January 24, 2025

Back in Time

Kristin Beuscher, columnist and president of the Pascack Historical Society, takes readers on a journey back in time through the Pascack Valley and Northern Valley’s rich history. Her “Back In Time” column offers a glimpse into the bygone days of these communities, shedding light on the lives of the people and the places that have shaped the area. With a keen eye for detail and a deep appreciation for local heritage, Kristin brings to life stories of the past, helping residents connect with their roots and gain a greater appreciation for the unique history of their towns.

The raiding party with barrels seized at the V.M. road house on Old Hook Road on Jan. 17, 1925. Approximately 400 gallons of liquor were poured out on Center Avenue. Left to right: P.O. Butterfield, Marshal Allison, Police Commissioner Wyks, P.O. Bartz, Special Officer Frontera, Judge Ruckner, and Mayor Brickell. The building in the background is the Westwood Firehouse that stood on Center near Jefferson Avenue, about where the modern firehouse stands.

Bootlegger’s roost in a Westwood henhouse

January 17, 2025 Kristin Beuscher

WESTWOOD—A century ago, a drunken brawl in downtown Westwood led officials to an illicit distillery disguised beneath a chicken coop. We go back to the days of Prohibition for this […]

The restaurant and hotel at 23 Hardenburgh Ave. in Haworth was The Antlers when this group was photographed in the 1930s. True to its name, the building was decorated with a huge carved stag head.

A speakeasy thrives in Haworth

January 13, 2025 Kristin Beuscher

HAWORTH—Many people of the Northern Valley will remember Pero’s, the restaurant on Hardenburgh Avenue, with its red-and-white-checked tablecloths and the best pizza around. Since the 1990s the restaurant has been […]

A gent keeps warm in his horse-drawn buggy in this photograph snapped outside the Montvale railroad. This original station no longer stands; an arsonist burned it in 1921.

Winter at the Montvale Station

January 11, 2025 Kristin Beuscher

MONTVALE—Tired of getting into an ice cold car in the morning? So are we—but it could be worse! Next time you’re enduring the wait for the vents to start blowing […]

Ice house

Cool! Ice houses and ice harvesting in the Pascack Valley

January 2, 2025 Kristin Beuscher

PASCACK VALLEY—This is excerpted from an article that originally appeared in the Pascack Historical Society’s quarterly publication, Relics. Before the days of refrigeration, quite a bit of planning and hard […]

Ida and Jacob Steinman, Westwood’s first Jewish residents.

The Steinmans: Pioneers of faith and community

December 30, 2024 Kristin Beuscher

WESTWOOD—The first Jewish family to settle in Westwood was the Steinmans, who arrived in the borough at the turn of the 20th century. Jacob (Ephraim Yaacov) Steinman and his wife, […]

Hillsdale traffic mishap amid holiday shopping, south on Broadway from the area of Park Street, early 1960s…

Hazards of the holiday rush: 1963

December 8, 2024 Kristin Beuscher

PASCACK VALLEY—The holiday rush is on—drive safely, folks! These photographs snapped in downtown Hillsdale show a three-car fender-bender from an early 1960s Christmas season. In our featured image, the photographer […]

Westwood Avenue meets Broadway in this Westwood snap from December 1938. Tenants have come and gone but the building housing them remains essentially unchanged—storefront alterations notwithstanding.

December Dawns Downtown, 1938

November 29, 2024 Kristin Beuscher

WESTWOOD—More than eight decades after our featured photo was snapped in downtown Westwood, this section has hardly changed at all. Showing the point where Westwood Avenue meets Broadway, this view […]

Dominick Brescia of Emerson in his U.S. Army uniform. He served 1918–1919, during World War I. When Brescia later grew this substantial squash, in 1964, the Westwood News sent a photographer to memorialize the achievement.

Raises hefty harvest in Emerson

November 14, 2024 Kristin Beuscher

EMERSON—In our featured photo, dated to autumn, 1964, Dominick Brescia measures the enormous squash he grew in his garden in Emerson. This amazing specimen, which he grew from seeds sent […]

Park Ridge's post office on Hawthorne Avenue in the early 1900s.

Burglars blow the safe, make off with $2 in pennies. (Try getting back to sleep after that)

November 7, 2024 Kristin Beuscher

PARK RIDGE—This week we go back 120 years to the pre-dawn hours of Nov. 13, 1904. The streets were dark, and the people of Park Ridge were asleep in their […]

.The old schoolhouse after a fire in November 1908.

A second life for the schoolhouse under the cliffs

November 5, 2024 Kristin Beuscher

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS—In October’s edition of Northern Valley Press, readers of this column learned about the Undercliff School, a little schoolhouse constructed on the Palisades in the 19th century for the […]

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