Reflections on a Heritage

"Through Industry we Flourish"

Back in the years when this section of the country was still settled by Indian tribes, the Pascack Valley was a neutral ground through which various tribes traveled, unmolested by one another. They chose a peaceful relationship with the few early white settlers.

The area was settled by the Lenni Lenape (said to mean "the original people") tribe. This tribe was a smaller territorial group from the Algonquins who inhabited the wilderness from Labrador to the Carolinas and from the Atlantic to the Great Plains. Other Algonquian Indians called the Lenape "grandfather". The Lenape spoke a Munsee dialect of the Delaware language, a phonetic language with no alphabet. Their words were not recorded by them but by the early white settlers who attempted to duplicate the words using Dutch, English and other alphabets. Definitions are often imprecise as the words themselves. The name Indian being a misnomer arising from Christopher Columbus' belief that he had sailed to the outer reaches of India.

The word Pascack is said to mean "place where the waters divide", noting that the waters divide where Pascack Brook joins the Hackensack River in Harrington Park. Others say it means "place where the road forks" referring to Pascack Road, an old Indian trail that forked near its intersection with Mill Lane, one branch leading northwest to New York State and the other towards Tappan and the Hudson.

Pesqueck, one of several variant spellings, appears on a 1694 document as a word meaning "Indian planting grounds". Though its meaning remains uncertain, it is the name of the valley that encompasses Park Ridge.

In the early 1700's one of the early settlers took advantage of the two Indian trails that crossed at the present location of Mill Lane and Main Street (Pascack Road). Here they constructed the "Block House". It was a fortified structure built to withstand an attack by any unhappy Indian tribe that may have traveled by. It was the first commercial business in this section of Bergen County. Its primary function was a trading post.

About 1750 Captain Garret Ackerson built his home directly opposite the Block House. He later erected a store opposite his home just south of the Block House. It was operated by his nephew Cornelius Demarest, and became known as the "trading post". The building was declared unsafe and demolished in 1938.

The Ackersons were the first to recognize the value of the Pascack Brook as a source of water power. They built a dam across the brook, where the town now has its municipal field, and built and operated a woolen mill. This later became the Campbell Wampum Mill (1789), operated by William Campbell and his four sons. They were the first to realize the value of wampum as a means of trade between the Indians and the "whites". They had built a "special" machine for making the wampum and it is on display in the Historical Museum on Ridge Avenue. Campbell made wampum is in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington.

In 1870 the Van Riper Manufacturing Company built a mill on what is now Mill Pond and here they made bobbins and wooden spools on which silk thread was wound. Park Ridge , at one time, was a silk producing area, but the venture was not profitable.

This structure was destroyed by fire in 1876.

On its lighter side Park Ridge had the greatest amusement center in Bergen County, known as Island Park. This land had been dedicated to public use by William B. Smith, who owned the property. Picnics and family gatherings were held there.

The original sponsors of the picnic idea were the Park Ridge Improvement Association and the Court of Park Ridge, Ancient order of Foresters. They alternated in conducting dances at the park.

The financial receipts the Improvement Assn' received from this venture were sufficient to carry on its work of improving roads, sidewalks and street lamps. At that time Park Ridge was the only town between Hackensack and Spring Valley that had any public street lighting system. The electricity was supplied by the "Generating Station" built at Mill Pond on the original site of the Woolen Mill.

On a motion offered by the Improvement Assn' steps were taken to incorporate. It was at once approved and May 14, 1894 was set as the day for a special election to vote for incorporation. The vote was favorable and Park Ridge became an incorporated Borough. It was not recorded in the County Clerk's office until June 21, 1894.

Dr. Henry C. Neer was elected as the first mayor of the new borough. The first meeting was held in the office of Mittag and Volger, on Park Avenue. James Leach was chosen as president of the Council. Francis Wheaton was nominated to be the Borough Clerk. The Councilmen, however, refused to confirm the nomination. After lengthy discussion and the Mayor having put up "every fair and square man in town", the Mayor relinquished his chair to the president. President Leach then nominated John C. Storms for the clerkship, and this was confirmed.

Mayor Neer at this point, protested the fairness of the mayoral election and demanded a re-count. Another election was held and James H. Wield, the Mayor's former opponent was elected. The members of the first council were James Leach, Theodore G. Volger, John C. Storms, Jacob H. Hall, James A. Heale and Eugene Jehl.

After the election the Park Ridge Improvement Association quietly disbanded, feeling that their work could best be done by the municipal body thereafter.

This was the birth of "our town." The foundation laid, ensuing years brought many improvements of which we are justly proud.

More History

Otto Rodeck was the first paid policeman. In 1929, Anthony J. Salimone assumed his duties and a short time later became chief. In 1954, Norman H. Stalter took over the duties of Police Chief. He guided the Department into a modern police unit. Today, Chief Richard Oppenheimer leads our elite Police Department.

In 1946, The Tri-Boro Radio Service was started. This was located in Park Ridge Police Headquarters, and headed by Chief Dispatcher John Worfold. The radio room today is headed by Supervisor John Van Wettering at the same location (Note: it was until "Floyd" came through our town in 1999. A new location has yet to be finalized). Today it is known as "Tri-Boro Communications Center". It is a state of the art facility. It is the hub of communication for Park Ridge, Montvale and Woodcliff Lake. It handles all police, fire, emergency and general information calls. With the implementation of "911" the Communications Center provides a vital link between the three communities and emergency services.

In the early years there was no ambulance service in this part of Bergen County. In those "good old days" anyone unlucky enough to need to go to the hospital had to travel to Hackensack Hospital. Such a trip took place in three stages. First the patient had to be transported to the Railroad Station in either a buggy or a sleigh, depending on the weather conditions, on a makeshift litter. When the train arrived, the patient was placed in the baggage car for the trip to the train station in Hackensack nearest the hospital. Finally, if the patient survived this trip they were then removed from the baggage car and taken to the hospital in a buggy or sleigh. In the early nineteen hundreds came the gasoline engine bringing the first ambulance to Bergen County. Such a vehicle was purchased by Hackensack Hospital. The ambulance covered so many towns that you had to "pray" it was not in use in another town or being repaired as it often was, and of course, it was a thirteen mile trip here and thirteen miles back to the hospital. Such was the type of service available until the late thirties.

In 1938, a group of civic minded residents who were members of the Park Ridge Fire Department got together and raised the funds necessary to purchase an ambulance. These men organized the Park Ridge Fireman's Tri-Boro Ambulance Corps, purchased the first ambulance, a La Salle, and proceeded to recruit and train volunteers to serve as attendants.

In 1959 the Corps became known as the Tri-Boro Ambulance Service. It now had volunteers from the three communities making up the Tri-Boro area. In 1965 a second ambulance was purchased to keep pace with the growth of the Tri-Boro Community. Today the Tri-Boro Ambulance Corps is stationed at a new facility at Mill Road and Mill Lane. Today's members are trained EMT's putting in some 160 hours plus in training. They currently have three "state of the art" ambulances and are often assisted by MICU (mobile intensive care unit) which are dispatched from area hospitals. The ambulance corps currently has some 62 members, active and inactive. They operate by assigning crews to covers specific hours during every 24 hour period. If more than one ambulance is needed this then requires a "general call". This type of call rely's on the availability of off duty members. As in most every community, the day time demand for members is high. The ambulance corp is in urgent need of volunteers for the day crews.

When the borough of Park Ridge was 4 years old in 1898, approximately 50 men met and formed the fire department which they named the Volunteer Fire Department of Park Ridge. The first fire house was on Hawthorne Avenue. In 1900 after a heated argument, about half the men left the Volunteers and started their own fire department, located on Broadway. They called themselves the Century Hook and Ladder Company. About 1907 or 1908 another company was formed and called themselves the Colony Hose Company, located on Colony Avenue. All three of these buildings are still standing today.

Around 1911 or 1912 the Century Hook and Ladder Company bought a Howe pump and converted a Model "T" Ford chassis to hold the pump. About the same time the Volunteers bought a Pope Hartford Chemical engine and built a fire house on Park Avenue. (The location is Lucia's Park Ridge Garage.) In 1924 the Borough decided to take over the fire departments and so combined the three companies to make one Park Ridge Fire Department. Today, our fire department is in a new location behind the municipal complex.

In 1904 the Electric Department started with seventeen consumers. In 1924 our water system was put into operation. Park Ridge was the first municipality in this section of the country to have electrical power. The present day utility department still provides electric and water service to the residents of Park Ridge.

I hope you have found this page to be interesting and informative. Any additions or suggestions are welcome. We will continue to gather information to add to this history. Most of the information contained was taken from the "75th" and "100th" Anniversary books.

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