COLONIA THEN & NOW… November 2019

By Dan D’Arcy

I’m sitting at my desk trying to make decision on what to write about this month. I am in the process of reorganizing all my files and memorabilia for the past twenty-one years. Probably the most precious of these are the letters written to me by the readers of the Corner, “Colonia Corner”, either by email or hand- written and delivered by the USPS. Since 1998 these letters from the readers have contributed to the success of this article and has greatly inspired me. I love reading them, sharing and knowing that others share my passion for our past, present and future of our part of the Township.

Picture.
I have been asked many times, where was the train station in Colonia. Yes, there was a small stop at the Haughtonville farm on what is now Rt. 27 and New Dover Rd. The farmer, Mr. Haughton would let animals from the train graze on his pasture before being sent back on their journey. Once Elizabeth Savage Cone convinced the Pennsylvania Railroad to change the name to Colonia, for the benefit of making the “Colonia Colony” more sellable, (since the whole premises of the Colony was to the sell the lots that the Cones had purchased. Yes, they also wanted to create a little utopia a short train ride away from New York City, which in some ways still exists today.) the station became a magnet to future Colonia residents. Don’t forget that the conversation by Mr.’s Freeman and Albee aboard a train from that station lead to the construction of the World War one Army Hospital. With platforms on both sides of the tracts the station served for many years until the Super Station Metro Park in Iselin was constructed. Deemed redundant, the stop was discontinued, and the station demolished for new construction. So, where exactly was the station Dan? When you drive over the New Dover bridge, and it wasn’t always there, you make the right hand turn on Fairview and an immediate right hand turn on Morton, which I think should be named after the first Colonia Postmaster Thompson, and the station lay straight ahead. I have been on the tracks looking (which you should never do) and have found many bricks that are obviously not associated with anything other than a building. I can’t say whether they are related to the Station building but I’ll just say maybe. The concrete platform on the southbound side was still there the last time I looked but there has been a lot of work on the sides of the tracts recently, so I’ll have to look again. The “candy store and post office, that so many people remember on Morton was recently remodeled back to a single-family home. The picture that you see above was sent to me by Fred Kirste in 2010, an original member of the Colonia History Club, who has since passed.

Letter
Coincidently, I received this letter from Fred Kirste in 2008.
The Colonia Post office was established as an independent office in 1894 and operated as such through 1955. At the time,1955/56 it became a branch of the Rahway Post Office. In 1955 the Colonia Post Office was in a store front in the building that which still stands today but has been converted into an office or apartment on the corner of Middlesex Ave and Morton Place. In 1955 this location was across South Middlesex Ave. from the Colonia Railroad Station, both buildings located on the south western side of New Dover Rd. Bridge. I am told that until 1955 customers picked up their mail from the PO boxes in the Office. In 1956 I am told there was one home delivery route established which centered on the homes along New Dover Rd. Prior to 1955 mail for homes along Lake Ave. in Colonia where delivered to roadside mailboxes by a Rural Free Delivery Route. In 1955 the Dukes Estates homes were provided house to house delivery, but for many years used Rahway, NJ 07065 designation. Always enjoy reading your articles Dan. After reading the front page of the Colonia Corner, I go next to Colonia Then & Now. Best Regards Fred. (Fred was a real nice guy and a pleasure to be around.)
Always looking for new information on anything we talk about.
Thanks for reading,

Daniel D’Arcy 908-599-3958 dandrc@aol.com

This Month in world war II — 75 Years Ago

By Phil Kohn

British forces take Thessaloniki, in Greece, on November 1, 1944. The destroyer USS ABNER READ is sunk by a Japanese kamikaze attack in Leyte Gulf.
Canadian troops take Zeebrugge, on the Belgian coast, on November 2. Belgium is now completely liberated. The Red Army enters Hungary.
The last Axis forces on the mainland of Greece leave on November 4. In Asia, U.S. planes on November 5 bomb Singapore, held by the Japanese since 1942. The German Fourth Army recaptures the town of Goldap, in East Prussia.
On November 6, the aircraft carrier USS LEXINGTON is badly damaged off Luzon, in the Philippines, in an attack by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft.
In the U.S., Franklin Delano Roosevelt on November 7 is elected to an unprecedented fourth term as President of the United States. Sen. Harry S. Truman of Missouri will be vice president. In Athens, the Greek government orders the dissolution of the country’s two largest resistance groups.
In France, the troops and tanks of the U.S. Third Army by November 9 have captured the outer defenses of heavily fortified Metz and threaten the city.
Heavy fighting continues on Leyte island, in the Philippines, on November 10. U.S. Navy carrier-based aircraft attack a Japanese convoy off Leyte Island, the Philippines, on November 11. Four destroyers, one minesweeper and five transports carrying nearly 10,000 troops are sunk. U.S. Navy planes bomb Japanese-held Iwo Jima.
On November 12, the German battleship TIRPITZ, anchored in a fjord near Tromsø, Norway, is attacked by the RAF. Two bombs find their mark and the vessel quickly capsizes, trapping over 1,000 crewmen inside her hull.
U.S. Navy aircraft on November 13 attack targets on Luzon, the Philippines. In Hungary on November 15, the Red Army captures Jázberény, 37 miles east of Budapest. Between Korea and Japan, the amphibious assault ship AKITSU MARU is sunk by the American submarine USS QUEENFISH, killing 2,046 Japanese soldiers.
On November 16, the RAF drops 5,689 tons of bombs, a record for one day on German lines to the east of Aachen, Germany.
The Germans give up Tirana, Albania, on November 17. In the China Sea, the submarine USS SPADEFISH sinks the Japanese fleet carrier SHIN’YŌ.
The German hospital ship HS TÜBINGEN is sunk on November 18 by two RAF aircraft in the Adriatic Sea; fortunately, no wounded are aboard.
On November 19, U.S. Navy air strikes continue hitting targets on Luzon and shipping in Manila Bay in the Philippines. In Washington, D.C., the government estimates the cost of the war at $250 million per day.
Elements of the U.S. Third Army continue the siege of Metz, France, on November 20. Adolf Hitler moves his headquarters to Berlin, where he establishes his center of operations in a highly fortified underground bunker — the Führerbunker.
In the China Sea northwest of Keelung, Formosa, on November 21, the submarine USS SEALION sinks the Japanese battleship KONGŌ, with a loss of 1,200 men, and the destroyer URAKAZE with the loss of 240 crewmen.
The French First Army on November 22 takes Mulhouse, France. Metz, France, is taken by U.S. Third Army troops on November 23. Meanwhile, French forces capture Strasbourg, in eastern France. In Moscow, the Soviets announce that the Red Army and Finnish troops have cleared Finnish Lapland of German forces.
From bases on Saipan and Tinian, in the Mariana Islands, 111 U.S. B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers take off on November 24 for a raid on Tokyo. It is the first attack on the Japanese capital since the Doolittle raid in April 1942. Near Luzon, the Philippines, the Japanese launch an air raid on the U.S. Navy’s Fast Carrier Task Force 38. The aircraft carrier USS INTREPID is hit (for the third time on its current patrol) by two Japanese kamikaze aircraft, killing 66 crewmen and starting serious fires.
The Japanese take Nanking, in eastern China, on November 25, continuing to make gains in that theater. The Americans abandon their airbase at Yongning, China. On Peleliu, in the Caroline Islands, the last Japanese resistance ends. Over 14,000 Japanese are killed or captured while the U.S. suffers 9,300 casualties.
The Red Army advances into eastern Czechoslovakia on November 26. The German vessel M/S RIGEL is sunk off Norway by British Royal Navy planes on November 27. Of the 2,838 aboard, 2,571 drown, most of them Allied POWs.
On November 28, the first Allied ship sails into the harbor of Antwerp, Belgium. A German V-2 rocket strikes London on November 30, killing 23 people.

Dedicated to the memory of his father, GM3 Walter Kohn, U.S. Navy Armed Guard, USNR, and all men and women who answered the country’s call.
Phil Kohn can be contacted at ww2remembered@yahoo.com.