Back in Time
A favorite of autumns ago
MONTVALE—In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Garret Hering’s sawmill was on Grand Avenue across from where the Montvale Post Office now stands. Every October, the building also became […]
Articles by Kristin Beuscher
Back in Time
When Hillsdale met Seattle: The origins of Yesler Way
HILLSDALE—In the early days of the Pascack Valley, roads were not given names in the same way we know them today. The few roads that existed to serve the handful of […]
Back in Time
He insulted Miss Carlock — Her father lies in wait and administers a drubbing to the fellow
New York Sun, Oct. 1, 1895 — John J. Carlock, superintendent of streets, lives at Saddle River, and comes to Hackensack every morning on the New Jersey & New York […]
Back in Time
History signed, sealed, delivered
WESTWOOD—On Sept. 21. 1935, the citizens of Westwood, with county, state, and national officials, marched through local streets bedecked with flags and bunting. The band played patriotic odes to America […]
Pascack Press
A 75¢ chicken dinner in Montvale
Montvale’s iconic Octagon House, on West Grand Avenue, is a stately relic of a bygone age in the borough. Three mayors have called this wonderful eight-sided structure, built in the […]
Back in Time
Woodcliff schoolhouse, hewn from local stone, still serves
WOODCLIFF LAKE—On Woodcliff Avenue surrounded by a modern middle school campus, Woodcliff Lake’s little stone schoolhouse offers a lesson in longevity. It’s the oldest continually operating school building in Bergen […]
Back in Time
Remembering Old Tappan’s little schoolhouse
OLD TAPPAN—Thirty-one students, two teachers, and a principal—this comprised the entirety of Old Tappan’s two-room wooden schoolhouse in 1900. The school stood on Old Tappan Road near Leonard Drive, […]
Back in Time
The three lives of River Vale’s one-room schoolhouse
RIVER VALE—Long before anyone talked about recycling or sustainability, the people of River Vale simply refused to waste a good building. What today might be described as adaptive reuse was […]
Back in Time
When corn became contraband
PASCACK VALLEY—In summer 1930, transporting an ear of corn into New Jersey was a serious offense. Caught smuggling the crop? You faced a fine of $500—a nearly $10,000 chunk of […]
Back in Time
Englewood’s Bergen Building has withstood time (and fire)
ENGLEWOOD—It was August 1900 when the first shovels hit the dirt at Engle and Bergen streets, marking the beginning of the Bergen Building. A three-story brick structure would soon rise […]