HILLSDALE—Saturday, March 4, 1870 was a red-letter day for Hillsdale. The first train on the new railroad pulled into town with flags and bunting flying, engine tooting, passengers waving, and a crowd of enthusiastic onlookers shouting a welcome. Hillsdale would be the northern terminus of the Pascack Valley line for the next two years, and a center for railroad activity.
By the 1850s the wheels were already in motion to bring the railroad through the Pascack Valley. The Hackensack & New York Railroad Company’s track had been completed as far as North Hackensack in 1866, and this new line would be an extension up through the rural countryside.
In an agreement dated Nov. 12, 1866, two dozen substantial landowners—names like Bogert, Hopper, Ackerman, and Demarest—constituting an area from Emerson through Woodcliff Lake, pledged their land, at $1 per acre, for the new rail line.
The extension followed the Hackensack River as far as Oradell, and then forged a path through open farmland, woods, and swamp, and across brooks, all over a prepared road bed and bridges strong enough to bear the weight of the rolling stock.
The track reached Hillsdale at the end of 1869 and work was put on hold until spring. After the worst of the winter was over, the railroad held a special excursion on March 4, 1870. This marked the official opening of the lower portion of the line that included station stops at Emerson (then called Kinderkamack), Westwood, and Hillsdale.
At one o’clock that afternoon, a train adorned with bunting and flags departed from Jersey City with about 100 invited guests on board. At Hackensack, four additional cars with excursionists were added to the party. At two o’clock, the train pulled into Hillsdale with much fanfare.
David Patterson, president of the railroad company, entertained everyone at his home in Hillsdale. His elegant mansion stood a short distance away, near present-day Hillsdale Avenue and Patterson Street, now part of the campus of St. John’s Academy.
In reporting on the event, The New York Times described the community as “a small settlement, containing several private houses, a large store, and a blacksmith shop.”
The following day, the rail line was opened to the general public, with three trains running daily between Jersey City and Hillsdale. As the terminus of the line, the Hillsdale rail yard had a turntable that permitted locomotives to be reversed for return trips. There were also train sheds, a water tower, and a car shop for repairs. Because the engines would spend the night in Hillsdale, many railroad workers lived in the borough.
Hillsdale’s train station was built in the ornate design of the Victorian period, and apparently no expense was spared. Mr. Patterson lived in Hillsdale, so his station had to be the pride of the line. Its second floor was the meeting place for the railroad’s board of directors.
Construction of the tracks continued northward the following year, along the east side of the Pascack Brook through Woodcliff Lake (then called Pascack), and continuing into Park Ridge and Montvale before connecting to the existing railway in Nanuet.
The New Jersey and New York Railroad Company took over ownership of the line in 1880. Passenger service was accelerated and under the control of this company 20 new up-to-date model cars were placed into service.
Like the earlier variety, the new trains were painted orange with a dark red border over the windows. The name New Jersey & New York was imprinted on each in gilt letters. Inside the cars were red plush seats with iron arms. The cars were illuminated by oil lamps hanging at either end and heated with coal stoves.
When Erie took over the line in 1896, the car shops were removed from Hillsdale. The subsequent loss of freight brought about the demolition of the baggage house. The old turntable was filled in during the summer of 1959, after 90 years of service, and the water tower, the last relic of the steam engine days, was also taken down.
