November 30, 1951: The New Jersey Turnpike Opens

November 30, 1951: The New Jersey Turnpike opens, mostly. For the moment, it runs from Exit 1 in Penns Grove, near the newly-opened Delaware Memorial Bridge, to Exit 11 in Woodbridge, an interchange with U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 9, State Route 440, and, by 1956, the Garden State Parkway. (On that road, that interchange will be Exit 129.)

Like the later Garden State Parkway, the Turnpike was the brainchild of Governor Alfred E. Driscoll. He set a November 30, 1951 deadline, and there were delays that suggested they wouldn't make it. They did.

The Turnpike was extended to its full 117-mile length the next year, connecting with New York City via the Lincoln Tunnel (Exit 16) and the George Washington Bridge (Exit 18). One notable problem was the Pulaski Skyway, which has carried Routes 1 and 9 from Newark to Jersey City since 1932. If they built the Turnpike under the Skyway, there might not be enough room for trucks to fit. If they built the Turnpike over the Skyway, there would be room, but construction would take a lot more time and money. They decided to build under, and no truck has ever gotten stuck under it. Just in case, a few years ago, a big construction project was undertaken, and it lowered the roadway.

In 1956, the Newark Bay Extension opened at Exit 14, near Newark International Airport. This includes the Newark Bay Bridge, and 3 new exits in Jersey City: Exit 14A for Bayonne, Exit 14B for downtown, and Exit 14C for the Holland Tunnel into New York.

That same year, an extension was built from Exit 6 to the new Delaware River-Turnpike Toll Bridge, connecting the New Jersey Turnpike with the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It is named the Pearl Harbor Memorial Turnpike Extension. From here on north, the New Jersey Turnpike is bannered as part of Interstate 95.

In 1970, the Western Spur was opened, designed to aid travelers going around New York City to New England (taking the Tappan Zee, now Mario Cuomo, Bridge to the New England Thruway). It was also meant to access the planned Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford. The new exits were labeled 15W, 16W and 18W; while the former Exits 15, 16 and 18 were relabeled 15E, 16E and 18E. In 2005, the newest exit opened: Exit 15X, for the Secaucus Junction Rail Station.

The Turnpike has become not just a great method for getting people from one point in New Jersey to another, or from New York to points south and west (or vice versa) without having to go through Philadelphia, but it's become a cultural icon. Chuck Berry, The Mamas & the Papas, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen have all written songs mentioning it. And the opening montage of The Sopranos showed James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, driving out of the Lincoln Tunnel and down the Turnpike.

Of course, for a lot of people not from New Jersey, the Turnpike is all they see of the State: Things like the Meadowlands' stadiums and swamps, the Skyway, the Airport, the big oil refinery in Linden, and vast swaths of not much of anything taking up the space south of Trenton. These people never see the nice parts of New Jersey, and never understand why it's called "The Garden State."

The Turnpike's exit numbers are sequential, not by milepost as the Parkway's will be. As a result, when new exits need to be built, they require letters. Between Exit 7 in Bordentown Township and Exit 8 in East Windsor is Exit 7A in Robbinsville; and between Exit 8 and Exit 9 in East Brunswick is Exit 8A in Monroe.

If the exits were by mileposts, they would be, as follows: 

* Exit 1, Penns Grove, Salem County, connecting with Interstate 295, U.S. Routes 40 and 130, New Jersey Route 49 and the Delaware Memorial Bridge: Exit 0, or Exit 1.

* Exit 2, Woolwich, Gloucester County, U.S. Route 322 and the Commodore Barry Bridge: Exit 13.

* Exit 3, Runnemede, Camden County, N.J. Route 168 and, by extension, the Atlantic City Expressway and the Walt Whitman Bridge to Philadelphia: Exit 26. Oddly, despite the access to the Expressway, this exit, unlike Exits 7A and 11, is not labeled "Shore Points."

* Exit 4, Mount Laurel, Burlington County, N.J. Route 73 and, by extension, the Ben Franklin Bridge to Philadelphia: Exit 34.

* Exit 5, Westampton, Burlington County, County Route 541: Exit 44.

* Exit 6, Mansfield, Burlington County, Interstate 95 and, by extension, Interstate 276 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike: Exit 51.

* Exit 7, Bordentown Township (surrounding Bordentown City), Burlington County, U.S. Route 206: Exit 53.

* Exit 7A, Robbinsville, Mercer County, Interstate 195: Exit 60. This exit can be used for both the State capital of Trenton and the Six Flags Great Adventure theme park. For drivers going north on the Turnpike, this exit is labeled "Shore Points," due to the access to I-195.

* Exit 8, East Windsor, Mercer County, N.J. Routes 33 and 133: Exit 67.

* Exit 8A, Monroe, Middlesex County, N.J. Route 32 for access to U.S. Route 130 and County Route 535: Exit 74. For me, growing up in East Brunswick in the 1970s and '80s, this was the exit we used for southbound points like Philadelphia, Washington and Virginia.

* Exit 9, East Brunswick, Middlesex County, N.J. Route 18 for access to U.S. Route 1: Exit 83. This was the exit we used for North Jersey and New York City. East Brunswick's main bus terminal was here, and, from 1991 to 2020, I lived 1 mile away, for relatively easy access to The City.

* Exit 10, Edison, Middlesex County, Interstate 287 and N.J. Route 440, and, by extension, the Outerbridge Crossing into Staten Island, New York City: Exit 88.

* Exit 11, Woodbridge, Middlesex County, the Garden State Parkway, U.S. Routes 1 and 9: Exit 91. For drivers going south on the Turnpike, this exit is labeled "Shore Points," due to the Parkway access.

* Exit 12, Carteret, Middlesex County, County Route 602: Exit 96.

* Exit 13, Elizabeth, Union County, Interstate 278 and the Goethals Bridge into Staten Island: Exit 99.

* Exit 13A, Elizabeth, Union County, N.J. Route 81 and, by extension, Newark Liberty International Airport and Elizabeth Seaport: Exit 101. It also provides access to the Jersey Gardens Mall and that big IKEA store visible from the road.

* Exit 14, Newark, Essex County, Interstate 78, U.S. Routes 1, 9 and 22, with access to the Airport and the Newark Bay Extension: Exit 104.

* Exit 15E, Newark, Essex County, U.S. Routes 1 and 9, and thus the Pulaski Skyway toward Jersey City: Exit 107.

* Exit 15W, Kearny, Hudson County, Interstate 280: Exit 108. Theoretically, any of Exits 14, 15E or 15W can be used for downtown Newark and the Prudential Center arena. For Red Bull Arena, Exit 15W is the most convenient.

* Exit 15X, Secaucus, Hudson County, the Secaucus Junction Rail Station: Exit 110.

* Exit 16E, Secaucus, Hudson County, N.J. Routes 3 and 495, accessing the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan: Exit 112.

* Exit 16W, East Rutherford, Bergen County, N.J. Route 3 and the Meadowlands Sports Complex: Exit 112.

* Exit 18E and Exit 18W, Carlstadt, Bergen County, Interstates 80 and 95, U.S. Routes 1, 9 and 46: Exit 114.

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November 30, 1951 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. There were 3 college football games played that night:

* The University of Richmond beat George Washington University, 20-19 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The University of Miami beat Nebraska, 19-7 at Burdine Stadium (later renamed the Orange Bowl) in Miami. This would happen a few more times in the decades to come.

* And the University of Houston beat North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), 20-14 at Eagle Field in Denton, Texas.

There was only 1 game played in the NHL that night, at the Montreal Forum, and the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a 0-0 tie. There were 3 games played in the NBA that night:

* In a rematch and a reverse of the previous season's NBA Finals, the New York Knicks beat the Rochester Royals, 79-74 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia Warriors beat the Syracuse Nationals, 81-78 at the Philadelphia Arena. When the Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962, the Nationals replaced them a year later, as the Philadelphia 76ers.

* And the Washington Capitols beat the Boston Celtics, 85-81 at the Boston Garden. Ironically, the Celtics had just hired a former Capitols coach, who quit because he didn't have the team owner's backing to acquire what he thought were the necessary players. With Walter Brown, owner of the Garden, the Celtics and the Bruins, and making more money on the Ice Capades than on the rest of it combined, paid for the players his new coach wanted.

That new coach was a native of Brooklyn, but went to George Washington University, and seemed at first to be a natural to coach the Caps. And, for the rest of his life, despite being involved with the Celtics in one capacity or another, he kept his home in Washington. He was Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach.

August 16, 1951: The Delaware Memorial Bridge Opens

August 16, 1951: The Delaware Memorial Bridge opens, connecting New Castle, New Castle County, Delaware and Pennsville, Salem County, New Jersey. It is operated by the Delaware River and Bay Authority.

Until 1926, the year what's now known as the Ben Franklin Bridge opened between Philadelphia and Camden, there was no way to get from Delaware's largest city, Wilmington in New Castle County, to New Jersey, except by train and then by the aforementioned Bridge.

A ferry was established as a stopgap measure. Some stopgap: After debating whether a bridge or a tunnel should be built, Congress approved construction of a bridge in 1946. It finally opened 5 years later, bannered as U.S. Route 40 (which had been using the ferry). Soon, it became the southern end of the New Jersey Turnpike. In 1956, the Delaware Turnpike opened, connecting each State's most important highway.

The opening of the Turnpikes put too many cars on it, and a 2nd bridge was ordered. On September 12, 1968, what's now the westbound span (toward Delaware) was opened, with the original span carrying eastbound traffic (toward New Jersey). In addition to Route 40, the "Twin Span" now carried Interstate 295. Its 174-foot-high towers are arguably the most famous structures in Delaware.

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August 16, 1951 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 8-5 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Eddie Lopat was the winning pitcher. Yogi Berra went 4-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Joe DiMaggio, in his last 2 months as an active player, went 1-for-5. Mickey Mantle, having a rough rookie season, had been sent down to the minor leagues, and not yet called back up.

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, 3-1 at the Polo Grounds. Jim Hearn outpitched Ralph Branca. Wes Westrum hit a home run. Rookie Willie Mays went 1-for-3. Jackie Robinson appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. The Dodgers had led the Giants, indeed the entire National League, by 13 1/2 games on August 11. That lead was now beginning to be reduced.

* The Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-0 at Braves Field in Boston. Warren Spahn allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Ted Williams went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Bob Friend pitched a 2-hit shutout, although he walked 8 batters, including Stan Musial once. Ralph Kiner hit a home run.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ken Raffensberger pitched a 7-hit shutout. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the 4th, on a home run by Ted Kluszewski.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Saul Rogovin pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 9-4 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Tribe scored 7 runs in the 1st inning, in support of Early Wynn, knocking Ned Garver out of the game.

May 2, 1973: The Exit 9 Shootout

Trooper Werner Foerster

May 2, 1973: A shootout between State Troopers and members of the Black Liberation Army -- an offshoot of the Black Panther Party -- at Exit 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike, in East Brunswick, leads to the death of Trooper Werner Foerster. He was 35. The adjoining overpass of New Jersey Route 18 has been named for him.

Werner Foerster Overpass, from the northbound lanes

Also involved in the shootout was Trooper James Harper, who was wounded; and BLA members Sundiata Acoli, Zayd Malik Shakur, and his wife, Assata Shakur. Zayd Shakur was killed, and Assata was wounded. The BLA members had been financing their activities by robbing banks and drug dealers, sometimes killing the dealers.

Zayd, born James Coston, was a friend of Alice Faye Williams, who renamed herself Afeni Shakur in his honor. Zayd and Assata became godfather and godmother to Afeni's son, the eventual rapper and actor Tupac Shakur.

Acoli, formerly named Clark Squire, and Mrs. Shakur, born JoAnne Byron and formerly using her named name JoAnne Chesimard, were convicted of having a role in Foerster's murder. In 1979, allies aided Mrs. Shakur in escaping from prison and fleeing to Cuba. In 2013, she became the 1st woman ever added to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list, as part of Foerster’s murder, even though there's no evidence that she ever held a gun in the shootout. As of May 2, 2022, she is believed to still be living in Cuba.

A 1987 photo, in front of the Havana skyline

At the time of the shootout, my family had just moved to East Brunswick, 5 miles away. Eventually, we lived just 1 mile away.

UPDATE: On May 10, 2022, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered that Acoli, 85 years old, be released from prison. Assata Shakur died in Havana on September 25, 2025, at 78, after a long illness, according to the Cuban Foreign Ministry. She had beaten the U.S. government's attempts to have her extradited.

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May 2, 1973 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Paul Splittorff outpitched Doc Medich. Horace Clarke went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, to no avail.

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1 at Shea Stadium. Ross Grimsley outpitched Tom Seaver. Johnny Bench, Pete Rose and Dave Concepción hit home runs. For the Mets, Bud Harrelson went 3-for-3 with a walk, and Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 6-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Luis Tiant went the distance for the win. Orlando Cepeda hit a home run. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Rookie Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron went 2-for-4, but neither hit was a home run. He then had 680 of them for his career.

* The California Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Art Kusnyer doubled home the winning run in the top of the 12th inning, off Lerrin LaGrow, wiping out 11 innings of good pitching from Mickey Lolich. Nolan Ryan went the distance for the win, striking out 7 -- but allowing 10 hits and walking 8. This was early in the Ryan legend. Frank Robinson went 1-for-5 for the Angels.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Wilbur Wood threw his knuckleball for a 6-hit shutout, outpitching Jim Palmer. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Brewer bullpen melted down in the top of the 10th, including allowing a home run by Gene Tenace. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, and was hit with a pitch.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-4 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Another extra-inning bullpen collapse, as the Indians scored 4 runs in the top of the 10th. Harmon Killebrew went 2-for-5, and Rod Carew appeared as a pinch-hitter, drawing a walk.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Lou Brock went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Joe Torre went 2-for-4. Bob Gibson not only won the game, but went 2-for-3.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Stargell went 0-for-3 with a walk. Willie McCovey went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Football was out of season. The NBA Finals were between Games 1 and 2. The New York Knicks would beat the Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games. The American Basketball Association Finals were between Games 2 and 3. The Indiana Pacers would beat the Kentucky Colonels in 7 games.

The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 2 and 3. The Montreal Canadiens would beat the Chicago Black Hawks in 6 games. Game 2 of the Avco Cup Finals, the World Hockey Association title, was played: The New England Whalers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 7-4 at the Winnipeg Arena.