Watering Hole: The Colorful History of Booze, Sex & Death at a New Jersey Tavern

Rating:
Summary: Lots of Fun in a Small New Jersey Town
Review: "Watering Hole" is the well-written and painstakingly researched story of the Mine Hill Tavern, a small bar in a small town with a big and colorful history. It is a story of murder, sex, lots and lots of drinking, and more than a few ghost stories. Mr. Connors does an excellent job of bringing the reader into this crazy world, where you can almost hear the thump of the owner's long-time love hitting the ground after falling out of her second story window.

There has been a lot of great non-fiction published in the last few years ("Seabiscuit," "Under the Banner of Heaven"). Although "Water Hole" isn't the same sort of household name (yet), it certainly belongs in the company of those books.


Rating:
Summary: Who knew history could be this much fun?
Review: Central New Jersey's only gay bar for a quarter century, the Mine Hill Tavern has a fascinating history exhaustively researched and crafted into a gripping read by this exciting new author.

The books charts the tavern's life from its late 19th century mining days through prohibition, the war, the 50s, 60s through its long run as the unintentionally ground breaking "Maddie's". Fights, mysterious deaths, murders and tales of hauntings fill every page with an energy and universal appeal which I never believed possible in a historical work, particularly one which focuses on a local landmark.

Kudos to Mr Connor, as I wait in eager anticipation of his next book!

Rating:
Summary: Watering Hole: The Colorful History of Booze, Sex & Death...
Review: I could not put this book down and wanted to read it again the next day. A terrifically entertaining history of a little tavern of obvious great importance, from its beginning as a stage coach stop and center of a mining community to it's transformation and acceptance as a gay bar. The walls didn't have to talk because the author told the stories of the people and murder and sex and ghosts in a way that keeps you wanting more even after its history is finished! Wonderfully written. Can't wait for the author's next book.

Rating:
Summary: The story of people. And the story of a place. Fine book!
Review: Some books tell the story of people. Other books tell the story of a place. But this book tells the story of both. Subtitled "The colorful history of booze, sex and death at a New Jersey tavern", "Watering Hole" is a mere 227 pages long, including about 50 photographs, but it tells a fascinating tale. It's scrupulously researched too, with newspaper accounts of murders, mayhem and mine accidents going all the way back to the 1860s, when the Mine Hill Tavern was a stagecoach stop for weary travelers. The iron mines that were there then have long since closed, but there were many a pint poured down the parched throats of the men who labored so hard in those mines. Most were Irish immigrants, struggling to make ends meet, many of them drinking too much and too hard and beating their wives too much. And there's a famous murder case from those days about one of those beatings that went too far.

The tavern changed hands through the years, and was often tinged with scandal, such as the divorced man and the unmarried woman who ran the place in the 1920s, as well as the story of a seemingly happily married couple. Frank and Maddie who bought it in the 1960s. It wasn't long though till Maddie started a gay relationship with the waitress, Frank moved out, and the two women continued to run the place as a gay bar till the late 90s. This in itself made the bar unique. It was 45 miles from New York City, in a small town in New Jersey, and yet it was a haven for gay people. And, through the years, it witnessed both the gay rights movement and the devastation of AIDS.

Later, it became an upscale restaurant, but that was shortly before 9-11, and the business never did well. At the moment, the place is empty and waiting for the next chapter of its history to be written.

The book is totally factual, with much of the material drawn from historical records and interviews. Throughout, I could sense the author's delight as he unearthed yet another newspaper account or remembrance that rounded out the history of the place. To his credit, there is a clear distinction between fact and myth. And the result is that the little tavern in Morris Country, New Jersey, comes alive on the page.

The Watering Hole is a small slice of life in a small town in a small state. But the effort and obvious enjoyment that went into the writing of it is anything but small. Hats off and applause to Matt Connor for bringing it to life! Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The story of people. And the story of a place. Fine book!
Review: Some books tell the story of people. Other books tell the story of a place. But this book tells the story of both. Subtitled "The colorful history of booze, sex and death at a New Jersey tavern", "Watering Hole" is a mere 227 pages long, including about 50 photographs, but it tells a fascinating tale. It's scrupulously researched too, with newspaper accounts of murders, mayhem and mine accidents going all the way back to the 1860s, when the Mine Hill Tavern was a stagecoach stop for weary travelers. The iron mines that were there then have long since closed, but there were many a pint poured down the parched throats of the men who labored so hard in those mines. Most were Irish immigrants, struggling to make ends meet, many of them drinking too much and too hard and beating their wives too much. And there's a famous murder case from those days about one of those beatings that went too far.

The tavern changed hands through the years, and was often tinged with scandal, such as the divorced man and the unmarried woman who ran the place in the 1920s, as well as the story of a seemingly happily married couple. Frank and Maddie who bought it in the 1960s. It wasn't long though till Maddie started a gay relationship with the waitress, Frank moved out, and the two women continued to run the place as a gay bar till the late 90s. This in itself made the bar unique. It was 45 miles from New York City, in a small town in New Jersey, and yet it was a haven for gay people. And, through the years, it witnessed both the gay rights movement and the devastation of AIDS.

Later, it became an upscale restaurant, but that was shortly before 9-11, and the business never did well. At the moment, the place is empty and waiting for the next chapter of its history to be written.

The book is totally factual, with much of the material drawn from historical records and interviews. Throughout, I could sense the author's delight as he unearthed yet another newspaper account or remembrance that rounded out the history of the place. To his credit, there is a clear distinction between fact and myth. And the result is that the little tavern in Morris Country, New Jersey, comes alive on the page.

The Watering Hole is a small slice of life in a small town in a small state. But the effort and obvious enjoyment that went into the writing of it is anything but small. Hats off and applause to Matt Connor for bringing it to life! Recommended.