to it's largest (1867 map from Palisades to Paterson NJ)

Not sure who thought of this, but today, August 10, is National Lazy Day -- so we picked the first Heritage Catalog imag...
08/10/2026

Not sure who thought of this, but today, August 10, is National Lazy Day -- so we picked the first Heritage Catalog image that came up. Why do more?? The street is unnamed but the photo dates from the 1970s -- apparently it's a mid-1960s Ford "woody" station wagon in the driveway.

08/07/2026

Today in history, the Lighthouse Act of 1789 was signed by President George Washington. Now, National Lighthouse Day is celebrated every year on August 7.

While looking for something interesting that happened in August, we came across this photo from August of 1949, showing ...
08/03/2026

While looking for something interesting that happened in August, we came across this photo from August of 1949, showing Ridgewood firemen practicing with a "life net," used, as you might expect, for people having to jump from a burning building.

The first Ridgewood Fire Dept. life net was purchased in 1930, as a result of a near tragedy at a fire at the Weber Building on Ridgewood Avenue, which housed Bertrand Weber's jewelry store. Sarah Fergenson was reading the newspaper in her third floor apartment when she smelled smoke. The stairway was already engulfed in flames, so she headed to the front window (there was no fire escape). Rescuers rushed to a carpet and rug store two doors down and grabbed the largest rug they could. To quote the Ridgewood Herald-News: "As the flames cme near her, she let go her hold [from the window sill] and dropped. A groan went up from the crowd in the street...She struck on that side of the rug nearest the building. Her weight tore it from hands benumbed with cold, and she landed on the sidewalk. Her legs were broken."

A supermarket delivery wagon took Mrs. Fergenson to a doctor's office -- the ambulance needed to take her to the Paterson Hospital wouldn't start--the Hospital had to send one.

And so...the Fire Department bought a life net a few months later. Newspaper articles of the time show it was mostly used for practice drills and for demonstrations at Ridgewood schools, letting children jump onto it from the fire truck. 1935 headline: "First graders have fun."

Address

125 N Maple Avenue
Ridgewood, NJ
07450

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 9am - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 1pm - 5pm

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