July 16, 2026

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.

It’s all fun and games in Hillsdale 110 years ago this week. The annual Firemen’s Carnival was held July 1–8, 1916, on the field (now a residential neighborhood) at Magnolia Avenue and Cross Street. The hand-printed sign on the left advertises land for sale at $400 an acre.

July, 1916: Hillsdale Goes to the Carnival

June 27, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

HILLSDALE, N.J—There’s no Zipper, Tilt-A-Whirl, or dizzying Round Up ride to be seen in this photograph from the Hillsdale Fire Association’s annual carnival held July 1–8, 1916. Generations of Pascack […]

Top to bottom and left to right: Grace Noonan, Sagred Piatt, Edward Hatten, Henry Wilke, Margaret Marshall, Myrtle Engle, Edmund Brennan, Ronald Busse and Edward Emerick; in the bottom row, Anna Bellefori, John Marshall, Jack Eldridge, Robert Bates, Edward Birdsall, Peter Belnay, James Davis, Marcel Bonhote, Samuel Peskanowitz, and Albert Collina. Pascack Historical Society’s John C. Storms Museum

Meet Montvale’s Teens of the (Nineteen) Twenties

June 21, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

MONTVALE, N.J.—Bobbed hair, knickers, and knee socks were the height of middle-school fashion when Montvale’s seventh and eighth grades posed for this photograph outside the borough’s grammar school in the […]

This grave is among the oldest in the cemetery that lies just north of the Pascack Reformed Church in Park Ridge. It belongs to Peter G. Haring, who, along with his wife Elizabeth, was a founding member of this church in 1813. He was also a veteran of the American Revolution.

Featured Local Patriot to Get ‘250th’ Honor

June 21, 2026 Michael Olohan

PARK RIDGE, N.J.—As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, Park Ridge officials are planning to honor a Revolutionary War veteran whose service had largely been forgotten for […]

The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Montvale, on Summit Avenue east of Spring Valley Road, as it appeared around 1900. A stable behind the church allowed congregants to leave their horses during services. Montvale was then a farming community of about 400 residents. Today, the roughly 140-year-old structure serves as a private residence.

Bees drove congregation from Montvale church

June 14, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

“The congregation of the Upper Montvale Church was driven out by a swarm of bees last night when the regular weekly prayer meeting was being held, and the services had […]

The Westwood Reformed Church, founded in 1886, was constructed the following year on the site of an earlier chapel at Third and Park avenues. This image dates to the early 1900s, not long after the church had been wired for electric light. It was quite an exciting moment when the lights were turned on for the first time during the Sunday evening service on Sept. 28, 1902.

Westwood’s Parkside Community Church at 140

June 7, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

WESTWOOD, N.J.—Standing outside the Parkside Community Church building at the corner of Third and Park avenues, one would never guess that this contemporary house of worship has a 140-year history. […]

‘THAT GOOD GULF GASOLINE’: Park Street in Montvale circa 1930.

An unchanged corner of Montvale

May 16, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

MONTVALE, N.J. Montvale sure has changed over the past 95 years. The population has grown from about 1,200 to 8,500. With that growth, acres of farmland and forest became homes […]

Westwood’s Casino theater operated out of a former carriage shop at Broadway and Irvington Street in the 1910s. Those were the silent movie days—and the silver screen captivated the locals. Westwood suffragists also hosted rallies here as they campaigned for women’s right to vote. Imagine the speeches made within those walls!

Silent films and suffrage rallies: The Casino theater in Westwood

April 18, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

WESTWOOD—If you lived in the Pascack Valley 90 years ago, and you had 15 cents to spare, Westwood’s Casino theater was one option for a Saturday evening out. This early […]

In 1935, owner Jerry Sexton sold the company to Rockland Coaches. Spring Valley Motor Coach Co. was later absorbed into Red & Tan Lines.Miss Spring Valley, launched in April 1926, made daily runs to Times Square with local stops in Montvale, Park Ridge, Woodcliff Lake, Westwood and Hillsdale. This photograph was taken on Broadway in Westwood, with the railroad tracks just visible in the background.

Motoring to NYC Roaring Twenties-style

April 6, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

A century ago, Pascack Valley residents gained a new option for getting into New York City. In April 1926, New York & New Jersey Motor Coach Co. opened an express […]

A late 1920s postcard from the Pascack Historical Society’s collection shows the newly built Masonic Temple on Kinderkamack Road.

History sealed in stone: Masonry’s humble beginnings at Pascack

March 29, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

PARK RIDGE—“This Saturday, April 3, is likely to be an occasion long remembered in Park Ridge and vicinity, as the one on which the Masonic Temple cornerstone is to be […]

A view east on Ridgewood Road gives an idea of what the Township of Washington looked like in the 1930s. The intersection in the foreground is Fern Street; a right turn would lead to Bergen Avenue. The side streets in this neighborhood had been mapped out, but no houses had yet been built on them.

He built a house inside a tent

March 20, 2026 Kristin Beuscher

PASCACK VALLEY—“STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN in the Pascack Valley,” began the Westwood Chronicle in 1936. “When a newspaperman finds himself in a tight spot and wonders what he’s going to use to fill […]

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