River Vale

By Edmund A. Moderacki

River Vale explores a historically rich community that has been known over the years as the Overkill Neighborhood, Harrington Township, Washington Township, and the borough of Eastwood. One of the first settled areas of the Kakiat Patent, River Vale was the scene of the Baylor Massacre, New Jersey's bloodiest skirmish of the Revolutionary War. The area's fine farmland enabled some of Bergen County's earliest settlers to flourish. Strong streams provided power for the mills and the famed Collignon chair factory.By the 1920s, a change came over the township. Its proximity to New York City made River Vale's land more valuable for recreation than for farming, and the township became known for its summer charms, golf courses, and ice arena. Visitors arriving in bus caravans traveled from urban areas to enjoy the pleasures of Herrmann's Grove, and fishermen flocked on opening day to angle for trout in the clear waters of the Hackensack River and the Pascack Brook. It was this very appeal that led to tremendous change as River Vale became one of North Jersey's attractive bedroom communities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439628492

Edmund A. Moderacki

Edmund A. Moderacki was born in River Vale and has taught in the local schools for thirty-five years. He is a member of the Pascack Historical Society and is the River Vale Township historian. In River Vale, he has complemented vintage photographs from longtime local residents and the River Vale Free Public Library with fascinating and informative text.

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INTRODUCTION

I was born in River Vale in 1946 and have worked in the local schools since 1968. I traveled the streets in this history, fished in the Pascack Brook, used the stores and banks, went to and worked in the schools, and talked with some of the people whose images are captured within. The changing of the community occurred gradually, and passed with only the slightest of recognition by me at the time. Until assembling this book for the Images of America series, I had forgotten how the town looked some 50 years ago.

My interest in preserving a record of the community was boosted by the celebration of the bicentennial of the Baylor Massacre in 1978. It was at that time that I began to gather materials about the history of the community, initially for a visual display for the schools and the community. Three years later, in 1981, I was asked to chair the 75th Anniversary of River Vale Committee. Among our activities was planning a visual display at the library and in the schools as well as preparing a commemorative booklet. It was at that time that I was able to interview several longtime residents of the township who shared their memories and photographs with me. About two thirds of the pictures in this book were acquired at that time.

Over the years, I have gradually added photographs and have continued to speak with current and former residents, and this book is the result. In organizing the book, I felt it necessary to devote the largest chapter to a trip up Rivervale Road, as the thoroughfare is the physical backbone of the community. Several images from 1981 have been included to help the reader understand the changes that have occurred and to help them place the locations of the photographs. In some instances, the subjects of the 75th-anniversary photographs are no longer there or have been changed beyond recognition.

In compiling the book, I came to be in awe of many of the inhabitants of River Vale who lived in the town during the beginning of the 20th century. I was impressed by their industry and activity and was also impressed by how their contemporaries described them as helpful and caring individuals. I hope that the readers of this history will come to know them as I have while organizing the images seen here.

—Edmund A. Moderacki

In this c. 1861 map we see Rivervale Road parallel to the Hackensack River. The houses of many of the residents are shown on the map. Other roads that can be identified include the modern Brookside Avenue, Cedar Lane, Piermont Avenue, Prospect Avenue, and Orangeburgh Road. River Vale was, like most of the Pascack Valley, part of Washington Township.

One

A TRIP UP RIVERVALE ROAD

The northern half of River Vale was the first part of the community to be settled. As it was located over the Hackensack River from the village of Tappan, and the Dutch word for river is kill, the area was known as the Overkill Neighborhood. Rivervale Road has served residents since the 1740s. This photograph looks east on Rivervale Road toward Tappan in 1899.

In 1885 River Vale was still a part of the township of Washington. Washington Township had been created in 1840, when the western portion of Harring Township voted to become a separate community. Adam Collignon paid a total of $23.21 for seven acres along Rivervale Road. The property was valued at $1,800. At that time, Washington Township included most of the Pascack Valley. The tax collector, Issac D. Bogert, ran a business in Westwood, which was also a part of Washington Township.

In 1894, a portion of Washington Township, south of Piermont Avenue and east of the Pascack Brook, became the borough of Eastwood. At this time, many of the townships were breaking into smaller local governing units. New Jersey would eventually have over 560 municipal bodies, the most of any state. The tax collector was John H. Lachmund Jr., who listed his address as River Vale, but his general store was over the Hackensack River in Old Tappan.

With a small population of less than 150, Eastwood was not large enough to survive as a