PARK RIDGE—As we enjoy these last weeks of autumn and trees shed the last of their leaves, we go back to a similar time of year long ago. The photograph above was snapped in Park Ridge in the early 20th century. The view looks west on Park Avenue (toward Pascack Road in the distance) from around where the park is today.
The building on the right was the Park Avenue Hotel. After the railroad had come through in 1870, most of our Pascack Valley towns had at least one combination hotel and tavern within easy walking distance of the station. This one was at the corner of Park and North Maple avenues—and it is still standing today, though the 19th century structure is easy to overlook.
The next time you are on Park Avenue, take a closer look at the shop at the northeast corner of North Maple. You will see that this hotel building still stands, tucked behind a modern storefront that is now a salon called Park Avenue Hair.
The image comes from a postcard that reflects the area’s history as a vacation spot. Postcards like this exist because at the turn of the century, people from larger cities would often come to places like Park Ridge for a visit to the “country.”
At the time, the Pascack Valley was largely undeveloped and farming was the way of life. Note that not only was Park Avenue still unpaved at the time, but there were also hitching posts of horses at the edge of the road in front of the hotel—the great-grandfather of parallel parking!
Like all inns at the time, the Park Avenue Hotel imposed a set of rules. These rules were close to universal for all hotels. For example, dogs were not allowed upstairs; beer was not allowed in the kitchen; boots could not be worn to bed; organ grinders had to sleep in the washhouse. In the early days’ breakfast and dinner could be had for only 37 cents and a horse could be stabled for just 30 cents—expenses easily affordable for a traveler.
That this was a wholly different era in Park Ridge is made abundantly clear in a news clipping about an incident at the hotel 120 years ago this week. In the first week of December 1902, hotel barkeep Edward Duke was shot while at work—but not due to any barroom brawl or robbery, as one might guess:
The shooter had been returning from hunting rabbits in the woods nearby and apparently had gotten rather intoxicated during his trip. For some reason he started shooting at the hotel. The bartender, hearing shots, rushed to a window to see what all the noise was (not the best course of action, given the circumstances). As he did so, he was peppered in the arm by a charge of shot.
There was no arrest, and no charges were filed. With the whole thing chalked up to a drunken accident, the shooter was back at work the next day, driving the ice wagon from Montvale. The barkeep, his arm bandaged, was back to serving guests.
— Kristin Beuscher is president of Pascack Historical Society.