Moorestown has a rich history going back to 1682 when Quakers settled the town and the land went from the Delaware River and encompassed towns such as Riverton and Marlton.
However, not many people know of the town’s vastness and history.
That is why Kimberly L. Bunn and Lynne F. Schill, residents of Moorestown and trustees of the Moorestown Improvement Association, reached out to Arcadia Publishing, which does the “Images of America” books, to get their historical pictures and information out there. Titled “Moorestown,” the pictorial history book boasts 200 images and captions depicting moments in Moorestown history. The book is set for release on Oct. 27.
The idea to get a historical book of Moorestown published began when Bunn and Schill started historical and architectural walking tours. They gathered a lot of information for the tours that ultimately got them thinking about how there was all this information, but no book on it.
“Moorestown Improvement Association is the oldest civic organization in town who was started for the purpose of making the town better and preserving the heritage. Through that organization, over five years ago, we actually started local historic and architectural walking tours,” Bunn said. “We started to gather so much information through preparation for these tours we said there has to be some way we can get this information out. There was never this book on Moorestown.”
Bunn and Schill met someone who worked with Arcadia Publishing before on a similar book and they contacted the publisher to find that Arcadia Publishing was delighted that they wanted to get a book started. However, Bunn and Schill quickly found out that they had to do the book mostly on their own, something neither had done before.
“It was a very interesting learning experience,” Schill said. “I think the best thing we learned was how to organize a book like this. We didn’t really have any idea. The company is set up to be very regimented. They give you instructions, but that doesn’t tell you how to gather and sort your information. We had a few faulty starts, but we finally figured out a way to do it.”
The book is all pictures and captions along with an introduction and a timeline for the MIA. The pictures used were all either donated to the MIA or were taken from archives of the organizations and citizens of Moorestown, such as the Historical Society of Moorestown. Many of the pictures came from glass slides from the 1880s and 1890s that were donated to the MIA for use in civics classes the organization taught at the Moorestown High School. The classes continued until the 1930s.
“It was fun going through those. Some of them we hadn’t seen before,” Bunn said.
According to Bunn, the hardest part was choosing what to say about each image in the captions. There was a limit on the number of words because of the picture ensemble style. They had to narrow down all the information on the pictures into 70 words. For some people, buildings or events, they had so much written history that it was hard to choose what to put. Ultimately, they decided to include information that someone from town, who might know most of the town’s history, wouldn’t necessarily know. Overall, the process of getting the book together took about a year and a half to finish.
Since getting the word out about their book, Bunn and Schill have been getting more interest on the book and people donating their pictures and information to the MIA. They will continue to acquire information for the town, and maybe even get enough for a future edition.
“I think we have a very transient society today and it is really nice. Particularly children, to give them some kind of history on where they are either from or where they live would be a really good idea,” Schill said.
“Moorestown” will be out on Oct. 27. People can get the books through the MIA as well as at local bookstores, including Barnes & Noble, and online retailers. Future events about the book at the library and Candle Light Night are still being determined. All of the profits go to the MIA. To learn more about MIA, go to its Facebook page called “Moorestown Improvement Association.”
