Babe Ruth visits Newton in early 1940s
NEWTON. A photo taken by Adrien Salvas, a professional photographer in Sussex County, shows the baseball great as well as his New York Yankees teammate Russ Van Atta.
Newton /
| 30 Jan 2023 | 05:20
Babe Ruth, second from right, poses with others in front of the Newton Diner in the early 1940s. At left is Russ Van Atta, Ruth’s teammate on the New York Yankees. (Photo taken by Adrien Salvas)
After Bill Truran, Sussex County Historian, mentioned baseball great Babe Ruth was one of the famous visitors to Sussex County in a recent column, A.J. Salvas of Byram sent in proof.
This is a photo taken by Adrien Salvas, then a professional photographer in Sussex County and A.J.’s father, in 1940 or 1941. Soon after that, Salvas joined the Army and served in the Army Signal Corps as a photographer during World War II.
The photo shows Ruth as well as his New York Yankees teammate Russ Van Atta. They played on the Yankees in the 1930s.
Van Atta was born in Augusta and later lived in Lake Mohawk. He also was Sussex County sheriff for one term, from 1941 to 1944. He died in 1986 and is buried in Frankford Plains Cemetery in Augusta.
The Newton Diner is still on Spring Street but is now called the Spring Diner.