For Immediate Release:

October 15, 2010 

 

Randall Gabrielan named county historian

 

FREEHOLD, NJ – The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders has named Randall Gabrielan of Middletown to the position of county historian. 

 

Gabrielan, a former insurance broker, turned an avocation into a second career. Writing and historical research, which overlapped his prior work, took a new turn in 1994 with the publication of his first book, “Middletown Township.”

 

The county historian researches, writes and publishes articles on county history, and acts as a reference source for persons who are engaged in their own research. The county historian also advises the freeholders and county staff on the acquisition, administration, use and disposition of landmarks or historic sites within Monmouth County, and offers advice on preservation issues.

 

Gabrielan serves in various volunteer roles, including Middletown library trustee, an officer of the Middletown Township Historical Society and as Middletown’s appointed historian. For the past 10 years he has served as executive director of the Monmouth County Historical Commission, which promotes preservation and history on behalf of Monmouth County. In 2007, he organized the first “Weekend in Old Monmouth,” a self-guided tour of historic sites throughout the county, and one that has become an eagerly anticipated annual event.

 

He has lectured and written on a variety of subjects and has published a number of local history books including two dozen on Monmouth County towns and several on urban areas in New Jersey and New York. His most recent is a commissioned history for the centennial of the Shrewsbury River Yacht Club. His next two volumes will be “Hoboken – History and Architecture at a Glance” and “Greetings from Brooklyn,” both to be issued by Schiffer Publishers.

 

Gabrielan has also contributed to the Encyclopedia of New Jersey, researches and writes for the Monmouth County Park System Historic Sites Inventory and has researched and written a number of property histories.

 

The position of county historian is an unpaid position. Gabrielan’s succeeds George H. Moss Jr., who passed away in 2009. 

 

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