The Cleary building

| Paul Havemann

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 the street is A. Scott, Tailor. Someone on the Butler page on Facebook commented that the tailor shop became Henry Ricker’s Pharmacy, while one of the next stores was King Hiller’s music store. Hiller also played the organ in the Butler Theatre, back in the day.

Click on this hand-colored postcard to see the full-sized version.

 

Cleary building
Boonton Ave & Cleary building, Butler, about 1907

Here’s how it looked in 2001. (I strive to duplicate the old photos as closely as possible.)  It also looked pretty much the same in the early 1980s when I worked for Suburban Trends, which occupied all three floors. The printing press was in the garage next to it.

The buildings across from it are still there, still in use as storefronts. This 2000 photo shows the corner store was Cafe Buono; before that, when I worked in Butler, and for many years before and after that, it was Pro’s Sweet Shop. The locals still speak of it wistfully. It was a great luncheonette.

Cleary building (2000)
Boonton Ave & Cleary building (2000)

Lyon’s Butler Theatre

| Paul Havemann

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 a music store on Kiel Ave, across from Cleary’s Department Store — played the organ during those silent films.  Evidently it closed sometime in the 1950s.

 

Butler Theatre then & now
Butler Theatre then & now

Otto’s Deli

| Paul Havemann

Otto’s Deli has been a landmark on Glenwild Ave. at Ann Street since the 1960s, as this advertisement will attest. Before that it was Hamburg Turnpike by Vreeland Ave.

The deli was still there, run by a fine fellow named Helmut. I’m told the potato salad is excellent. Have to try it one day when I’m in the neighborhood.

Where was “The Inn”, I wonder?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

 

Advertisement for Otto's Deli (1965)
Advertisement for Otto’s Deli (1965)

 

Otto's Deli today
Otto’s Deli (2017)

Bloomingdale’s Municipal Building, then & now

| Paul Havemann

I’m not sure just how long this building served as Bloomingdale’s municipal HQ, but long after a new municipal building was constructed, this one is still in use — and largely unchanged from back then.

Bloomingdale Municipal Building site (2013)
Bloomingdale Municipal Building site (2013)
Bloomingdale Municipal Building site (1940s)
Bloomingdale Municipal Building site (1940s)

 

Federal Hill, seen from the sky

| Paul Havemann

Federal Hill is well known to history buffs. It was used as a lookout by Washington’s troops during the Revolutionary War.  It bore witness to the infamous Pompton Mutiny.

Centuries later, it was the site of a German Bund camp during World War II; more on that later.

Since then, however, it’s been fodder for a quarry. Much of it has been devoured, and what’s left will disappear in time.

Aerial view, Federal Hill (Sept 2016)
Aerial view of Federal Hill, with I-287 running nearby.  (Sept 2016)

The ‘Ghost Bridge’ of Oak Ridge Reservoir – Part 1

| Paul Havemann

The Oak Ridge Reservoir was constructed in the 1890s to help supply Newark’s burgeoning populace with a supply of fresh water.  It was one of several reservoirs in north NJ built at about the same time. (The others are Canistear, Charlotteburg, Clinton, and Echo Lake.)

A really good photo by Ron DuPont (c 2014)

Ghost Bridge of Oak Ridge Reservoir (2014)
Click for full-sized article

The rural village of Oak Ridge was, unfortunately, right where the reservoir was planned to be — so Oak Ridge, and a smaller village known as Wallace Corner, had to be eliminated. Today, their locations are underwater. (If anyone knows of a map of the original villages, please let me know.)

But, as this article notes, an old three-arched stone bridge that once connected Oak Ridge to the main road — known then as the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike — was spared, because it was useful in the construction of the dam. So, when they were finished, they just let it be; there was no point in wasting manpower to tear down a bridge that would soon be submerged forevermore.

But every so often, when a drought hits the area, the water level  drops enough for passers-by to see – and even visit – the bridge.

According to the article,

“You can locate this bridge (or at least, the spot of water it’s under) by travelling on Route 23 about a mile south of its intersection with Canistear Road. At this spot, southwest and right next to the highway, a narrow tongue of Oak Ridge Reservoir snakes its way up along the base of the mountain. This follows the original route of the Pequannock River.”

 I’ve been there, and seen, the “ghost bridge” a few times. If you think you can find it, refer to the aerial photo.

Aerial view of Oak Ridge Reservoir showing the bridge.

Local historian Beth Willis has been there as well, and has more interesting details to share on her Facebook page.

There’s more to the story of the ghost bridge — see Part 2.

Pequannock’s Memorial Day 1968 flood

| Paul Havemann

Newspaper article, flood of May 1968
Newspaper article – flood of May 1968

 

One of my early and vivid memories: Toward the end of May, 1968, we got rain in north Jersey. Lots of it. Not just in Pequannock, but that’s where I lived then; that was my world.

I’d never experienced the sight of water coming up our street, reaching our driveway, surrounding our house… and, finally, getting into our house.  Filling the basement, and inexorably climbing the basement stairs. Heavy stuff for three young boys as their parents did what they could to save our stuff.

Many say this is still the benchmark by which all subsequent floods are measured.

Click the image for the full-sized version.

The view from Federal Hill, 1890 edition

| Paul Havemann

This view from Federal Hill dates from about 1890, thanks to the intrepid unknown photographer who scaled the hill carrying a lot of heavy camera equipment.

Neither the view, nor the hill, are the same today.

I’ll have posts on Slater’s Mill and Richards later. (The funeral parlor was actually called ‘Richards Bros’ at this time.)

Click the photo for the full-sized version.

Richards corner, Riverdale NJ (about 1890)
Richards corner, Riverdale NJ (about 1890) Click for full-sized version.