BY KRISTIN BEUSCHER
OF PASCACK PRESS
The borough we know as Emerson has gone by a number of names over the years. While still a part of Washington Township in the 19th century, the region had been known by two unofficial names: it was Kinderkamack to the west, in the direction of Oradell, and it was Old Hook to the east, in the direction of Harrington Park.
When the railroad came through in 1870, a station was built in Kinderkamack. However, that name was a long one and difficult to spell, besides being seen as old-fashioned. Land developers trying to market “country” properties to wealthy New Yorkers believed it was throwing off potential buyers. It was dropped in favor of the more streamlined and modern “Etna,” which appeared on railroad timetables by 1879.
It’s unclear today why the name “Etna” was chosen, but it went on to become the first official name of the borough when it broke off from Washington Township and incorporated on April 8, 1903.
In 1909, the name of the young borough was changed once again due to a combination of factors. For one, Etna’s mail was being misdirected to a town of the same name in New York. But more importantly, it had to do with cultural, religious and political conflicts taking place in the borough at the time.
As historian Dwight de Stefan wrote in his book “Emerson: From Basilicata to Etna,” a history of the region’s early Italian families, “The name of the borough itself, ironically and by pure historical accident, was also the name of an Italian volcano and, as such, was identified with the growing local Italian population. It seemed that Catholic-Italian Etna was rapidly replacing Protestant Dutch-German Kinderkamack. Something needed to be done to turn back the clock and the tide.”
Mayor Reuben Hart appointed a committee to consider a name change. Its members were men with Germanic surnames such as Ackerman, Wulff and Schantz. They recommended a change.
Three names were suggested: Emerson (reflecting one councilman’s admiration of author Ralph Waldo Emerson), Sunridge, and Bellaire. The selection was made, and nearly 110 years later more than 7,400 people call the Borough of Emerson home.