Back in Time
Cold bet: ‘Loser wades the brook’
PASCACK VALLEY—This week in local history: A chilly challenge. We go back 130 years to November 1892, when Republican Frederick Van Riper and Democrat Gilliam Ackerman made an election wager […]
Articles by Kristin Beuscher
Back in Time
Ghostly folklore of the Glen
PASCACK VALLEY AREA—Atkins Glen has been a part of the culture of the Pascack Valley for generations. A deep ravine cut through the sandstone by the Bear Brook, the spot […]
Back in Time
They were ready for some football!
WESTWOOD—With this photograph we go back 90 years to Westwood High School’s football team of the 1932 season. What makes this one extra special is that the individual players signed […]
Back in Time
What a difference 100 years makes
PASCACK VALLEY—This week in 1925, the Park Ridge Local newspaper published a front page story with the the following headline: “Farm property is being bought for development.” In 2022 those […]
Back in Time
A local favorite of autumns long ago
MONTVALE—Around 1910, Garret Hering’s saw mill was on Grand Avenue across from where the Montvale Post Office now stands. In the autumn, beginning at the turn of the century, the […]
Back in Time
Valley’s past bears crisp autumn notes
PASCACK VALLEY—A news report from October 1960 lamented the loss of Bergen County farmland. At the time, the latest census data showed that Bergen was down to 384 farms, totaling […]
Back in Time
Fond remembrance: Valley Fair
HILLSDALE—Fries and a Coke, anyone? We have a sneaking suspicion that many people reading this pulled up a seat at this luncheonette counter on more than one occasion. You could […]
Back in Time
Montvale had ‘McDonald’s’ first
MONTVALE—The name McDonald’s stirs up a lot of nostalgia for Pascack Valley natives of a certain age—but their fond memories have nothing to do with Happy Meals or Big Macs. […]
Back in Time
How many had entered that archway?
EMERSON—When this photo was taken, in 1930, this building, at 184 Kinderkamack Road in Emerson, was home to Bamond’s Grocery Store. Note the Ford Model A coupe. The store was […]
Back in Time
School daze: When the insults flew
PARK RIDGE—If you think small-town politics is bad today, you should have seen Park Ridge of the late 19th century. The coming of the railroad in 1870 had brought a […]