STONE HARBOR, N.J. – In this quiet New Jersey coastal town, long-time residents still recall seeing a young Taylor Swift, a bright-eyed girl with curly blonde hair, singing her heart out.
Madilynn Zurawski, the owner of Coffee Talk, a local café that’s been around for 30 years, fondly remembers Swift. “I still see her standing there,” she says, pointing to a corner of her café that once served as a stage for local talents. Among those artists was Swift, who was barely a teenager at the time. “We have a picture of her up front on the stage. Want to see?”
Zurawski retrieves a framed photo of a young Swift wearing a white tee and black pants, strumming her guitar. She even has a video of Swift performing “Lucky You,” a song not included in any of Swift’s 11 albums.
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“I wish she could have stayed longer,” Zurawski says. “She was here for two years, performing regularly. She was just adorable.”
Swift herself reminisced in a 2009 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer: “I used to drag my parents to those places, and all their friends would show up and put dollars in my tip jar.”
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From ages 2 to 14, Swift and her family would drive three hours from their home in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, to their beach house on Third Avenue in Stone Harbor. Though the original house no longer stands, a plaque on the new home at the site reads, “Swift Waters.”
Before her rise to fame, Swift spent many summers by the ocean, alongside her brother Austin and her parents. These were formative years for Swift; during this time, she wrote an 87-page book called “Girl Named Girl” and composed an unreleased song titled “Smokey Black Nights.“
Swift’s father, Scott, was actively involved in the community, volunteering as an EMT with the local fire department. “He was part of the rescue squad back then,” recalls Roger Stanford, Fire Chief with the department for over 34 years. “Our rescue squad and fire department were separate organizations, but now they are combined.”
Interestingly, the Stone Harbor Fire Department is known as Station 13 — Swift’s favorite number.
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Several childhood photos of Swift are now on permanent display at the Stone Harbor Museum, capturing moments of her as a little girl in a green-and-yellow bathing suit. A large cutout of her is also available for fans to pose with.
“Everyone loves taking pictures,” says Teri Fischer, the museum’s board president. “The little girls especially love to mimic her pose, and they can take as many photos as they want.”
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Since launching this exhibit on June 13, the museum has seen a significant increase in visitors. “Before, a good day meant around 25 people,” Fischer shares. “Now, we’re getting around 150 visitors on a good day.”
Apart from photos, the museum also features scavenger hunts that explore Swift’s history with the town. Fans can even see music videos on display and learn about her early performances, such as singing karaoke at Henny’s, a now-closed restaurant.
“This exhibit is such a gift to the museum,” Fischer adds. While the exhibit is set to stay open until the end of September, the museum is seeking donations to help pay off its $437,600 mortgage.
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