Stories of West Orange

West Orange is one of New Jersey’s most loved communities, and the remarkable stories from its past reveal why. Civil War general McClellan lived here while he ran for president against Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Amos Alonzo Stagg, the Grand Old Man of Football, grew up in town. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt discovered their romantic interest for each other here. West Orange also had its share of intrigue. An alleged love affair between two star-crossed residents led to murder, with as many subplots as a dime store romance novel. Discover the stories of the future mayor who escaped the Nazis, the town employee who fired the first shot of World War II, the railroad tycoon, the hometown Olympic champion, Liberace’s early rise to fame and more as local history columnist Joseph Fagan tells West Orange’s most fascinating tales.