WESTWOOD, N.J.—Step back into the days before digital with this photo snapped in the Westwood High School’s south library in 1946.
Take note of the card catalog in the center of the photo. Filled with alphabetized cards listing the books in the library and their call numbers, the card catalog would enable a visitor to find the book they were looking for among the many titles on the shelves. In 2019, computer-based searches have rendered card catalogs obsolete. (In fact, e-readers have made even the paper books themselves optional!)
Another prominent feature in the photo is the American flag, but this one’s got just 48 stars—Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states.
Back then, Westwood High School was located at Mill Street and Third Avenue in Westwood, where condominiums stand now. The students there came from an array of towns, as there were far fewer area high schools. In fact, the only two in the Pascack Valley were at Park Ridge and Westwood.
In 1964, the regional high school for kids from Westwood and the Township of Washington was built on Ridgewood Road in the township. The Third Avenue high school served as a middle school in its later years, before being torn down.