A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913, Volume II, Part 54

Author: Urquhart, Frank J. (Frank John), 1865- 4n; Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 4n
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New York, N.Y. ; Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1136


USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913, Volume II > Part 54


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For a long time in its history Newark was not what may be called a handsome town, architecturally considered. It had many beautiful trees, and it is indeed small credit to our city administration that they have not been better preserved, but otherwise it was a rather plain, although sub- stantial, looking place. If we look for the dwellings and business houses of the past, we find them low and small; the unambitious houses and shops of a thrifty people. Side by side with these the growing prosperity of later years is observable in larger and more substantial, but still plain, buildings. The architecture of our day is very different. Everywhere now the eye is attracted and charmed by elegant and costly structures. Stately houses and magnificent merchant palaces, great factories and enormous department stores tell more plainly than words that the period of wealth and taste has come to us at last.


Whoever sees Springfield avenue, with its glittering stores, its thousands of residents and the life and traffic stirring throughout its length, will, with difficulty, be able to imagine that it once had a very different appearance, and that this street, to-day the main business thoroughfare of a large and populous quarter of the city, had actually to be won from the wilderness, and that many hands had to work for years in order to construct a city street out of the country road, leading over hills and through swamps. There are now only a few old Germans who remember how it looked more than fifty years ago.


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On the triangle which was formed by High street, Springfield avenue and Thirteenth avenue, there stood, fifty years ago, a large, imposing house, which, however, everyone shunned, because ghosts haunted it. On one cor- ner of the above-mentioned triangle there was a saw-mill with a large pond behind it, which covered the greater part of the present Stirling street. In the region lying to the rear of High street, lay the old Rankin family estate, later the Eye and Ear Hospital, and on the other side of Springfield avenue was an old Ogden homestead. This was a very imposing building. The entrance was situated in the spot, where, to-day (1913), the building on the corner of Springfield avenue and High street stands, and in which the West Side Trust Company has its office. The old Springfield avenue showed a succession of hills and valleys. At the Court House an incline began, which reached its highest point on West street. From there on it went down hill. On the summit was the Kohler brewery, the cellar of which exists in part even to-day. On Howard (then Grand street) stood Barney Gallagher's roadhouse, a name which seems to signify that the region at that time lay without the city limits. From there on the ground was swampy, so that later considerable filling in was necessary, in order to construct a street capable of being used. Between Broome and Prince streets there stood a house which, for a long time, was the favorite gathering place for the Ger- mans on the hill. The saloon in it was conducted by Wehrlein, later by Bohnenberger. One of the oldest bowling alleys was also connected with this public house. Perhaps two hundred feet back from the present avenue there was a one-story private schoolhouse, in which the youth of the time received instruction for a shilling (1212 cents) a week. The trip to school was always attended with the danger of getting wet feet, and during the winter and after heavy rains the schoolhouse stood like a lighthouse in the sea. Enterprising boys, therefore, hit upon the idea of building a raft, upon which they could make the trip to school.


The swamps and pools and marshy ground, where ducks and geese led a life of undisturbed tranquillity, were succeeded by a stretch of cultivated land. At Rankin street the ground began to rise again. Here large quanti- ties of vines and vegetables were raised and great numbers of cows, goats and pigs were encountered, all of which added to the rural aspect of the region.


Half a century ago Belmont avenue presented a similar appearance. The street received the name of "avenue" only after its extension beyond Spruce street. Formerly it was called Belmont street, and as such extended to about the present Eighteenth avenue; from there on it was not much more than a cow-path, as was, likewise, Spruce street of that period. At its junction with Springfield avenue, which was then only a country road, Bel- mont avenue formed the summit of a hill, on which at that time there stood on the southeast corner the Preissendorfer house, and on the other side the Heerwagen brewery. From this point the road led down hill to Hayes and Bedford streets, where there was a large swamp. On the site of the present St. Peter's Church there stood a tiny house, in which a tailor named Albert ran, not only a tailoring establishment, but also a saloon-an evidence of the moderate circumstances in which people managed to get along. The general character of the region in the neighborhood of Belmont avenue was rural. Cornfields and swamps alternated, and on the farms and in the gardens corn, berries and apples were grown. On Spruce street there was a pond in which the young people used to bathe. In the valley several tan- neries existed, and there stood, likewise, even at that time, in this neigh- borhood, a slaughter house, where old horses, too, were despatched, so that


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the place was popularly called "Horses' Heaven." In the natural course of development our city will experience many changes in the future, but none could be so great and uplifting as this, which created from hills and valleys covered with primeval growth, from forest, swamp and brushwood, a part of the city which is populous and full of traffic and teeming with prosperity.


Forty to fifty years ago the west end was a veritable wilderness, on the outskirts of which ran the present Springfield avenue, at that time a high- road. The road was private property, and on the spot where now stand the car houses of the traction company stood a toll gate, on which toll was paid on conveyances-and the "monopolists of the highway," who for decades were fleecing the public on the Park road, were able to point to this as their renowned example.


Like other parts of the Hill section of the city, West Newark also owed its progress chiefly to German pioneers. Among these were Rudolph Ledig, formerly a well-known manufacturer of bar fixtures, on Eighteenth avenue (Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets). Mr. Ledig was one of the pioneers of the Republican party in Newark; he was a member of one of the so-called "underground railroads"-1. e. secret societies, that, disregarding every personal perli, made it their object to facilitate the escape of negro slaves. He was a friend of the late Mr. Benedlet Prleth, and until his death a few years ago, the only survivor among the Newark delegates to the first political convention held by the Germans at Cleveland, Ohio, forty-seven years ago. The delegates from Newark were B. Prieth, Dr. Greiner, R. Ledig, Jr .; Katzenmayer (later of Orange), and Gehmecker (leader of the first German orchestra in Newark).


In former years Mr. Ledig built many houses in the west end, in the neighborhood of the present park. All these are standing there to-day, just as firmly and upright as at the time when they were erected. Especial stress should be laid on this fact, in the face of the wide impression that the ground of West Newark consisted of marshes. This is true to some extent only. The soil of the west end is no ordinary, swampy ground, but peat bogs, upon which it is possible to build solidly, with proper care, for in the course of time it transforms into a foundation as hard as rock. On such ground as this stood for many years the steam engine of Ledig's factory, without the least settling being observed.


At the time of the Civil War a large quantity of peat was cut on Springfield avenue, in the locality of the present Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets, which was used for heating purposes in the military hospital, estab- lished by Governor Marcus L. Ward, near the present depots on Centre street.


After the cutting of peat at the beginning of the "sixties," the second event that attracted the attention of the rest of the city to the west end was the opening of the "West End Park" by Messrs. Herter and Ledig. This park lay near the site of the present "Fram Garden" on Nineteenth street and Sixteenth avenue. At that time, however, there were no streets and avenues laid out, and the creation of the park was the cause of the subsequent opening of the avenue from Sixteenth street to Eighteenth street.


Among the first settlers in the west end must be mentioned, beside Rudolph Ledig: Blum, Roeder, Bank, Tischer, Foerster, Kraeuter (manu- facturer of edged tools), Gross, Whiteman ( Alderman), Cross, Kirchner, Aber, Dr. Küchler, Kirchner and Robert Sattler. Mr. Sattler, who was one of the first in Newark to sell bottled beer, purchased Bank's and Fisher's farm in the vicinity of Montgomery avenue, which later became united with Sattler's Park. The latter was originally a homestead, before its opening as


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an amusement ground at a relatively late date. It is united at present with West End Park, whereby, unfortunately, many of the splendid trees that were its adornment, were sacrificed to the axe. In the pavilion in Sattler's Park-under the auspices of the former "West Newark Improvement Asso- ciation"-several meetings took place, with the object of agitating for the opening of a public park in the locality. The members of the above associa- tion have, by their indefatigable zeal, substantially contributed to the realization of the park project; while their chairman, the late A. Bloch, acted for many years with great ability.


1 Inseparable in the memories of old West Newark are two sites that were popularly known under the names of "Magnolia Swamp" and "Kehoe's Hole," but only in memory, for they exist no more.


"Magnolia Swamp" derived its name from all the magnolia trees that grew there, and their white blossoms, together with the red buds of numerous sumac trees, at certain seasons offered a picturesque sight.


The swamps may have covered sixty acres, and extended from Eleventh street to Seventeenth street and Springfield avenue. One-half of the swamp was added to the "West End Park," the other part was used for building purposes and divided into building lots.


Magnolia Swamp was by no means unhealthy. The tract was always free from fever, all the moisture being absorbed by the peaty ground; and the water, being filtered through the peat, was exceptionally good. It is true mosquitoes were to be found during the summer months, but their number was far less than in other parts of the city, the west end being situated very high. In very early times Magnolia Swamp and its environs were favorite hunting grounds, where even foxes were found, beside opossums and large quantities of rabbits. Edible turtles were also found, and the muddy pools were crowded with muskrats.


Magnolia Swamp and Kehoe's Hole were better than their reputation. No one ever lost his life in them. Horses, at times, got into the pools, but, as the subsoil was not deep, in most cases they were extricated without great trouble. Of Kehoe's Hole curious stories are current even now, but all the gruesome tales, relating how men and animals perished by sinking into the mire, never to be seen again, are to be relegated to the sphere of fiction.


In its natural state Kehoe's Hole was a ravine, the position of which is perhaps determined by Eleventh street and Sixteenth avenue on one hand, and by Seventeenth street and Springfield avenue on the other. Its deepest parts were on Eleventh street, between Seventeenth street and Sixteenth avenue and on Fourteenth street between Seventeenth and Eighteenth ave- nue. This ravine, whose edges were covered by trees, formed a natural basin for the accumulation of rain waters, which since time immemorial have carried down wood and leaves to the depths. As the deeper lying soil (it was ascertained) consisted of impermeable clay, a layer was formed in the course of time-which, though yielding, was of such immeasurable depth that the saying, "Unfathomable as Kehoe's Hole," came into vogue. When Kehoe's Hole was ultimately examined, to the depth of one thousand feet and more, stumps of trees were found. Kehoe's Hole extended through the Magnolia Swamp, part of the "Hole" being covered by one part of the lake which was dug in the present West End Park. Kehoe's Hole was named after the contractor who undertook the task of filling up Fourteenth street. He never was able to accomplish it, and the German to whom he assigned the hardest part of the job "went down," i. e., lost everything he possessed in this never ending enterprise. Only when the work of drainage


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helped in filling up could it be finished, and Kehoe's Hole disappeared from West Newark.


Cities have their physiognomies as well as individuals. The physiog- nomy of Newark has undergone a substantial change in character, conse- quently the centre of the city now presents a distinctive aspect from that of former years.


The building of the new City Hall has brought about a great change in that neighborhood and this can be said particularly of Green street. This ancient street can no longer be recognized. The past of this street is in more than one way of the greatest interest to Germans, because a good deal of German life centered there. If in the naming of streets the logic of circumstances could always be followed, many a street of Newark would have been given a different name on that account.


Green street ought to have been named Goldsmith street, as this has been the centre and seat of the jewelry industry of Newark. Already in the fifties it began to obtain a firm footing here, gained more and more in dimension and rose to its height at the end of the sixties and at the beginning of the seventies, when such prosperous times came to the goldsmiths in Newark, and money was of such little consideration with them that they could afford to light their cigars with dollar bills; this is supposed to have actually occurred.


Before Green street became the street of the goldsmiths it was that of the shoemakers. About forty masters of the awl and last were at work here. The houses were small frame buildings; there was a well for every two houses. The first brick house on Green street was built by the plumber Assmann, and became later the property of the master-tailor Kraft. The first two buildings that were used for manufacturing purposes were erected by Adam Facklin and an Austrian by the name of Gabriel. The factory of Peters' Harness and Saddlery Co. on Green street-one of the first buildings in Newark with an iron front-which, too, has since disappeared, was erected after the two mentioned brick (stone) houses.


Before these and some other larger buildings near Broad street were erected, Green street consisted entirely of wooden houses. On the spot, where, later, the entrance to the Green Street School was located, on either side a one-story frame building was standing. On Caulfield place sixteen German families were settled. The large jewelry establishments that existed later on Green street, too, had been started in frame buildings. Among others, Carter, Howkins & Dodd (12 Green street) ; the Richardson Manu- facturing Co. (the old firm was Palmer & Co.), corner of Columbia and Green streets. Maple street was crowded with goldsmiths' workshops, and was called "Goldsmiths' Alley."


It can be justly claimed that the impetus to the jewelry industry of Newark has been given by the artistic work of the German goldsmiths. By far the greater part of the latter were natives of Pforzheim and Hanau, and they not only worked on Green street, but, also used to frequent the saloons thereon-in such the street was not lacking. One of the most popular was J. Jordan's "Gartenlaube" on the site of the Buchsbaum house. Before Jordan, the business of that locality was carried on by Dissler and Jahn and afterwards by Chas. Lamee. Later Hachlin's saloon, too, was frequented by the German goldsmiths, whereas on the other hand they temporarily avoided the neighboring place of John van der Elst; this was, because, during the time of the Franco-German war, the place was used by the French of Newark, and no German was permitted to show himself there. The gold-


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smiths also formed a benefit society for the sick, which has done much good.


The "Green Street Hall" was the place where (in the sixties) not only the Mutual Aid Association of the goldsmiths celebrated their festivals, but many other German societies also. As far back as the fifties it had become a favorite place of amusement. Founded in the year 1853 by Mr. Roth, Sr., and Francis Adam, it witnessed many a celebration of the singing societies, "Aurora" and "Eintracht" as well as those of the theatrical societies, "Freundschaftskreis," "Harmonie" and "Humor." As time went on several annexes were added to the "Green Street Hall," until it was torn down to make room for the new headquarters of the Elks. It must not be forgotten


that in old Green street was located another German educational institution, that of the first athletic association (turn-verein). It is true that it was almost hidden in the rear of a saloon, but, at all events, it was a hall well filled with gymnastic appliances. And the goldsmiths were also the first who took the greatest interest in this new organization. Thus the first turn verein of Newark was founded in 1850, which later assumed the name, "Newark Turngemeinde" (Newark Athletic Club); it originated in a hall at that time managed by Francis Hafeli, on Green street (almost opposite the "Green Street Hall"). It was here that the first parallel and horizontal bars were set up, nay, one of the first gymnasiums on American soil may have been found here.


The "Newark Turngemeinde" (Newark Athletic Association) was repre- sented at the second assembly of the "Alliance of the Athletic Associations of North America," held under the chairmanship of Sigismund Kaufmann, at Philadelphia, in September, 1851. (Delegate, F. Kiefer). The three last survivors of the founders of the "Newark Athletic Association" were Carl Schütz, Fritz Kiefer and W. Lieb. Since the days sketched in these lines many changes have taken place. Newark has grown wonderfully. Perhaps with her aspiring tendencies, she will yet spread forth her arm and embrace the whole of Essex and maybe Hudson counties. It would be no more wonderful than the events of the last half century.


CHAPTER XII.


HISTORY OF THE PARKS FREQUENTED IN OLDEN TIMES.


NEARLY ALL THE OLD AMUSEMENT PLACES HAVE DISAPPEARED-CLINTON HILL AND THE SHOOTING PARK-THE "TIVOLI" AND THE IMPORTANT POLITICAL MEETINGS IN THE CALEDONIAN PARK-THE VISIT OF THE VETERANS OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY TO THE POSTS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC -- THE PARKS IN THE LOWER END OF THE CITY.


The amusement and public recreation grounds of a city change with the growth of population and with the proportionate expansion of the city. Many of the gardens and parks in which the fathers and grandfathers of the present generation enjoyed themselves with their families are now only dim recollections, having vanished from sight long ago. The craze of street openings in the early seventies caused the loss of one of the chief prides of the city-a hill in the southwest crowned with wood, which to-day oxists only as a geographical expression, Clinton Ilill. There were Vincentz's Park, Schlagel's Park and Erb's Garden, where the older Germans used to meet in cheery company for a friendly glass of beer. Many other places could be named, which to-day no one recalls. So, too, was the old Shooting


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Park, which had to give way to the city of the dead (Woodland Cemetery) ; Ehehalt's Park, where, during the life time of the Rev. Father Prieth, the picnics of St. Peter's Church were held; the former Roseville Park, with its splendid chestnut trees (on Warren street), etc. In the quarter much more adjacent to the city, which is bounded approximately by Morris avenue and Tenth street and by South Orange avenue and Eighteenth street, old land- marks are disappearing more and more. Of the old Tivoli, later the Cale- donian Park, nothing but a few trees on Sixteenth avenue are left. Even previously, Baier's and subsequently Voigt's Union Park, the place of count- less German social celebrations, went out of existence. In the Caledonian Park Hall, the great singing festival in 1891 took place, which is treated more fully in another chapter.


The political events which occurred in Caledonian Park are well qualified to justify the name "historical ground" even in the eyes of Americans. It was the "Caledonian Hall" which, by reason of its enormous dimensions, served for the purpose of holding the most imposing political meetings that have ever taken place in Newark. It was there that Mckinley, President of the United States, for hours captivated an enormous audience by the power of his eloquence. It was there that the splendidly rounded periods of a Bourke Cockran and the withering rhetoric of a Thomas B. Reed could be admired. It was there that the remarkable oratorical tourna- ment took place, during the first Cleveland campaign, between W. C. J. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Benjamin Butterworth, of Ohio. It was there, also, that thousands listened to the stirring utterances of Senator Frye and William J. Bryan, who spoke before an enormous audience, from which it certainly appeared that his chances of becoming President of the United States were bright, should the greatest of all attractive forces, "Curiosity," not have been in the reckoning. And there, too, Governor Griggs was received by a gigantic audience on his remarkable trip through the State. Vice-President Hobart was also there given a splendid ovation. Finally, a political-social celebration may be mentioned that took place in Caledonian Park, and which, perhaps, will be better remembered than any other occasion. It was the celebration of brotherhood between the Newark Posts of the G. A. R. and the veterans of the Confederate army ( Lee Camps and Richmond Light Infantry) in 1886. It was a magnificent and elevating scene and a most beautiful evidence of the spirit which pervades the military associations of both the North and the South; as the former foes, who, on many a bloody battlefield, opposed each other, arms in hand, could be seen together as comrades, friends and brothers. The day will be remembered as long as the inspiring sentiment of patriotism continues to live in young and old. The visit of the Richmond veterans is thought to have materially contributed to the re-establishment of former commercial connections. Yet, much higher than any material gain should be estimated the elevating idea of having been convinced by our own common sense that the old quarrel now belongs to the past.


Of the luxuriant foliage which beautified the "Hill" in former times north of Springfield avenue, the last remains are found to-day only in Seiffert's and in Doelger's Prospect Park. Doelger's "Park Hall" has now been fifty years in the possession of that family, it being just that long since George Anthony Doelger gave up his place, "Zum Völkerbunde," which he founded on Belmont avenue (later Abendschön Hall), in order to tako up his quarter on the breezy "Green Prospect Ills."


Not far from Prospect Park another park existed not long ago; in the course of years it was known under various names, but, finally, as "Phoenix


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Park." On the very spot where this park with its splendid shady trees was once situated, flat-houses now stand, and with the Phoenix Park another part of the former "Hill" has disappeared. Its existence as a public (amusement) ground reaches back through four decades, and the manage- ment of it was, for the greater part, in the hands of the owners of the brewery situated opposite to it on Morris avenue, and later known as Weiss's brewery-which, however, years ago, gave place to a row of brick houses. As Mr. Henry Birkenhauer, Sr., related, the original ground belonging to the brewery extended beyond the present Hunterdon street. The brewery was for many years the only outpost of the city, in the midst of a region consisting of meadow, bushy undergrowth and swamps-and Fifteenth ave- nue, formerly Court street, which has developed so remarkably, showed the same character to a large extent as far back as the seventies. The back- ground, so to speak, was formed by vegetable farms, and the region was rich in berries in July and August and in mosquitoes throughout all summer.




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