I will try this post again, since it apparently didn't take the first time.

I was up at Rutgers University's Alexander Library, in the "Special Collections" New Jersey Room yesterday helping my daughter do some research for her MA thesis and decided to see if I could find some Roseville material.

I discovered two church histories. The first was a little hardcover book, A. H. Tuttle's "History of the Roseville Methodist Episcopal Church."(1927) Amidst the more mundane records of ministers and choirmasters the book had some good info. According to Tuttle, he spoke to a number of "older residents" of Roseville regarding the origins of the neighborhood's name. While some speculated that it was named after the wild roses that grew along "Boiling Spring Lane" that later became Roseville Ave., the conclusion was that it was indeed named for Mr. Rowe, Dan Moore's ancestor. According to Tuttle's informants, the Rowe Estate stretched from Orange street to Bloomfield Avenue. There was some other good info as well. Unfortunately, the binding of Rutgers' copy of the book was too fragile to allow copying. Fortunately, I conducted an internet search and managed to find a copy for twenty bucks in a bookstore in Maine, of all places. I bought it.

The second publication was a pamphlet giving the history of the Roseville Presbyterian Church, published in honor of the church's centennial in 1954. There were a few neat pictures in the pamphlet including one of the "Peck Memorial" which was, according to the author, "established [in 1935] by the will of Miss Edith Peck for use by the church. This represents the old Peck homestead and property located two blocks from the Church. During the years it has served as a meeting place for small religious groups and social gatherings." I was able to copy this pamphlet for my files.

Interestingly, a 1959 report to Mayor Carlin noted that only 8% of the white population of Roseville considered moving to another place that year.

The riots of 1967 and the construction of route 280 had much do to with the reconstruction of the neighborhood.