On March 14, 1863, the New Jersey Legislature created the township of West Orange by combining all of the land of the existing Fairmount Township, formed only a year earlier, with a section of neighboring Orange. It created West Orange with its present-day boundaries and gave the new town a separate and distinct identity. It became home to the laboratories of world-famous inventor Thomas Edison in 1887, and he lived here until his death in 1931. But there is so much more to the town's history. Four former New Jersey governors also lived here, including Civil War general George McClellan, who, as a town resident, unsuccessfully opposed Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election of 1864. The fertile farmland that attracted the early settlers left behind an enduring legacy of rich history still interwoven into the community of today.

Although West Orange is best known for Thomas Edison, there is much more to this New Jersey town than its famous inventor. Through vintage postcards, West Orange explores the towns history from the days of cable cars that once climbed the mountain to the long-gone amusement park at Crystal Lake. Postcards illustrate how Llewellyn Park and Eagle Rock share a common beginning and West Orange once had two train stations. The familiar roads of home come alive as images reveal West Oranges rich history.

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.

Thomas Edison spent the second half of his life in West Orange, about 10 miles from New York City. There he built his last and largest laboratory, where he developed motion pictures, improved the phonograph, and built an international business empire, earning over half of his 1,093 patents. The five laboratory buildings housed over 100 experimenters busily engaged in invention and innovation. As they turned ideas into commercial products, Edison surrounded the laboratory with factories that employed over 4,000 workers. From the first days, staff photographers documented every aspect of life in this town within a town.

Fifteen-year-old Janna Yusuf, a Flannery O'Connor-obsessed book nerd and the daughter of the only divorced mother at their mosque, tries to make sense of the events that follow when her best friend's cousin--a holy star in the Muslim community--attempts to assault her at the end of sophomore year.