Along U.S. Highway 46, there is a sign trumpeting the charms of “Victorian Belvidere… New Jersey’s Best Kept Secret!” (exclamation point theirs).
I had some business in the Poconos this morning that took me right up Route 31 to 46 (with the turn-off, I kid you not, at Buttzville), and I recalled the composer and pianist Ernest Schelling happened to be born in Belvidere. I had never visited his house, and I wondered if it still stood.
So around 7:30, I did a quick Google search on my phone and decided to swing by 333 Water Street to take a photograph of his former residence. It was only afterward, when I was about half a mile away, that it occurred to me I should go back and look for an historical marker. Bingo! It’s right there, on the wall of the front porch. I wonder how many Belvidere residents remember Schelling or have looked up to see his plaque?
To be frank, Belvidere has seen better days. There are a few enticing hot dog joints down the road, and the gas is cheap; but beyond Country Gate Playhouse, which I espied, a cultural anomaly, on Greenwich Street, there never seems to be much to encourage a prolonged stay.
Admittedly, I only ever drive through en route to somewhere else, and passing judgment from the main drag of a locale isn’t always the fairest method of formulating an assessment; but from everything I saw today, even on the back streets (especially on the back streets), this is pretty hardcore flag-and-ammo country – and by this, I emphatically do NOT mean any disrespect to the flag!
It can still be read in the faded glory of some of the architecture that it hasn’t always been the case. Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
That said, and with apologies to anyone who read this post before I was reminded, and may have been offended by the omission, I am certain there are plenty of lovely people who live there!
And I’ve never been there for Victorian Day. Click through these photos for a feel.
https://www.facebook.com/belvidereheritage1845/
A book stand is a sure way to thaw my icy heart.
I’ve posted about Belvidere’s most famous musical son a few times over the years. You can learn more about him, with a few samples of his music, here:
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