Longtime Cresskill residents might remember when Cresskill’s train station stood at the corner of Union Avenue and Piermont Road, while newer residents might not realize the town ever had one! The railroad depot is shown above as it looked at the turn of the 20th century.
Surrounded by immense oak and pine trees, long rocky tributaries, and endless farmland, Cresskill was a quiet town tucked away from the rest of New Jersey until the 1859 completion of the town’s railroad station.
Opened on May 28, 1859, the Cresskill station was celebrated by residents around the area as they marveled over this enormous locomotive that traveled into the center of town up to 12 times a day. And yet, the railroad divided the town in half both literally and figuratively. While lauded by some, others viewed the new station as the end to their serene town. Previously the community had been accessible only by stagecoaches, traveling at perhaps 4 to 6 mph, that would utilize the present-day County Road.
Now, with trains traveling between Cresskill and New York City, a new type of lifestyle emerged to replace the old farming way of life: that of the commuter. Businessmen could have the best of both worlds, working in the city and living in the country (and later suburbs). It’s a way of life that’s very familiar to us in the Northern Valley today.
Commuter rail service lasted for a century in Cresskill before being discontinued in the 1960s. In the following decade, the station met its end on Halloween night of 1970, when vandals set the train station on fire and destroyed it.
Many will recognize the building behind the train station in the photo above. This Victorian structure on Madison Avenue, just west of Piermont Road, had a long history in Cresskill. It was the post office early in the 20th century, later a butcher shop, and housed a series of taverns over the years, including Black and White, Murphy’s, Kelly and Byrne’s, Parkview and finally Mooseheads. It was demolished in late August 2011 to make way for road widening. The photo at below shows the building on the day it was torn down. -Kristin Beuscher
