HILLSDALE—It was a moment in time captured: A view into downtown Hillsdale in the winter of 1978.
The first thing most will notice in the photograph above is the police booth, which was still in its original position right in the middle of Hillsdale Avenue at the time. This booth, built in 1925, served as the first headquarters for the borough’s police. For 65 years it stood in the middle of Hillsdale Avenue near Broadway.
After being struck by passing cars several times over the years, around 1990 the police booth was moved out of the road and to the sidewalk area next to Veterans Park, where it remains today.
(See also, “A great look for Hillsdale at 125,” page 1, Pascack Press, Jan. 16, 2023.)
The Hillsdale train station is just visible on the far left. Hillsdale’s station was the most ornate on the Pascack Valley line when it was built in 1871. That’s because Hillsdale’s depot was more than just a railroad stop: Its second floor was also the meeting place for the railroad’s Board of Directors.
Railroad company president David P. Patterson lived in Hillsdale. His lavish home was on the north side of Hillsdale Avenue near Patterson Street, now the location of St. John’s Academy.
By the 1970s the neglected Victorian-era train station had fallen out of use (except for some resident bats) and was in disrepair. In the 1980s a major restoration project made a whole host of improvements, including a new look with light blue paint.
Beyond the station we see a sign for a restaurant that a lot of people will remember: the Rustler steakhouse. This building that brought a Wild West-type look to Hillsdale was approximately in the location where Wendy’s is today. It was around until the mid-1980s, after which it became a Sizzler for a few years. Wendy’s arrived in the late 1990s.
Behind the Rustler, the sign for Friendly’s is barely visible. Friendly’s came to Hillsdale in 1969, replacing an old Victorian house that was torn down along with its neighbors that stood where the commuter parking lot is now. After more than 50 years the restaurant closed and is presently being renovated with a modern look for a new Chipotle location.
Across the street you can see the sign for the Texaco station that was at the corner of Patterson Street. On that same side, the shop at the corner of Hillsdale Avenue and Winkler Way was Hillsdale Paint. It is still a paint store, now under Ricciardi Brothers.
— Kristin Beuscher is president of the Pascack Historical Society.