EMERSON, N.J.—“Emerson wound up its 50th anniversary celebration last Friday and Saturday with events which attracted the largest crowds ever seen in the borough,” wrote the Westwood Chronicle on July 9, 1953. “All records were broken Friday night when more than 3,000 persons converged on the school field for the fireworks display.”
Emerson was incorporated as a municipality, then known as Etna, after breaking off from Washington Township in 1903. While the official formation of the borough took place in April, the week of June 30 to July 4, 1953, was designated as the big golden anniversary celebration.
The photographs shown here were captured during the enormous parade that took place on July 4, 1953. The images were provided to the Pascack Historical Society by Gregory Wieting of Emerson, who professionally scanned and color-corrected the Kodachrome slides in the hope that others would enjoy seeing these nostalgic snapshots of the borough as it once was.
Wieting notes that the photographer was standing on Kinderkamack Road in the location of the new condominium construction across from the train station, looking in the direction of Main Street.
The slides had once belonged to William J. Pricolo, who was Emerson’s postmaster in the 1950s and also served as president of the Lions Club. His brother, James Pricolo, was the mayor from 1945 to 1954 and played a major role in planning the 50th anniversary events.
Three bands, several hundred marchers, firemen from Emerson and five surrounding towns, and just about every local group in the borough participated in the parade. The grand marshal was John J. Powell, a veteran of World War II who had been a second lieutenant in the Army Transport Service.
The parade had capped off a full week of activities, all of which were free to attend. There was an exhibit of early Emerson relics, as well as general historical artifacts, at the borough hall. Some of the items on display were Lenape arrow heads, a charcoal smoothing iron, President Martin Van Buren’s official gavel, a 200-year-old foot warmer, an Emerson census from 1905, and a list of voters from 1903.
“Historical and Old-Timers Night” in the school auditorium had been an evening of reminiscing for those who remembered Etna as it was in the early days. Attending this event was Emerson’s oldest living mayor, Nicholas M. Paradise, who served 1919 to 1922, as well as the two oldest native-born Emerson residents, 66-year-old Alfred Haunsman and 67-year-old Louise Heck. Both grew up in Etna in the 1890s. The Heck family’s 63-acre farm was at Main Street and Old Hook Road, now the area of the ShopRite strip mall.
There was an old-fashioned block dance held outside the firehouse, as well as exhibitions by local scout troops and the Emerson Fire Department, field games, and a band concert that ended with a huge fireworks display.
Mr. Wieting provided many more pictures than it was possible to print here. Look for the full collection on the Pascack Historical Society’s Facebook page.
