WOODCLIFF LAKE—As we prepare for our Thanksgiving travels to be with family and friends, or we ready our homes for the arrival of guests, here is a look back at one convivial meal shared in Woodcliff Lake long ago.
Looking at us from the year 1905, this group was part of the Pascack Grange. The image comes from the Pascack Historical Society’s collection of glass plate negatives.
No doubt some people reading this will remember the Grange, which had its headquarters on Woodcliff Avenue in Woodcliff Lake. The organization was active through the 1970s, and in its later years it was a social club and service organization. At one time the Pascack Grange had a vibrant volunteer force that raised money for local organizations, beautified the town, and held dinners, card parties, and socials.
Although there had always been some social aspect to the group, the original Pascack Grange was different. A chapter of the national organization that promotes the interests of farmers, it got its start in Woodcliff Lake in 1904, a time when a significant portion of the Pascack Valley was still involved in agriculture. One had to be a farmer, or a farmer’s wife or child, to join. It was a place to share concerns, discuss current events and regulations that affected farmers, and collaborate on purchases.
Early members of the Pascack Grange were from the area’s old farming families, with surnames like Van Riper, Demarest, Wortendyke, Post, and Tice. For their first 20 years the group met at the Woodcliff Lake Borough Hall, a two-story wooden building that stood on Pascack Road in the same spot as the modern municipal complex. They paid the town $75 per year (equivalent to about $2,500 today) to rent the space two Saturdays a month.
Members in those days traveled to meetings by horse and buggy. At the end of 1905 the Grange members asked the borough to build sheds to shelter the horses on frigid days. In 1906 they made the request again, before the cold weather set in. The borough built the horse sheds, but they borrowed money from the Grange to do it.
When the time came to pay the money back, the borough covered it by raising the hall rental fee.
As the 20th century wore on, and the number of farmers in the Pascack Valley steadily decreased, the group opened its membership rolls to anyone interested. Still, by the early 1970s there were only 15 members remaining. The Pascack Grange eventually disbanded.
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