Once upon an era, every town and village had a hardware store. In many instances, it was also the general store, post office, and community center where men would discuss the matters of the day. Frank B. Whittle was born in England in 1860, and (presumably with his family) came to America in 1870. He […]
If you could somehow pluck a citizen of Butler, NJ, off Main Street a century (or more) ago, and plop him down in the same place today, he’d immediately recognize his surroundings. Butler is one of those towns which hasn’t changed substantially over that time. (Compare with any photo of, say, downtown Manhattan, where very […]
Lyon’s Theatre sits on lower Arch Street, near the Bloomingdale border. Most folk just called it Butler Theatre. Can’t say I know much about this place, but I’m sure it was the place to be on a Friday night. I wonder what movies they showed? According to the Facebook Butler page, King Hiller — who owned […]
This is the town that rubber built. Butler was a sleepy town originally known as ‘West Bloomingdale’ in the early 1800s. There was some industry — notably, a small rubber mill operating on the river — but things started to cook when Richard Butler came to town. He took ownership of the Butler Hard Rubber […]
This building, on the corner of Boonton Ave. and Kiel Ave., started out as Cleary’s Department Store early in the 20th Century. It also served as the town’s post office after the Clearys moved to a different location. Note the unpaved roads, which became quite messy in wet weather. Just past it is Cleary’s Grocery Market. Across […]
This is a great photo. The view is from the east end of High Street in Butler, looking across the river at Main Street. Click on the photo to view it full-sized.
Here’s what Pequannock looked like in 1887. It was much larger than today’s 7-square-mile area — it still included Bloomingdale, Butler, Kinnelon, and Lincoln Park. Jefferson had split off in 1804, Rockaway Township in 1844, and Boonton and Montville took their leave in 1867. Butler kicked off the 20th Century by declaring itself a new borough […]
Newfoundland, NJ, was — I suppose it still is — a quaint little village between such ‘large’ towns as Butler and West Milford. In the early days, it was barely a stagecoach stop heading from here to there. As the roads were improved, though, and later as the railroad line was built, city folk from […]
Bloomingdale was originally part of Pompton Township, which itself was incorporated in 1798 in Passaic County NJ. It encompassed the Village of Pompton (now Pompton Lakes) as well as what is now Bloomingdale, Ringwood, Wanaque, and West Milford. Over time, the various areas broke off to form their separate townships; Bloomingdale went its way in […]
These are my primary areas of interest. I’ll add others, no doubt. Bloomingdale NJ Butler NJ Jefferson Twp. (including Milton and Oak Ridge) Newfoundland NJ Pequannock Twp. NJ (Pequannock & Pompton Plains) Pompton — that is, Pompton Lakes & Pompton Twp NJ Riverdale NJ Wayne Twp. NJ West Milford, NJ Miscellany – Other items of […]