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By A. Thornton Bishop, Chairman, Planning BoardThe Sunday Sun, April 28, 1946 |
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PART IV*
The Township comes of Age 1895-1930
* Should be Part V, but this is how it showed on the original newspaper.
The County of. Bergen, created originally by the Provincial Legislature in March 1682, included the territory between Constable Hook, Bayonne, and the New York state line, and from the Hudson to the Hackensack River. In 1709 it was enlarged to include the land which extended westward, part of which in 1837 became Passaic County, Hudson County was formed out of the southern part of Bergen in 1840.
In 1693 the County was divided into two townships--Bergen and Hackensack. The land of the latter lay between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers. Harrington Township, created in 1775, embraced the northern portions of both Bergen and Hackensack Townships which bordered the Hackensack River. Ridgefield, Englewood, and Palisades Townships reduced the territory of the Hackensack Township still further in 1871, by an act of legislature the Township of Teaneck was made out of parts of these three townships, and the incorporation of Teaneck was effected on February 13, 1895.
First Town Government
The first form of government was by a Township Committee of three member. William Bennett was elected for a three year term: Peter I. Ackerman, for a two-year term; and Henry. J. Brinkerhoff, for a one-year term. Mr. Bennett, serving as chairman of the Committee continued to hold office until 1909. Frank S. De Ronde was selected as Township Clerk in 1895 for three years, being succeeded by John Ackerman from 1898 to 1901. Captain John J. Phelps, son of the Ambassador, was Freeholder from 1895 to 1901.
The building, now occupied by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, originally stood at the corner of Teaneck Road and Church Street, and served as the first Municipal Building. It was subsequently moved intact to its present position on Bedford Avenue. Here, The Township came of age, determining its own assessments, and here the ideas for its future development were debated in open meetings, giving everyone with a stake in that future a chance to be heard.
Town's Early Roads
Until 1880, Teaneck moved over four public thoroughfares--River Road, Teaneck Road, New Bridge Road, and Fort Lee Road. The main roads on the Phelps estate included Sheffield Avenue from the Grange to the gatelodge at Nordhoff, in Englewood; the Diagonal road from the residence to Englewood; the West Englewood Road, from the residence to West Englewood, which later became Queen Anne Road; the Hackensack Road, leading from the Grange to the Anderson Street bridge, later developed as Cedar Lane; the Bennett Road, leading to Englewood; the Demarest Road, & stretch of. three miles running east from the residence; and the Fyke, then running south over the hills, and near the West Shore Road which connected with nearly all other roads running to north Cedar Lane.
In February 1880, the residents of West Englewood petitioned the Township of Englewood to construct a road to connect River Road with Teaneck Road. The line was established and the abutting property holders on each side deeded a 30-foot strip to make West Englewood Avenue. Peter I. Ackerman, the elder, and known as "Squire Peter" to distinguish him from his son by the same name owned practically the entire strip of land bordering the south side of the new thoroughfare; from River Road to a point just west of the present location of Queen Anne Road. The "Squire" lived in the house which later accommodated the Roosevelt Academy, since torn down. His son, Peter, occupied the quaint Dutch Colonial farmhouse now the residence of William S. Davis.
Development of Teaneck Different
The development of Teaneck differed from that of other towns because of the large private-estate which occupied the center of its territory. Towns grow up, in most cases, around crossroads or a railroad station, spreading along the main arteries of traffic until smaller intersecting thoroughfares are required. Teaneck grew along the edge of its perimeter, developing its different sections individually, until the time the Phelps estate was broken into building lots. This condition presented a handicap to those who, detached from one another's problems, found it difficult to approach Township affairs with equal consideration for varying points of view.
The earliest building activity occurred in the Bogota section, situated along the Hackensack River in the southwest portion of the Township. Almost concurrently, homes were built in the opposite corner of Teaneck; then known as Washington Heights because of its proximity to the General's march from Fort Lee. The area is now referred to as the Tryon Avenue section.
The improvement of Queen Anne Road about1910 opened the way for building of a small community of homes around Bogert Street, Pinewood Place and Evergreen Place. Forest Avenue was not opened up until about 1925 when it was necessary to remove the largest oak tree in Bergen County which stood at the intersection of Forest Avenue and Margaret Street.
Growth started in 1920
The widow of the Ambassador continued to live in the "Griggs" house, until her death in 1920, when.1arge portions of the Phelps estate were turned over to realty development. The rapid growth of Teaneck can be dated from this time. Cherry Lane, Vandelinda Avenue and Johnson Avenue were among those first streets to appear, in the center the Township. The Holy Name Hospital now occupies the site of the "Griggs" house.
The section to the south and east, now known as Glenwood park, sprang into life with the opening of the trolley service previously mentioned. It was the only means of transit to the Hudson River. As early as 1859, the Northern Railway, now operated as the Erie, carried commuters from the eastern parts of Bergen County to New York. In 1873, the rai1road, which initiated service from Bogota to Tappan was short-lived, and sporadic attempts made to renew it were unsuccessful until the West Shore began operation in 1883. It is related that in 1890 eight faithful commuters trudged through the woods regularly to take the train for New York from the West Englewood station.
Grade Crossings Eliminated
In 1926 the roadbed was widened to include a four-track line as far as Dumont, which occasioned the first constructive thinking by Teaneck residents toward the future planning of the Township. It was at this time that the grade crossings at Cedar Lane and at West Englewood Avenue were eliminated. Negotiations with the railroad officials proved advantageous to the Township. At Cedar Lane, the New York Central Company built the viaduct, the County paid for the grading, while the Township's share was the paving of the new roadway. At West Englewood, Nelson Ayres, realtor, built the ramps which connect with the railroad overpass, the Township bearing the cost of the paving.
The Garrison Avenue section was developed about 1925 when Samuel B. Garrison purchased property from the Phelps estate and created the community which occupies that area.
Teaneck's Early Landmarks
Teaneck is virtually in its first growth, and while the neighboring towns of New Bridge and River Edge, for instance, appear as settlements with a more historic past, there are a few landmarks in Teaneck which hold the charm of an earlier day, and which the Township should seek to preserve, not only for their sentimental antiquity, but for the purity of their architectural heritage.
In addition to the home of the Demarests on Teaneck Road, erected in 1735, and the John Ackerman house, bunt in 1787, now occupied by Mr. Davis, the Zabriskie-Kipp-Cadmus house, located on River Road at about the foot of North Street, is worthy of attention. Built in 1761 by George Zabriskie, brother of Peter, who was the owner of the Mansion House on the Green at Hackensack, the red-stone farmhouse in the Dutch Colonial style, stands in a grove of trees bordering a cove in the Hackensack River, It is now the home of the Cadmus family, descendants of John Cadmus, confidential agent for General Washington.
