A Big, Big day in Jersey

Today in New Jersey history:

July 1. 1676: The “Jersies” (East New Jersey and West New Jersey) attempted to settle their hazy proprietary boundaries by formally dividing on a line drawn diagonally northwest from Little Egg Harbor to a point on the Delaware River slightly north of the Delaware Water Gap. The agreement was signed by Sir George Carteret, proprietor of East New Jersey and the new Quaker proprietors of West New Jersey. The course of the dividing line would remain a recurring cause of disputes for many years afterward.

July 1, 1780: The first meeting of the Association for Retaliation, an extra-legal organization created for the sole purpose of harassing known local Loyalists and their suspected sympathizers still residing in Monmouth County, was held in Freehold. The group pledged to use the same violent tactics employed by Tory refugee groups that raided the county against those perceived to be Loyalists, and drafted a constitution entitled “The Articles of Association for Purposes of Retaliation,” a document that clearly exemplifies the principle of an “eye for an eye.”

July 1, 1864: The first train to Atlantic City brought 600 tourists to the resort. A banquet was held for them at the United States Hotel.

July 1, 1894: The auditorium in Ocean Grove was opened. With a seating capacity of 8,000, the building, a grand example of late 19th century architecture, is still in use. It houses one of the few remaining (albeit modified) Hope-Jones organs, innovative and advanced for their day, which was originally installed in 1908.

July 1, 1916: A series of deadly shark attacks along the New Jersey shore began as a swimmer bled to death after being pulled out of the surf at Beach Haven with shredded legs.

July 1,1921: Newark-born West Point graduate and World War I veteran Herbert Norman Schwartzkopf was appointed by Governor Edward I. Edwards as the first superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

July 1, 1935: New Jersey enacted its first sales tax, at 2%, in an effort to raise money for relief assistance to the unemployed in the depths of the depression. Although supported by Republican Governor Harold Hoffman and Democratic leader Frank Hague, the tax, which was also applied to food purchases, was extremely unpopular and was repealed on October 25, 1935.

July 1, 2006: The New Jersey legislature failed to produce a budget, and Governor Jon S. Corzine threatened to close state government offices, beaches, parks and casinos in a bitter dispute with fellow Democrats in the assembly over his plans to increase the sales tax. The governor and lawmakers reached a deal on a new budget in a week, and Corzine signed an executive order ending the shutdown.