Oddities
Things to be Remembered
As there would be in any town there are things that should be remembered as “ oddities” or “ happenings” in that town that may be of no historical or significant importance other then to be remembrances. Here are a few of those things:
As there would be in any town there are things that should be remembered as “ oddities” or “ happenings” in that town that may be of no historical or significant importance other then to be remembrances. Here are a few of those things:
- Nine Hole Golf Course
- An Unwelcome Industry
- Fords Fields & Airplanes
- Echo Glen Lake
- Our Beacon Light
- Camp Shanks
- Racetrack
During the 1930's if you were to ride along Rockland Avenue you would be riding along side of a golf course that was on the eastern side of Rockland Avenue running from Central Avenue to Cleveland Avenue. It also extended as far east as the back yards of the only two houses on Rivervale Road. The course also extended eastward along Cleveland Avenue almost to Rivervale Road. This was a nine hole course that was owned by the Kocembia family and used by some of the Westwood and Hillsdale businessmen. There was a small one story clubhouse that stood on the corner of Cleveland and Rockand Avenues. The course was stifled first by the depression and then World War II and closed up about 1940 or 1941. The property sat idle for a couple of years until parcels were sold off and homes built where the fairways and greens were seen. All that remains of the memory of that nice little course are the names Golf Court and Fairway Terrace.
Sometime in the period of time about World War II someone, somehow constructed a place on the south edge of the St Andrews cemetery that was to become a fertilizer processing plant.
The owners of the place would boil tons of chicken manure several nights every week. Then it would be dried and packed into bags for distribution. This created a smell that would be indescribable. The prevailing winds would bring that incredible smell to most of the town that was to lie east or north of the site. This, naturally, caused a great protest with the citizens of the town but legally there was nothing that could be done to remove the plant because at that time there was nothing legally established that could force it to close down. Fate stepped in however and one night the cooking process caused the place to burn to the ground and they were not permitted to rebuild. There was not a single resident that was not overjoyed to see this place vanish from the scene.
The owners of the place would boil tons of chicken manure several nights every week. Then it would be dried and packed into bags for distribution. This created a smell that would be indescribable. The prevailing winds would bring that incredible smell to most of the town that was to lie east or north of the site. This, naturally, caused a great protest with the citizens of the town but legally there was nothing that could be done to remove the plant because at that time there was nothing legally established that could force it to close down. Fate stepped in however and one night the cooking process caused the place to burn to the ground and they were not permitted to rebuild. There was not a single resident that was not overjoyed to see this place vanish from the scene.
Sometime during the 1920's someone planned to develop what was known to then River Vale residents as “ Ford's field “. This was the large plot of land bordered by Cedar Lane, Rockland Avenue, Cleveland Avenue, and Central Avenue. All the streets were put in place, but not yet paved and there were concrete sidewalks installed. Suddenly the country was hit by very bad economic times so this planned housing project never progressed beyond that point other than three or four model homes on Cleveland Avenue. The entire undertaking then became another victim of the depression and the entire area shortly became overgrown with small trees, weeds, sticker bushes, and tall grass.
This place, however, did not go unnoticed by a few of the more adventurous young men of those times who dared to fly around in the skies in their airplanes. Roosevelt Avenue seemed to be situated in a manner so it provided a perfect place for these fellows to land their planes on a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon and stretch their legs for a bit. Also at this time in history there were no restrictions as to where an airplane could or could not land. These landings provided residents young and old alike to actually see, up close, what an airplane looked and felt like. In those times these same young pilots were looked upon as “ space travelers.” Other than these landings one would only see two or three planes fly over the town in a weeks time. As World War II descended upon our country this practice ended and the field once again reverted back to a big overgrown, unused field. These same young fellows all went off to fight in the war someplace.
This place, however, did not go unnoticed by a few of the more adventurous young men of those times who dared to fly around in the skies in their airplanes. Roosevelt Avenue seemed to be situated in a manner so it provided a perfect place for these fellows to land their planes on a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon and stretch their legs for a bit. Also at this time in history there were no restrictions as to where an airplane could or could not land. These landings provided residents young and old alike to actually see, up close, what an airplane looked and felt like. In those times these same young pilots were looked upon as “ space travelers.” Other than these landings one would only see two or three planes fly over the town in a weeks time. As World War II descended upon our country this practice ended and the field once again reverted back to a big overgrown, unused field. These same young fellows all went off to fight in the war someplace.
As mentioned elsewhere in this book Garret Holdrum created the lake pictured above by damning up the stream that runs under Rivervale Road just north of the police station. The lake at one time was stocked with bass and other nice gamefish and was a great place for public fishing summer and winter. This picture was taken from Echo Glen Road looking northward..
The lake was also a fine place for ice skating during the winter months. During a winter weekend it was not unusual to see 20 or 30 people skating on the lake plus an occasional iceboat that would be trying to get enough breeze to run up and down the length of the lake
The lake ran in a westerly direction almost up to where the Holiday Farms complex is at the present time. It ran east for about 300 feet from Rivervale Road where the remains of the Holdrum dam can still be seen back in those woods.
Looking at the picture you can see the old Holdrum house behind the trees and to the right you can see the buildings remaining from the Holdrum farm. To the extreme right there was a smaller building that housed the short wave radio belonging to Abe Holdrum. This was quite an unusual thing during the 1930's. This little building was also used as a clubhouse for Abe and some of his River Vale friends.. At one time Mr. Holdrum wanted to construct small cabins along the southern shore of the lake for summer rentals. He had only constructed two of them
( one shown in the photo ) and that project went no further, probably because of the poor economy at that time. The dam broke about the year 1936 or 1937 during a fierce rainstorm and drained the lake overnight. The dam was never rebuilt.
The lake was also a fine place for ice skating during the winter months. During a winter weekend it was not unusual to see 20 or 30 people skating on the lake plus an occasional iceboat that would be trying to get enough breeze to run up and down the length of the lake
The lake ran in a westerly direction almost up to where the Holiday Farms complex is at the present time. It ran east for about 300 feet from Rivervale Road where the remains of the Holdrum dam can still be seen back in those woods.
Looking at the picture you can see the old Holdrum house behind the trees and to the right you can see the buildings remaining from the Holdrum farm. To the extreme right there was a smaller building that housed the short wave radio belonging to Abe Holdrum. This was quite an unusual thing during the 1930's. This little building was also used as a clubhouse for Abe and some of his River Vale friends.. At one time Mr. Holdrum wanted to construct small cabins along the southern shore of the lake for summer rentals. He had only constructed two of them
( one shown in the photo ) and that project went no further, probably because of the poor economy at that time. The dam broke about the year 1936 or 1937 during a fierce rainstorm and drained the lake overnight. The dam was never rebuilt.
For many, many years during the 20', 30, and 40's River Vale was the home of a constant running beacon light like the one pictured here. This light faithfully sent out its signal of three red flashes and one white flash during the earlier years of commercial aviation. For a long time it was located on the Herrmann property, now part of the present municipal complex, and then later was moved to the west side of Rockland Avenue about 100 feet south of Echo Glen Road.
For years this light was to safely guide mail and other planes from anyplace north and northeast of New Jersey down to the Bergen County area and points further south. It was one of the links in a navigational system that ran from Boston to the Teterboro airport and continued south from there. The next link north of our light was at High Tor in Haverstraw and the link below it was at Teterboro airport. This primitive system made it possible for an airplane to be able to operate at night without the use of a aircraft radio.
For years this light was to safely guide mail and other planes from anyplace north and northeast of New Jersey down to the Bergen County area and points further south. It was one of the links in a navigational system that ran from Boston to the Teterboro airport and continued south from there. The next link north of our light was at High Tor in Haverstraw and the link below it was at Teterboro airport. This primitive system made it possible for an airplane to be able to operate at night without the use of a aircraft radio.
During the early days of World War II the government needed a place for a large army camp in the New York area so they condemned hundreds of acres in Orangeburg NY and built a large army camp. This, of course, was not River Vale in any manner at all but nevertheless did affect River Vale in any number of ways.
The prime purpose of the camp was to be used in World War II as the main east coast port of embarkation for US soldiers to be sent overseas to where ever they happened to be needed at the time. The soldiers would be sent to Camp Shanks from many different army camps all over the country and be gathered together to form a fighting unit or a support unit for the war in Europe. The soldiers would usually stay at the camp for anywhere from two days to two weeks as their units were getting assembled. While waiting for their turn to be shipped out the fellows had little to do so they were frequent visitors at the few bars in River Vale and the towns that were likewise within easy reach of the Orangeburg camp.
In addition to the presence of these welcome visitors to the area the camp also provided many jobs for the local residents including River Vale folks. The building of the camp provided thousands of jobs for a area that had been “ job starved” ever since the depression so the camp was not an unwelcome new neighbor.
In June of 1944 the Italians gave up their partnership with Germany and decided to team up with the Allied side of the conflict. About this same time the need for new troops in Europe lessened and the camp was less busy than it had been during the previous two years. Much to the horror of the local residents of the area they learned that the camp was now to be a prisoner of war camp. This caused much public outcry and concern for a short time.. The local people quickly learned that this was to be for Italian prisoners and the Italians were not mad at anyone.
The Italians quickly were recognized as a nice bunch of easy going happy young fellows and very soon they became like part of the landscape. Many of them had jobs outside of the camp in nearby restaurants, farms, and local businesses or even other military installations. They could come and go as they pleased and were left unguarded. They seemed to have no desire to escape. Many had relatives in the New York area and in Hudson County so they would spend time visiting with them. They often could be seen in their uniforms walking through River Vale on Sunday afternoons taking a leisurely stroll through our countryside. Many of them married American girls from New York or from Hudson County and eventually settled in the United States.
Next along came to the camp German prisoners, however they were not nearly as amiable as the Italians and they were not permitted off of the camp and they were guarded by American soldiers. They were treated as POWs, which, of course, they were. Many of the Germans remained hostile until they were about to be sent back to their own devastated homeland. Then all of a sudden there were many of these Germans who did not want to leave the United States and they tried all sorts of things to remain here. Some actually did escape and hoped to blend in with the local citizens but they eventually were all rounded up and sent home. Many of them quickly returned to this country and established residence in this same area where they were once held as prisoners and thus had successful, happy lives..
As the war was winding down in 1944 and 1945 the camp had a more pleasant responsibility and that was to welcome home many of the soldiers who were coming back from the war in Europe.
The soldiers would come into the New Jersey ports , be brought to Camp Shanks by train, and in a very short time would be sent to a camp near their home for discharge or else be discharged right from Camp Shanks.
After returning the German and Italian prisoners to their homes in Europe during the years 1945 and 1946 the government had no longer had any need for the camp and it was closed down as an army camp and became a low cost housing area for many, many young couples most of whom were attending colleges in New York City.
After a few years that too ended and the entire area became several housing developments and shopping areas and gradually melded into the surrounding area as it is today
The prime purpose of the camp was to be used in World War II as the main east coast port of embarkation for US soldiers to be sent overseas to where ever they happened to be needed at the time. The soldiers would be sent to Camp Shanks from many different army camps all over the country and be gathered together to form a fighting unit or a support unit for the war in Europe. The soldiers would usually stay at the camp for anywhere from two days to two weeks as their units were getting assembled. While waiting for their turn to be shipped out the fellows had little to do so they were frequent visitors at the few bars in River Vale and the towns that were likewise within easy reach of the Orangeburg camp.
In addition to the presence of these welcome visitors to the area the camp also provided many jobs for the local residents including River Vale folks. The building of the camp provided thousands of jobs for a area that had been “ job starved” ever since the depression so the camp was not an unwelcome new neighbor.
In June of 1944 the Italians gave up their partnership with Germany and decided to team up with the Allied side of the conflict. About this same time the need for new troops in Europe lessened and the camp was less busy than it had been during the previous two years. Much to the horror of the local residents of the area they learned that the camp was now to be a prisoner of war camp. This caused much public outcry and concern for a short time.. The local people quickly learned that this was to be for Italian prisoners and the Italians were not mad at anyone.
The Italians quickly were recognized as a nice bunch of easy going happy young fellows and very soon they became like part of the landscape. Many of them had jobs outside of the camp in nearby restaurants, farms, and local businesses or even other military installations. They could come and go as they pleased and were left unguarded. They seemed to have no desire to escape. Many had relatives in the New York area and in Hudson County so they would spend time visiting with them. They often could be seen in their uniforms walking through River Vale on Sunday afternoons taking a leisurely stroll through our countryside. Many of them married American girls from New York or from Hudson County and eventually settled in the United States.
Next along came to the camp German prisoners, however they were not nearly as amiable as the Italians and they were not permitted off of the camp and they were guarded by American soldiers. They were treated as POWs, which, of course, they were. Many of the Germans remained hostile until they were about to be sent back to their own devastated homeland. Then all of a sudden there were many of these Germans who did not want to leave the United States and they tried all sorts of things to remain here. Some actually did escape and hoped to blend in with the local citizens but they eventually were all rounded up and sent home. Many of them quickly returned to this country and established residence in this same area where they were once held as prisoners and thus had successful, happy lives..
As the war was winding down in 1944 and 1945 the camp had a more pleasant responsibility and that was to welcome home many of the soldiers who were coming back from the war in Europe.
The soldiers would come into the New Jersey ports , be brought to Camp Shanks by train, and in a very short time would be sent to a camp near their home for discharge or else be discharged right from Camp Shanks.
After returning the German and Italian prisoners to their homes in Europe during the years 1945 and 1946 the government had no longer had any need for the camp and it was closed down as an army camp and became a low cost housing area for many, many young couples most of whom were attending colleges in New York City.
After a few years that too ended and the entire area became several housing developments and shopping areas and gradually melded into the surrounding area as it is today
In the year 1934 a corporation, Pascack Valley Stables, was formed with the intent of constructing an all purpose horse track on Piermont Ave in River Vale. It was planned to be a official size trotting track, a place for people to board their horses and a place where one could rent a horse by the hour, for recreational riding. The track and stables were built in 1934 on a large parcel of land that was previously an open field and a swamp There was a little stream running through the center of the place that eventually goes under Rivervale Road just north of the police station and then into the Hackensack River.
In 1934 I lived on Echo Glen Ave and at least once a week my grandfather would put my brother and I in a wagon and pull us over to Piermont Ave to watch workmen build this track. We would have sandwiches with us and it was a picnic of sorts. Any construction like that was very unusual at that time.
We saw things that were entirely new to us. There were bulldozers, ( first I ever saw ) big trucks,
“ steam shovels “, and all kinds of land clearing equipment busily moving all that dirt around. It was a busy and exciting place to watch.
The entrance to the big place was pretty much where it is now to get into Holiday Farms. When you went through the big gates you would see a large , full sized, race track in front of you all fenced in with a rail fence as any race track would be. On your left would be a large stable and then going back away from Piermont Ave would be a small refreshment stand and then two little booths where people would go to bet on their favotite horses. Then continuing back further on the left side was a long row of stables where the horses would be kept. In addition to those stables there were additional stables to your right as you came in off of Piermont Ave. These had two part doors that permitted the horse to look out at everything when the top section was open.
The track was an official sized track, called a “ half mile track “ and the whole place was quite exciting on days when there was racing. This was sort of a “ minor league “ track and mostly used for training horses for the big time tracks like Goshen, NY and Yonkers NY. However to the folks in River Vale this was big time racing. My guess is that the racing was done in 1935, ‘36,' 37 and maybe 1938.... . This was during the Great Depression of the 30's so it did not flourish as well as it would have during better times.
The entire place was fenced in by a 6 ft high, white, wooden fence and there was a big grandstand over on the far side built into the hill going toward Cedar Lane. The fence proved to be no problem to us kids because we knew how to get under it many places. Thus admission was free.. It really was an attractive looking place in it's early days.
There was also a nice big pond in the center of the whole place that was formed by damming up the little stream that went through the property..
I can remember that during a busy racing day the local kids were paid 15 or 20 cents to “ cool off” a horse that had just finished a race. We'd have to walk them slowly for about 20 minutes in a big circle because they did want them to just run a race , get all sweated up, and then just stop. They had to cool down slowly so some of us exercised them. One of our good friends worked at the place cleaning the stables and doing odd jobs so we could easily get a horse to exercise and make a few cents..
As a explanation this type of racing was called “ harness racing “ . The horses would pull a little cart behind them called a “ sulky “ with a “ driver” sitting on it. The horses were called “ trotters” or “ pacers” depending on their gait ... This was not racing with a jockey sitting on top of the horse.
The racing died out, probably because the depression got worse as time went on and people did not have money for that type of activity. Then the track became a place where trainers could board their horses and train them plus people with their own horses also could board them there for a fee and also you could rent a horse by the hour and ride him around the woods and along side of the streets in River Vale and Hillsdale. It was not unusual to see horses and riders traveling along Piermont Ave as you drove by during the 1940's and early ‘50's. When there were not horses training the local kids would ride their bikes around the track for their amusement.
The most memorable things of that spot was that every year the River Vale Firemen would have a big fireworks display right in the center of the big track. This was truly a major event in the area and actually gathered a large crowd. The people would sit in the big grandstand and watch the display out in front of them. Someone would always be there selling refreshments of one kind or another.
I do remember at least one other time when the firemen put on a show of some kind where they had clowns, donkey baseball and even boxing matches all performed out in front of the same grandstand. It was all done at night under big lights that were in the grandstand area. There was a wooden boxing ring built out in front of the grandstand for the event also.
During the mid 50's I moved out of town and became pretty much removed from the track until I saw a piece in the Bergen Record in 1969 that told of the entire place being destroyed by fire. At that time it was owned by someone named Minetto and I believe that over 50 horses were killed in that fire. The Holiday Farms project started after that and presently occupies the entire area .
In 1934 I lived on Echo Glen Ave and at least once a week my grandfather would put my brother and I in a wagon and pull us over to Piermont Ave to watch workmen build this track. We would have sandwiches with us and it was a picnic of sorts. Any construction like that was very unusual at that time.
We saw things that were entirely new to us. There were bulldozers, ( first I ever saw ) big trucks,
“ steam shovels “, and all kinds of land clearing equipment busily moving all that dirt around. It was a busy and exciting place to watch.
The entrance to the big place was pretty much where it is now to get into Holiday Farms. When you went through the big gates you would see a large , full sized, race track in front of you all fenced in with a rail fence as any race track would be. On your left would be a large stable and then going back away from Piermont Ave would be a small refreshment stand and then two little booths where people would go to bet on their favotite horses. Then continuing back further on the left side was a long row of stables where the horses would be kept. In addition to those stables there were additional stables to your right as you came in off of Piermont Ave. These had two part doors that permitted the horse to look out at everything when the top section was open.
The track was an official sized track, called a “ half mile track “ and the whole place was quite exciting on days when there was racing. This was sort of a “ minor league “ track and mostly used for training horses for the big time tracks like Goshen, NY and Yonkers NY. However to the folks in River Vale this was big time racing. My guess is that the racing was done in 1935, ‘36,' 37 and maybe 1938.... . This was during the Great Depression of the 30's so it did not flourish as well as it would have during better times.
The entire place was fenced in by a 6 ft high, white, wooden fence and there was a big grandstand over on the far side built into the hill going toward Cedar Lane. The fence proved to be no problem to us kids because we knew how to get under it many places. Thus admission was free.. It really was an attractive looking place in it's early days.
There was also a nice big pond in the center of the whole place that was formed by damming up the little stream that went through the property..
I can remember that during a busy racing day the local kids were paid 15 or 20 cents to “ cool off” a horse that had just finished a race. We'd have to walk them slowly for about 20 minutes in a big circle because they did want them to just run a race , get all sweated up, and then just stop. They had to cool down slowly so some of us exercised them. One of our good friends worked at the place cleaning the stables and doing odd jobs so we could easily get a horse to exercise and make a few cents..
As a explanation this type of racing was called “ harness racing “ . The horses would pull a little cart behind them called a “ sulky “ with a “ driver” sitting on it. The horses were called “ trotters” or “ pacers” depending on their gait ... This was not racing with a jockey sitting on top of the horse.
The racing died out, probably because the depression got worse as time went on and people did not have money for that type of activity. Then the track became a place where trainers could board their horses and train them plus people with their own horses also could board them there for a fee and also you could rent a horse by the hour and ride him around the woods and along side of the streets in River Vale and Hillsdale. It was not unusual to see horses and riders traveling along Piermont Ave as you drove by during the 1940's and early ‘50's. When there were not horses training the local kids would ride their bikes around the track for their amusement.
The most memorable things of that spot was that every year the River Vale Firemen would have a big fireworks display right in the center of the big track. This was truly a major event in the area and actually gathered a large crowd. The people would sit in the big grandstand and watch the display out in front of them. Someone would always be there selling refreshments of one kind or another.
I do remember at least one other time when the firemen put on a show of some kind where they had clowns, donkey baseball and even boxing matches all performed out in front of the same grandstand. It was all done at night under big lights that were in the grandstand area. There was a wooden boxing ring built out in front of the grandstand for the event also.
During the mid 50's I moved out of town and became pretty much removed from the track until I saw a piece in the Bergen Record in 1969 that told of the entire place being destroyed by fire. At that time it was owned by someone named Minetto and I believe that over 50 horses were killed in that fire. The Holiday Farms project started after that and presently occupies the entire area .