Freeholders unveil new history guide of county County administrator and amateur historian compiled volume BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer PISCATAWAY - There is a lot you don't know about Middlesex County. For instance, the third public reading of the Declaration of Independence occurred in New Brunswick, the original Elsie the Cow of Borden fame is buried in Plainsboro, and at one time, the county and the country of Morocco were joined at the hip. County officials unveiled "The History Buff's Guide to Middlesex County" on Thursday at East Jersey Olde Towne, an historic enclave on the campus of Johnson Park in Piscataway. The guide, at close to 70 pages, marks a serious departure from the five-page county history guide previously available, and Freeholder Director David Crabiel thanked County Administrator and self-proclaimed amateur historian Walter De Angelo for compiling and writing the work. Freeholder Deputy Director Stephen Dalina said that the county has left "footprints on history" in many ways and studying its history is a surefire way to appreciate why the county is a "desirable place to live, work and play." The guide is a brief history of the county from the forming of the super-continent of Pangaea to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and beyond. It talks of the role of the county in the American Revolution and the Civil War on to the importance of Camp Kilmer during the 1940s and 1950s. But most importantly, it was an opportunity to engage the public in the little-known but vastly important history of the county, De Angelo said. "People know about Joyce Kilmer's 'Trees,' they know about Thomas Edison's light bulb and phonograph," De Angelo said. "There are many things, I like to think, in this book that people may not be familiar with." The topics range from the prehistoric to the downright strange, and De Angelo said this could be just the beginning of a series of volumes on the history of the county. "This will be like 'Star Wars Volume Two,' " De Angelo jokingly said, "I would have to do from the beginning of time up to Pangaea, and my grandchildren will have to write from the end of the 21st century on." The guide has its roots in a speaking engagement De Angelo had at Middlesex County College a few years ago. He was asked to give a 45-minute lecture on the history of the county, which quickly turned into an hour and a half. He had so much material that the guide seemed to take shape itself. "Booklets like this are one of the disadvantages of being obsessive compulsive," De Angelo said. De Angelo said that he thought chronicling the history of the county would do more than entertain. He said many of the things that have originated in Middlesex County have gone on to change the course of world history. Most notable, he said, are the inventions of Thomas Edison, but others, like the first-aid kit invented by Johnson & Johnson, also have had a significant effect on the world. "I think the world is a different place because of things that originated in Middlesex County," De Angelo said. "I thought that the county, just dabbling, had a really rich history that the public should know about." The guide is available through Middlesex County, and De Angelo said he hopes schools and libraries in the county will use it as an educational tool. He said that looking at the historical record proves that the county "must be doing something right." He cited the migration of American Indians from halfway across the world to settle in what would become Middlesex County.