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  N.J. townʼs iconic small tunnel gets 5 seconds
  of fame in Netflixʼs ʻHistory of Swear Wordsʼ

   Updated Jan 17, 10:00 AM; Posted Jan 17, 10:00 AM





An image of High Bridge's tunnel on Arch Street from Netflix's 'The History of Swear Words.' Courtesy

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By Caroline Fassett | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Not all Hunterdon County residents may be of the appropriate age to watch the latest
documentary series released on Netflix, but some may be familiar with one of the
locations depicted in the show.

Approximately 19 minutes into the fifth episode of the “The History of Swear Words,”
an image can be seen of the tunnel on Arch Street in High Bridge, which passes under
the NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line tracks.


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In response to why she believes the tunnel was featured in the show, High Bridge
Mayor Michele Lee said, “it’s just a cool tunnel.”

“It’s right alongside the South Branch to the Raritan River, and it’s actually where the
trains go over into High Bridge,” Lee said. “It’s really echoey and you come around this
curve and it’s this dark, huge tunnel that filters down into one lane ... There’s almost a
romance to it.”

“The History of Swear Words” is a six-episode series hosted by Nicolas Cage and
produced by Funny or Die and B17 Entertainment. All six episodes were released on
Jan. 5, with each episode analyzing the origins, usage and cultural impact of six
different specific curse words.

Other stars including Sarah Silverman, Nick Offerman and Nikki Glaser also appear in
the series.

It’s unclear why the creative time decided to integrate a clip of High Bridge into its
docuseries, as neither Funny or Die nor B17 Entertainment could be reached for
comment.

However, Janice Kovach, who is both a commissioner for the New Jersey Motion
Picture & Television Commission and the Hunterdon County Film Commission, said
the production companies for the series did not contact the state Commission to gain
permission for filming. This likely means that they either used footage from a previous
shoot, or gained permission to acquire and use the film from another source.

Reflecting on the inclusion of the tunnel in the series, Kovach said there’s “a couple of
pieces” explaining why the tunnel in High Bridge might have been filmed and
incorporated into the show.

“The proximity to the city is key for anything, because there’s a radius,” Kovach said.
“But you also have a large number of production people that live in New Jersey, so it
tends to be cheaper. And if a studio decides they want to do something, there’s
enough of a base of staff that they can pull from here in New Jersey without having to
drag people out from New York.”

Kovach added that the road where the tunnel is located is not a particularly busy one,
making the filming process both efficient and discreet.

“Depending on the time of the day they do it, they may not even ask permission to use
it,” Kovach said. “How many people actually travel through that other than in the
morning or afternoon, before work or after work or school? Other than that, it’s pretty
empty, even on the weekends. So it’s probably an opportunity for studios and
filmmakers just to get a bunch of B-roll.”

Beyond these logistical reasons, Kovach emphasized that the tunnel in High Bridge is
“an iconic location” well-suited for filmmaking.

“I believe there were a couple of movies that also used that tunnel back in the
eighties,” Kovach said. “It looks like a deserted road, it is one of those tunnels that can
be any place, and the final benefit is the proximity to access.”

An earthen embankment was built on Arch Street in the mid-1850s because the 1,300
foot-long, 112 foot-high bridge for which the borough is named was too costly to
maintain, and was not capable of handling the load and amount of traffic coming over
it, Priscilla Racke, the secretary of the borough’s Historical Committee, said.





  This photo was taken "not long" after the tunnel's completion in the mid-1800s. Courtesy — High Bridge
  Historical Committee


In the 1860s, the embankment was filled in and redeveloped to form the tunnel that it
serves as now — with one side for the Raritan River to pass through and another for
traffic, Racke said.

This marks at least the second time that the tunnel in High Bridge has appeared in
high-profile entertainment. The 2017 music video for Kygo and Selena Gomez’s EDM
pop song “It Ain’t Me” was also largely shot at the tunnel in High Bridge.

The video brought High Bridge into the homes of far more people than the borough’s
     modest population of roughly 3,500 people, racking up over 544 million views.

     Ourjournalismneedsyoursupport.PleasesubscribetodaytoNJ.com.

      CarolineFassettmaybereachedatcfassett@njadvancemedia.com.


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