USA > New Jersey > Bergen County > Ridgewood > Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, past and present > Part 11
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About 1860 additional residents from New York City came to the hamlet, among them being William Libby, A. J. Cameron, James Keeley, and John Walton and sons. About this time Cornelius Shuart purchased a portion of the Westervelt property and was the first in the town to lay out land in building lots. While it is true that Captain Dayton was the first to plot the land, Shuart was the first to file a map.
In 1866, T. V. Terhune purchased a tract of land bounded by Ridge- wood and Franklin Avenues and Oak and Walnut Streets, where in 1867 he erected the first dwelling house to be built after the Village had been laid out into streets.
The development of the Village continued and numerous houses were built until the year 1875, when a financial depression resulted in the abandonment of many homes and a stagnation of business of every kind."
In 1880, a public sale of property comprising the Kidder Estate inaugurated a real estate movement on a larger scale than the Village had ever experienced. The house then belonging to the Kidder prop- erty is now owned and occupied by Dr. J. T. DeMund. The property was purchased by several gentlemen. Mr. Peter Ackerman secured a large portion of it which he immediately began to improve and place upon the market, the Reformed Church buying the first plot of one acre uncleared.
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Other lots were offered for sale and additional streets were laid out, sidewalks built, and general improvements were made.
In 1892, Thomas W. White acquired by purchase a large traet north- west of the depot, which he named Ridgewood Heights. He proceeded to develop the section and, after the opening of Franklin Avenue, the first house was built on land sold by Mr. White to Mr. Lueius Smith for his mother, Mrs. Junius A. Smith. The Smith family lived there until Lucius Smith died, when the house was rented to the present tenant, Mr. Sykes. It is still the property of the Smith Estate.
The second lot of the White traet was sold to J. Bolles Smith, who built the house "The Knoll", recently purchased and remodelled by Mayor Garber on the south side of the avenue. Mr. White later built for his own occupancy, "The Oaks," now owned by Mrs. O'Neill, and it was due to his efforts that the attractiveness of this seetion was brought to the notice of men who bought and substantially improved several of the finest residential tracts in the Village.
Between 1907 and 1911 occurred the largest development of real estate in the history of the Village, when an average of one hundred new homes a year were constructed. During the period from 1912 to 1915, an average of thirty-five new homes a year were completed, and in 1916 about fifty more were built, the increase since 1911 having been along lines of normal growth.
In more recent land developments parts of the Village have been laid out by real estate interests in the form of residential parks. The first of these, known as Kathawood Park, is situated on the west side of the Village, south of Godwin Avenue, while south of this section is Lineoln Park running to Lincoln Avenue.
The seetion just west of the Erie traeks includes what is popularly and appropriately known as the "Heights", while on its western slope is Wastena Park, both seetions being traversed by winding roads and adorned with a natural growth of forest trees.
Prospect Park on the southerly side of the Village consists of thirty acres of land divided into half-acre plots, and contains one of the finest beech groves to be found in Bergen County.
Woodside Park, including Woodside Avenue, Ivy Place and Linden Street, is within eight minutes' walk of the center of the Village and overlooks the valley both to the east and west.
Floral Park is on the east side of Van Dien Avenue, in the imme- diate vicinity of Kenilworth School and the electric road station at Spring Avenue. It commands one of the best views of the historic Paramus Valley.
Fairview Park is on Harrison Avenue near the school and trolley station and embraces fifty aeres of fine sandy soil.
That part of Ridgewood lying north of Cameron Lane and west of the Erie Railroad, is now known as Upper Ridgewood and, before its development a few years ago, was mainly a pasture and woodland. Its advantages of altitude and unsurpassed views are supplemented by its proximity to the Ho-Ho-Kus station of the Erie Railroad, whose property forms the dividing line between the two municipalities.
Each of these localities may have its own peculiar charm but all
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have practically submerged their individuality in the Ridgewood spirit of progressiveness which they have helped to advance. While the tan- gible lines of some are still in evidence and are referred to as geo- graphical sections of the Village, there is no dividing line between the interests of any section or part of Ridgewood, the people being remark- ably united in their public spirit.
MERCANTILE AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES
Prior to the construction of the railroad, agriculture was the prin- cipal occupation of the community, New York and other neighboring .cities providing a ready market for local products.
At the time the Godwinville station was opened, there were three cotton mills in that settlement which is now called Midland Park and Wortendyke. The output of these mills together with the agricultural products provided business for the new station, the natural result of which was the drawing of the people to it as a commercial center.
The first building erected after the opening of the station, although occupied by P. J. Hopper as a dwelling, was also used by him as a general store. He was, therefore, the first to engage in a mercantile enterprise in the neighborhood. This building was located where the Hutton building now stands, near the railroad tracks on Ridgewood Avenue.
The second person to engage in mercantile pursuits was Cornelius Shuart, who built a store on the site of the Hopper building, removing the latter to the rear of the new structure and entering into the venture on a more extensive scale than did his predecessor.
Shuart later sold the business to Albert Hopper and Casper Van Dien, brother of our present oldest citizen, John B. Van Dien. They were succeeded by P. E. Hopper, Mr. Totten, Mr. Gilfillan and Mr. Cruse. The building was destroyed by the fire of April, 1889, and the site remained unoccupied until the erection of the present Hutton building.
About 1867 another grocery store was started by G. G. Van Dien and his brother, John B. Van Dien, on the site now occupied by the Wilsey building. The Van Diens also had a large lumber-yard between the railroad and Ridgewood and Franklin Avenues. They were sue- ceeded in the grocery trade first by John Westervelt and later by James Hammond, after which the building was devoted to other purposes, and with the construction of the present Wilsey building in 1914, it was removed to its present site on North Broad Street, and is known as the Ferris building.
The first attempt to conduet a drug business in the Village was made by a German during the early sixties. He opened a store on South Maple Avenue, where the residence of Chas. Stoneall now stands, but the location was not near enough to the business center of the com- munity and so was unsuccessful.
In 1868 a similar business was established by E. A. Wyatt, in the store now occupied by the O. K. Market, on the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and Chestnut Street. In 1892 the business was purchased from
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the widow of Mr. Wyatt by H. A. Tice, who remained at that location until 1897, when he moved to his present site on the opposite corner. The building he removed to was destroyed by fire in 1900 but was im- mediately rebuilt and is now known as the Pioneer Building.
The lumber business on the south side of Ridgewood Avenue was established by Cornelius Shuart about 1869, and about 1874 he sold it to John G. Hopper and his brother, Albert G. Hopper. It again be- came Mr. Shuart's property and in 1878 its present proprietor, Isaac E. Hutton, re-established the business.
In 1870, Abraham Terhune built and conducted a grocery store and meat business at the corner of Ridgewood and Maple Avenues. He discontinued this in 1874 and started the Ridgewood Avenue Hotel. This was destroyed by fire in 1876 and immediately afterward the present Rouelere Hotel was built.
In 1872, T. V. Terhune established a general merchandise and gro- cery business at the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and Oak Street, which he conducted for a long period. The store is occupied at present by the James Butler Grocery Company.
A meat market, previously conducted by John J. Bogert, was pur- chased by his brother-in-law, Cornelius Crouter, in 1874. In 1889 the building was destroyed by fire but was rebuilt during the same year and Mr. Crouter continued the business until he disposed of it in 1914 and retired. The store is located on Ridgewood Avenue between the Hutton and Moore (Zabriskie) buildings and is now the office of W. H. Moore's plumbing establishment.
A short time prior to 1876, Abram J. Zabriskie erected the briek building on the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and Broad Street, which is now known as the Moore Building. On its completion it was occupied by the firm of Zabriskie & Hawes, established in 1872-3 by his son, John J. Zabriskie, and Samuel W. Hawes, who conducted a grocery business in the premises now the real estate offices of Stevens & Tetor.
In the early 80's the doorsill of the main entrance to the store was used by the United States Department of Geographical Surveys for the first marker placed in Ridgewood, to indicate its elevation above sea- level. On the completion of the Ridgewood Trust Company's building, the marker was removed to the sill of the main entrance of the new building and shows an elevation of 134.55 feet. The only other marker placed by the Government in Ridgewood is on the bridge of the Erie Railroad over Cameron Lane and shows an elevation at that point of 153.97 feet.
Some time prior to 1876, Whritnour & Colfax had a general mer- chandise store on the site of the present E. B. Van Horn livery, grain and feed business on Broad Street, the upper floor of the building being known as Wilson's Hall. This building was destroyed by fire in 1881. The building now occupied by Ackerman Bros., the grocerymen, on the north side of Ridgewood Avenue, was put up by John B. Van Dien and was occupied by the firm then known as Edward Whritnour & Son, Mr. Colfax having previously died. Upon the death of Edward Whrit- nour, the business was continued by his son, Mathias (Tice) Whritnour, until succeeded by the present occupants.
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After the destruction of the former store of Whritnour & Colfax, the site remained unoccupied until the early part of 1898, when E. B. Van Horn erected the present building and established his livery, feed, and grain business.
About 1876 Van Emburgh & Post operated a steam saw and planing mill on the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and Broad Street, part of the building being used for the carpenter shop of C. D. Ackerman. This building was also destroyed in the fire of 1881. At that time it was being used as a blacksmith shop by Benjamin Eglin, who now conducts a similar business on Hudson Street, and as a wheelwright shop by John A. Marinus.
In 1882, the present Ryerson building was erected upon the site. This building, besides providing for stores on the ground floor, had liv- ing rooms on the second floor, and a meeting room on the third floor which was, for a long period, the home of the Masons.
The corner store now occupied by F. H. Adam, the grocer, was first occupied by John F. Cruse, also as a grocery store, and at one time con- tained the Village Post Office. The store now occupied by the restaurant of Caramella & Morbelli was used until 1899 by Mrs. Susan E. Ryerson and her sister, Miss Kate A. Bortic, as a dry-goods and notion store.
The coal and wood business now conducted by George R. Young and Richard Bortie, the business office of which is located in the Ryerson building, was established in 1888 by E. F. Ryerson, who conducted the business in its present location until his death. It was taken over by the present firm during April, 1897. When first established, the coal vards were located for a short time on the Broad Street property, later occupied by the feed and grain business of J. H. Blauvelt. About a year after its establishment, Mr. Ryerson moved the yards to their present location on Franklin Avenue, along the tracks of the Erie Railroad.
Some years prior to 1876, G. J. Snyder constructed a small building on the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and Prospect Street, the present site of the First National Bank building, where, for a number of years. he conducted a meat business. At about the same time he erected a larger building, with living rooms above, on Ridgewood Avenue, adja- cent to the corner building, the ground floor of which was used by J. Seiber as a bakery. When the First National Bank building was started, these buildings were removed to their present location on Prospect Street adjoining the present Post Office building and are now occupied, the smaller one by the Ridgewood Tire Company and the other by Koblintz, the tailor.
The first plumbing and tinsmith business was established prior to 1876 by Bergman & Duffy in the store adjoining the old Van Dien building on the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and Chestnut Street. The firm also carried a small line of hardware. The business was later con- tinned by M. C. Duffy.
The earliest nursery in the vicinity of Ridgewood was started by Henry W. Hales in 1874. At first the business was conducted on a comparatively small scale, but it soon developed to a point where it not
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only took care of the local trade but supplied cut flowers to the New York market as well.
In 1876, the business interests located in what is now the center of Ridgewood consisted of three general stores, a plumbing shop, two blacksmiths, two wheelwrights, a periodical store, a butcher shop, a tailor, an apothecary, and a nursery.
The Paramus section of the Village was in a modest way a business centre about 1870 and for some years thereafter. Jacob D. Van Emburgh established a grocery store on the property just west of the old Naugle Hotel. This was successfully conducted by Mr. Van Em- burgh, his brother, Henry, John E. Zabriskie, John H. Snyder, and John J. Hopper, the latter a son-in-law of J. D. Van Emburgh. Mr. Hopper at a voluntary auction disposed of his stock.
At about the same time, John J. Ackerman, later proprietor of the old Naugle Hotel, established a large business, building carriages, wagons, and sleighs, as well as doing a general blacksmith, wheelwright, and carriage painting business and employing about half a dozen men.
During the same period a harness maker and a shoemaker also estab- lished themselves in this section.
The coal and grain business conducted for the past three years by S. Nagle, Jr., on the property of W. H. Moore on Broad Street, is on the premises occupied by the grain business conducted by J. H. Blauvelt for a period of eighteen years prior to the establishment of the present business.
Since its early days the mercantile interests of the Village have de- veloped along natural and normal lines until today every line of activity required by the life of a modern suburban village is represented. Al- most all of the business interests are centered in the Village and the principal buildings erected for these purposes with the date of con- struction, are as follows :
On the west side of the track:
Wilsey Square from Franklin to Godwin Avenue,
Osman, 1913; Play House, 1913: Van Orden's Garage, 1909; two-story store and apartment block, 1916. On Godwin Avenue, Morgan, 1903.
On the east side of the track:
Ridgewood Avenue, south side, from the tracks to Broad Street. Hutton, 1898; Moore (Crouter) prior to 1874, rebuilt, 1889; Moore (Zabriskie), prior to 1876.
Broad to Prespect Streets,
Ryerson, 1882; Hopper, 1908: Ridgewood News, 1900; Ridge- wood House-Hotel, 1870; Mead, 1903; and First National Bank, 1903.
Prespeet to Oak Streets,
Ridgewood Trust Company, 1910; Quackenbush. 1909; Green- law, 1909; Waller, 1915; and Thorton, 1912.
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Ridgewood Avenue, north side from Broad to Chestnut Streets, Wilsey, 1914; Hennion, 1890; Van Dien Block, 1891 and 1893; Ackerman, 1882; Duffy, prior to 1876; and Van Dien, prior to 1868.
Chestnut to Oak Streets,
Pioneer, 1895, rebuilt 1900; Hennion, 1894; Hanks Block (be- tween 1893 to 1903) ; and on the opposite corner, Terhune, 1872.
Prospect Street, west side,
The Hegeman building, 1908; Post Office, 1912; and on the east side Prospect Hall Block, 1903.
INDUSTRIES
While Ridgewood is wholly residential in character, having no fac- tories or other industrial enterprises employing large numbers of opera- tives, it was at one time the home of the "Favorite Brand" rubber packing business. This was in a two-story brick building located on the east side of North Maple Avenue, opposite Park Court and at present used by the Packer Auto Company. The building was built by the heirs of John R. Terhune in 1873, near the site formerly occupied by three other factories within a period of twenty-one years. The first building was used as a grist mill for nearly half a century, and in February, 1853, was destroyed by fire. A new frame building was put up during the same year and leased to J. J. Zabriskie for use as a cotton mill. This also was burned in 1859.
In 1866, ground was broken for a new frame structure which was leased to Edwin Taylor, of Kensico, N. Y., for manufacturing purposes. This building was burned in 1873 and, in the same year, the present building was erected and leased in 1879 to the Peerless Manufacturing Company for the manufacture of rubber goods. It was occupied by this company until about 1886 when, more space being needed on ac- count of the expansion of their business, their enterprise was removed to New Durham, N. J. The building was practically unused until re- cently when it was occupied by the Packer Anto Company.
At one time Ridgewood also contained the woolen mills of G. Morrow & Son, which were established in 1853 and located at the southeast corner of the Village near the Susquehanna Railroad, just below what is now known as Van Emburgh's Pond.
In the extreme northern portion of the Village, near Waldwick, was located the paper and twine manufactory of White Company, which was destroyed by fire about 1880.
In the same locality, and on the road leading from Waldwiek to Wyckoff, a factory for the manufacture of wax for artificial flowers and honeycomb was started in the early 70's by A. H. Bender, who had pur- chased the privilege from Mrs. M. C. McCall, of Edinburgh, Scotland. He continued the business for about ten years during which time his product received first prize at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, as did flowers made from it by Miss Emma Hopper, now Mrs. George W. Beckley, of Waldwiek.
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FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Banks
The first effort to establish a banking institution in Ridgewood was made by The Village Improvement Association, when for a period of nearly three years prior to the organization of the First National Bank, a committee of this association had charge of the Ridgewood Branch of the Penny Provident Bank of New York, with a list of depositors approximating 100 children. Stamps representing cash were exchanged and redeemed when the amount reached $10.00.
The First National Bank
In 1899 The First National Bank of Ridgewood was organized, its first officers being :
President Vice-President
PETER ACKERMAN,
H. S. PATTERSON,
Cashier Teller
L. F. SPENCER, W. C. BANTA.
The business was at first conducted in a building on the site now occupied by Gordon's barber shop on West Ridgewood Avenue. This was destroyed by fire in March, 1900, and the bank was removed to temporary quarters in the Banta plumbing shop in the Hutton building near the railroad. At the end of four months it was again removed to the building on Prospect Street, now occupied by Max Koblintz, the tailor. The present quarters were constructed and occupied in 1903.
Ridgewood Trust Company
The Ridgewood Trust Company was organized in 1906, the first offi- cers being :
President JUDGE CORNELIUS DOREMUS
Vice-President JAMES W. PEARSALL.
Treasurer
W. J. FULLERTON,
Sceretary
L. F. SPENCER.
Business was conducted for about six months in a portion of the First National Bank quarters, and later, in 1907, was moved to what is now the Weber jewelry store, on West Ridgewood Avenue. In 1910 the present building was completed and occupied.
Building and Loan Associations
Ridgewood has three building and loan associations, all of which have been managed wisely, economically, and satisfactorily. The busi- ness done is strictly local and hundreds of residents of the Village, who have taken advantage of the facilities afforded by the associations, are today owners of their own homes, or are in a fair way to be so. With a lot paid for, a building and loan association is usually willing to ad- vance 80% of the actual cost of building a house. This 80% is returned to the association in monthly payments for a period extending over approximately 130 months. If members do not build, the associations
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provide a means of saving, with the privilege of withdrawal or of bor- rowing at any time.
The Ridgewood Building and Loan Association
The Ridgewood Building and Loan Association was organized in 1885 and is the oldest organization of its character in the Village. The first officers were:
President JAMES N. NORRIS,
. Vice-President
E. F. RYERSON.
Sceretary
.G. S. WHITTY.
Treasurer
. C. P. CROUTER.
The Co-operative Building and Loan Association
The Co-operative Building and Loan Association was organized on February 1, 1891, with the following officers:
President Vice-President CHAS. W. Low,
JOSEPH W. EDWARDS,
Secretary
ISAAC M. WALL.
Treasurer
HUDSON CAMPBELL.
The Glen Rock Building and Loan Association
The Glen Rock Building and Loan Association was incorporated March 25, 1907, with the primary object of furnishing an association for the residents of Glen Rock. The office is located in Ridgewood, as a majority of its members are residents of that Village.
The first officers were:
President Vice-President
N. S. CUBBERLY, JAMES B. CHRISTOPHER,
Secretary Treasurer
G. T. HOPPER.
JOHN A. MARINUS.
MEDICAL AND DENTAL PROFESSIONS
The Medical Profession
In the early history of many of the colonies, the art of healing was practiced chiefly by the clergy. The care of the sick came naturally within the sphere of their parochial duties, and many of them were distinguished for their knowledge of medicine and were authors of some of the earliest medical papers printed in America. In some instances the schoolmaster was the physician and surgeon of the neighborhood.
New Jersey had among its early medical men a few who had received their training in the schools of Europe. By far the greater number, however, having no liberal education, had lived a year or two with a practitioner of some sort, read the few available books on medicine and then, assuming the title of doctor, offered themselves to the people as competent to cure disease. They relied much upon the use of herbs and roots.
Every neighborhood seems to have had some one who could bleed and extraet teeth. Occasionally a handy man would straighten a cracked
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bone, and be given great credit and the title of doctor for doing so. In nearly all cases of sickness the remedies employed were the growth of the soil, very little medicine, as it is known today, being used.
Among the Hollanders of Bergen County, there was little need of physicians for many years after the first settlement began. The climate was healthy and the settlers were of a hardy and enduring type. Malaria was comparatively unknown. All of the early writers and correspondents who have described the condition of the country, either in books or in letters to their friends abroad, united in pronouncing East Jersey a very healthy country. Aside from this, the scarcity of early physicians in Bergen County is accounted for by the fact that the more wealthy of the citizens were in the habit of obtaining their medical attention from other places, such as New York, Elizabethtown, and Newark.
Holland seems to have sent forth no properly qualified physicians, although her university at Leyden was among the most renowned in Europe for chemistry and kindred sciences. The science of medicine was in its infancy all over the civilized world. What is now understood by that term has been the growth of the last 125 years. There was nothing approximating a school of medicine in America; not even a course of lectures, until the middle of the eighteenth century, when the first medical school in the country was founded in Philadelphia in 1765. Two years later New York established her first school of medicine in connection with King's College, New York City.
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