We urge everyone to come & attend our monthly meetings held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7pm at the civic center.
Some upcoming events:
The Carlstadt Historical Society Inc. is planning another interesting year of programs. Due to the changing winter weather, we will be showing videos during the winter months. On January 17th the program will be America Eats #2 History on a Bun and on February 21st will be The 10 Most Important People of the 20th Century. On March 21st, our speaker will be Mr. Edward Moran, local trapper, and award-winning taxidermist, as well as a great story-teller. April 18th will feature Mr. Robert Griffin, Bergen County history expert with the first of his four programs. Mr. Rich Tyler, a former resident of Carlstadt, will present a program on "Transportation in South Bergen & Hudson Counties" on Wednesday May 1. The June 20th meeting will feature a New Jersey Television video "Touring New Jersey". September 19th will feature Charles Mcsorley as "Matthew Brady, Photographer of the civil war". On November 21, the society will show a video on maritime New Jersey, "Our Lighthouses". The society meetings are always scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month at 7 pm at the Carlstadt community (civic) center on fourth street. We are ardently soliciting memoirs, short or long, from local and former residents for our memory lanes collection, and we respectfully ask for any memoribilia residents may find in their houses, be it attic or cellar, from the borough's past. Please come and join us.
The history of Carlstadt is varied and interesting. There have been many characters and families who live on in memory. Flora Ruymen Wilcox Esposito Kilgore was among them. Although she ended her long life teaching sunday school, she roared through life on the fast track. She claimed she was the mysterious lady in red who fingered john dillinger, and cowered in her home in fear that someone would realize it and identify her for a time afterwards. Two of her brothers supposedly had connections with the underworld. One ran a speakeasy on hackensack street; the other was involved in gambling and enforcement. Her lovelife was tumultuous; her third husband was the love of her life. She was involved in many kinds of activities, some of them suspect, none of them dull.
There were rum-runners located down on the hackensack river. On the East Rutherford side of Paterson Plank road as you came across the old iron bridge, was an amusement park which was owned & run by mobsters. The bridge, by the way, was interesting in itself. When it was very hot in the summer, and the bridge had to be opened to allow boats to traverse the river, it sometimes swelled and wouldnt close. So, the fire whistle would blow, the firemen would go down and hose down the bridge to cool it off so it could be closed again.
In earlier years there had been dance halls located in boathouses along the river. One had actually been on a boat. Frankie Rochat, son of the bridge-tender, playfully undid the mooring on that boat, and it floated down the river with the dancers unaware of their adventure.
Bathtub gin was made in some of the homes during prohibition, and bottled for consumption. There were some very large families, who intermarried, and everyone seemed at one time or another to be related. Miss lizzie hegal was a legendary teacher at lincoln school. She was so dedicated that during a snowstorm which stopped all transportation, she walked from her home in newark to open the school. She quietly took note of poor children in her school who were hungry, and provided food for their families when she could.
located on Fifth Street at Division Avenue, is opened from 2 to 4 pm the fourth Sunday of each month. We have established a local artisan's corner. Two people represented are the late Mr. Willy Muhs, who was a wood-carver, and Mr. George Venturini, who has two of his paintings on display, with the promise of several more to come. One of his paintings, of 2 children walking up through Zimmermann's Park (the Woods), he framed with wood taken from the century-old Flannery barn on Fifth street.
A section of the second floor is being dedicated to business establishments of today and the past. Any memorabilia would be greatly appreciated.
Other projects we are gathering facts about is the Old Iron Bridge across the Hackensack River; Sky Harbor, once located at the foot of Paterson Plank Road and the River, which trained pilots during World War 2; the caves located on Broad Street hill, and the rumored tunnels under Hackensack Street. We also ask for old photographs of the meadowland and farm area of Washington Avenue, as well as long-gone buildings in the borough.
The society invites everyone to visit the firehouse museum on 6th street across from Lincoln school the fourth Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 pm. If you cannot make it at that time, you need only call either ms. Arlene Kretz (PRESIDENT) at 201-933-1070, or Mr. Peter Lavagna (VICE PRESIDENT) at 201-939-8560. To make a date for a more convenient time. The newly established local artists corner is quite interesting having just received new pictures. Videos of local interest will be shown on both the first & second floors of the museum during open hours. The society is also soliciting memoirs for the booklet Memory Lanes.
"The Carlstadt Historical Society brass collectible has been sold out. Another ornament is being considered"
To contact the society, please call:
Mr. Peter Lavagna 201-438-6297
or
Ms. Arlene Kretz 201-933-1070