Forest Hill Book is Released

Kathleen P. Galop and Catharine Longendyck completed their second book in Arcadia's Images of America series focused on the Forest Hill Historic district which came out this week; their first one, Branch Book Park, was published in 2007. Arcadia has now published a total of eleven books on Newark, NJ.

Catherine Longendyck is a 3rd-generation Newarker and owns a home in Forest Hill living there most of her life. Her co-author Kathleen Galop is an attorney and principal of a historic preservation consulting firm and lived across the street from each other growing up.

The book was very much a group project; the duo received a great deal of input, encouragement and assistance from present and former residents of Forest Hill, as well as the Forest Hill Community Association. According to Ms. Longendyck, "We also acquired many important images for our book from two departments of the City of Newark -- the Newark Public Library and the Newark City Archives. It was a challenge to locate vintage photographs of Forest Hill because 99% of its structures are residential. It is much easier to find vintage photos of public buildings. But in the end, the hardest part was deciding what we had to leave out due to space considerations."

Ms. Longendyck hopes the book will inspire the City of Newark, and in particular the residents of Forest Hill, to take pride in preserving Forest Hill along with the city's other historic neighborhoods, and that all Newark residents will be motivated to take every opportunity to promote these positive features of New Jersey's largest city.

You can order the book online. There will also be a book launch party at the Newark Public Library on February 26th.