Paulsboro, New Jersey

“You can depend on Paulsboro, Uncle Sam, ….on its Schools,…. its teachers, ….its Townspeople,  ….its Students…. To Defend the American Way of Life.” 
Quote from the Pegasus yearbook, 

December 8, 1941

Today we are in Joe's hometown, Paulsboro visiting his mom and resting before driving to West Point, NY tomorrow. Today we are experiencing a heat wave in NJ that is making it feel just like Augusta at 94 degrees. We woke up early since it was so bright here in the morning with day light arriving here about an hour before home. It feel good to be home in Paulsboro, an industrial town bordered on the north by the Delaware River. The town was formed as a borough on March 2, 1904. Yet the history of this town has gone back to the Leni Lenape Indian days.

The first thing we did was to try to get the van into the local shop to fix the AC compressor which had started to seize on us in town. The local shop didn't open so we ended up calling the dealer to try to get it in to fix but he couldn't do it today. He gave us a name of a friend who owned a shop down the street from him. We called Goodies Automotive and thankfully James was able to get it in today. Hooray. We arranged a tow  from USAA who came through for us and picked up the van and delivered it to his shop. We prayed it would be finished today so in the morning so we can get out first thing in the morning to get to West Point.

For lunch today, we went to a great little Deli named Hometown Deli on Mantua Avenue in Paulsboro. They make a terrific Hoagie with Jersey bread. They also sell lovely looking deli meats, fancy olives, and even ice cream cones and shakes. Joe and I loved the food and the atmosphere. We highly recommend this restaurant.

Paulsboro Lighthouse is a Tinicum Island Rear Range lighthouse located in Billingsport and marks a section of the Delaware River to help guide ships up and down the Delaware River. When driving up to it we saw it was located in a little league field and is painted solid black. It was just recently painted and looks great. It is a very different looking lighthouse and is built of iron. It was built in 1880 and was first lit on December 30, 1880. We heard there are tours available to see the lighthouse the third weekend of each month from April through October. It rises up to 109 feet above sea level and on the top shines a red Fresnel light. I am a lighthouse lover and enjoyed this one since it is different and in my man's home town.

Paulsboro High School is located only a block or so from where Joe grew up. It was an easy walk for him to get to school and for his dog to follow him to school which happened more than once. It is a beautiful three story brick school building. The high school was built in 1905 and the first four year graduating class was in 1909 with two young ladies graduating. Paulsboro High had 17 rooms when it was dedicated on May 8, 1917 and cost $60,000 to build. In 1917 the graduating class consisted of four girls and three boys. The Vacuum Oil Company bought land behind the school two months after the school was built and later became Mobil Oil. Their symbol was the Pegasus which the school later adopted as their mascot.

Fort Billingport is a historic site in Paulsboro on the Delaware River and is the first federal land purchase after the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 5,1776. When it was purchased it had 100 acres right on the Delaware River. They built a fort during the American Revolution and prevented the British from entering Philadelphia in the fall of 1777. The park now has a playground and a green field up to the river where you can walk down to the water. There are a few historic plaques to see and now the site is very small and between oil tanks. It is a nice stop and you can watch the planes taking off from the Philadelphia International Airport right across the river.

We got the call at 4:30 that our van was ready and we could pick it up. Quite a few dollars later our van is fixed. James who works at Goodies Automotive Service in Woodbury Heights, NJ worked all afternoon on our van and we are forever thankful for his help. If you need a good mechanic go there. He was an honest hard working man. God Bless. Here is their web page: www.goodiesauto.com.

 All is okay as we will be with our friends tomorrow at West Point and we can't wait. Joe made some good decisions today to make things happen in a timely matter and God is good and guided us today so we could get the van fixed and on the road early tomorrow.