Summer 2005, the summer of the War of the Worlds or that’s what Hollywood and Steven Spielberg would have you believe.  Over sixty years ago however another more freighting account of the H. G. Wells classic was performed over the air waves.  On the evening of October 30, 1938, Orson Wells and his Mercury Theater performers had a million people across the country believing that Martians has indeed landed.  In their "modern" radio adaptation rewritten by Howard Koch, the story was presented as if it were a "live news" broadcast.  Those tuning in late did not hear the opening premise that this was a Halloween offering from a troop of radio performers but rather a series of news bulletins.  No other place across the country was more affected then the people of the small hamlet of Grover's Mill, New Jersey.  Koch when writing the script wanted the landing site of his story to be in New Jersey, taking a pencil he simply pointed at a map, setting Grover's Mill's place in history. 

Grover's Mill is still regarded as the "War of the Worlds" Martian landing site.  Hard to find today on a map, due too it incorporation into West Windsor Township, Grover's Mill is still much the same at it was that October evening in 1938 but with one exception.  A monument to the event has been placed in the township's Van Nest Park.

For those who are Sci-Fi or history fans the peaceful town of Grover's Mill is a great place to stop and have a picnic or just a short stroll.  Van Nest Park offers covered and wooded sites with tables and grills.  Playground equipment and comfort stations are also found here.   The original Grovers Mill Company is still open and is a short walk from the park. 

Grover's Mills can reached from US Rt. 1.  (North of Trenton NJ and a few miles south of Princeton NJ)  Take NJ Rt. 571 east into Princeton Junction turning left onto Cranbury Road.