Origin of the Borough of Ridgefield

The history of Ridgefield dates back to the year 1662, when two men with their families settled on the banks of the Overpeck Creek, where in later years the township of Ridgefield was established.

In 1675, Ridgefield was known as the English Neighborhood, covering an area of about 10 square miles from the Hudson River on the east to the Hackensack River on the west, Englewood on the north and Hudson County on the south. In 1871, the name was changed to Ridgefield Township, and from then until 1892 various units seceded from the township until only the area known as Ridgefield was left.

Ridgefield Township consisted of the present towns of Ridgefield Park, Fairview, Cliffside Park, Palisades Park, Fort Lee, Leonia, Edgewater, and Ridgefield.


Early Development

The Northern Railroad of New Jersey, later becoming the northern branch of the Erie-Lackawanna System, was responsible for much of the early development of the entire Northern Valley from Ridgefield to Nyack, New York. Later came the Edgewater Ferry from 125th Street in New York, and a Hudson River trolley line from Edgewater to Paterson. Many New Yorkers enjoyed the open trolley car ride on Sundays and holidays through this beautiful country.

Edgewater Avenue, one of the oldest roads in the county, running from the Hudson River in Edgewater to Hackensack, was built in many places of logs for a road bed, known as a corduroy road. General Alexander Shaler of Civil War fame, and one of the Mayors of the Borough of Ridgefield, was responsible for many of the fine trees that lined this thoroughfare, through which Mrs. Shaler and he enjoyed riding in their horse and carriage.

The building at the corner of Edgewater and Oritan Avenues was once an Indian trading post; later, it became a general store, butcher shop and barber shop.

Overpeck Creek was a popular stream for fishing, crabbing, and boating. There were boat clubs, swimming clubs, and summer bungalows along its banks in Ridgefield and Ridgefield Park, none of which survive.

On May 26, 1892, the Borough of Ridgefield was incorporated and has operated under this name ever since. The area was reduced from 10 square miles to a total of 2.6 miles. The first three ordinances passed by the new Borough Council were for street lighting, wooden sidewalks, and a Board of Health. By the turn of the 20th century, the Borough’s population had swelled to 966.

The latchstring to Ridgefield was a toll gate on the Bergen Turnpike, now known as Broad Avenue, on the Fairview border; another toll gate was at the Overpeck Creek. For 113 years, from 1802 to 1915, travelers paid to enter Ridgefield and paid again to get out of it. A familiar saying at the time was “They get you coming and going.” In 1915, the Bergen County Board of Freeholders purchased the Turnpike and made it a free road.

Broad Avenue & Edgewater AvenueBoth real estate and population boomed in the 1920s with the completion of the George Washington Bridge. The land boom collapsed during the Depression, but population continued to expand.


Historic Locales and Structures

Trinity Spring, located in the Morsemere section of the Borough, was famous for its pure cold water. Research brought out the fact that the water from the spring (really three separate springs in an area of approximately 20 feet) came from the Catskill Mountains through solid rock, a distance of over 100 miles. The property was owned from 1920 by the Great Bear Spring Water Company and the name changed to the Great Bear Spring; the water was bottled in a large plant on Shaler Boulevard and Slocum Avenue.

The Reformed Dutch Church of the English Neighborhood was established in 1770 in what is now Leonia. The first minister was the Reverend Garrit Leydekker, an Englishman and a Tory. In 1776, when George Washington retreated from New York, he passed through English Neighborhood on his way to Hackensack. With the coming of the Continental Army, all those people who believed in the British cause had to flee, among them Dominie Leydekker. He fled to New York, taking with him the records of the Church, which were never returned. The building in Leonia was subsequently torn down and the stones taken away from Leonia and brought to Ridgefield, and built into the present church building in the year 1793. A burial ground is included in the church property, with many interesting inscriptions on the tombstones; General Shaler is buried in this cemetery. The name of the church was changed in 1933 from the Reformed Dutch Church of the English Neighborhood to the English Neighborhood Reformed Church.

Opposite the English Neighborhood Reformed Church stands a red brick building, erected in December 1876, now used by the Public Works Department. This was the first public building erected by the Borough of Ridgefield. It was used as a town hall, and as the first school house. At one time it was used as a firehouse and contained a jail with two iron cells. The Mayor and Council met in this building to transact the affairs of the Borough. It was also used in the early 1900s by the public for dances and other social gatherings.

At the junction of Edgewater and Broad Avenues (where the bank building now stands) was a tavern owned by Dorie Hill, known as the Ridgefield Tavern. At the west side of the tavern was a long low shed used by travelers to tie up their horses while they retired to the tavern to freshen up. Trolley cars, running from Weehawken to Hackensack, passed directly in front of this tavern. At the entrance to the tavern was a bulletin board on which were posted notices pertaining to the town’s activities. A flagpole was erected on this corner. Ridgefield’s first Post Office was across the street from the tavern, and to the west of the Post Office was the Erie Railroad Station.

Trolley cars ran in the center of Broad Avenue and in later years, directly before reaching Edgewater Avenue, they turned left over a trestle and on to the road now known as Hendricks Causeway. The trolley trestle was built to eliminate the railroad crossing on Edgewater Avenue. A trolley station and a waiting room were located on the ground which was later the site of the traffic circle.

Opposite the Ridgefield Tavern on the east side of Broad Avenue was a large building known as the Bergen County Wheelmen’s Clubhouse. A bowling alley was on the ground floor, and a large room on the second floor contained a raised stage. This room was used for dances, fairs, and social gatherings of all kinds. On the third floor was another large room that contained pool tables. Sometimes the building was used for moving picture shows. The building was moved up Broad Avenue a short distance and subsequently contained apartments for 8 families and was also known as Patsy’s Flats (Patsy was the town shoemaker).

The first store was built in 1875 alongside the Erie Railroad tracks. The first private house in the Ridgefield Heights section was erected on Studio Road in 1892 by Mr. and Mrs. Dugald MacColl.


Artists’ Colony

Ridgefield was once home to a thriving colony of artists who traveled the route from Greenwich Village to Ridgefield to enjoy the beautiful landscape that inspired the work on countless canvasses. Beginning around 1897 and continuing during the early 1900s, a colony of artists lived in the Ridgefield Heights section of town, on streets renamed by the artists to Studio Road, Art Lane, Sketch Place, as well as other nearby streets. Drawn to the region originally by its wild scenic beauty and interesting view, the group included James Maxfield, portrait painter; William Sartain, engraver and landscape painter, Van Skyke, magazine illustrator; Gary Melchers, painter; Robert Sprunk, painter; Segurd Neandross, sculptor; Bernard Karfiol, painter; Van Perrine, painter; Robert Carter, painter; Leif Neandross, painter and sculptor; Robert Martin, painter; and William Tisch, painter. Painter, photographer, filmmaker, and writer Man Ray, one of the best known artists of the 20th century, lived in Ridgefield from 1913 to 1916 in a little shack in the artists’ colony. It was in Ridgefield that he met and married the Belgian poet Adon Lacroix, and that he first became friends with Marcel Duchamp. There were a number of writers also living in Ridgefield at various times, among them Manual Komroff, Floyd Dell, and Bob Brown.


Growth of Governmental Services

The original Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1895, three years after the incorporation of Ridgefield as a borough. The fire engine was housed in the brick building opposite the English Neighborhood Reformed Church, and was a two-wheeled hose cart pulled to fires by the volunteers. On the west side of Broad Avenue, just north of the Ridgefield Tavern, was a small building sometimes used as a firehouse which was used when Edgewater Avenue was blocked by a train. There were big iron rings about five feet in diameter hung on framing in various sections of the Borough, and this was the original fire alarm system. When these rings were hit, the sound traveled a great distance; anyone discovering a fire would run to the nearest fire gong, grab a sledge hammer, and start beating on the ring. This was the signal for the volunteer firemen to drop whatever they were doing, rush to the fire house, get out the fire engine, and drag it to the fire.

The first town marshall, named Clyde Wright, was appointed July 11, 1893. In the early 1900s, the Police Department consisted of a few men called marshalls. At one time in the early 20th century, Ridgefield was plagued with a number of robberies, so the young men of the town formed a Vigilante Committee to patrol the streets. They would meet at Rev. Wheaton’s house at the southeast corner of Edgewater and Broad Avenues, play cards until 9:00 o’clock, and then make their rounds of the town. Years later, they discovered the robber was one of the card players! The paid police department was organized in 1924.

The first postal delivery service in Ridgefield was inaugurated in 1929; prior to that time, residents had to call for their mail at the Post Office building adjacent to the Erie Railroad Station, on the south side of Edgewater Avenue. This building was in use from 1906 to 1949.

The Ridgefield Volunteer Ambulance Corps was organized in 1940 by the American Legion, Post No. 221. Dr. Harry Silberman was the first president of the Corps. The first ambulance was acquired by then-Mayor Fred W. Meuter on behalf of the American Legion Post. For many years, the equipment was kept in an annex of the Shaler Boulevard Firehouse. In November, 1963, a modern building was erected on Shaler Boulevard.

The first town hall was the red brick building on Edgewater Avenue and Church Street, and was used until 1920 when the Borough offices were transferred to the second floor of an office building at 595 Broad Avenue. In 1940, a large plot of ground was purchased across the street from the rented quarters, an a handsome building was erected to house the Borough departments. A new Municipal Building was planned, and the cornerstone was laid on October 4, 1952, with the current municipal building officially opened for business on June 29, 1953.

The Ridgefield School District was created in 1875 before the incorporation of the Borough and while Ridgefield was still a part of the Township of Ridgefield. The first schoolhouse was on Edgewater Avenue, west of the Erie Railroad tracks, in the building afterwards used as a town hall, then for a firehouse, and now as quarters for the Public Works Department. This building was used for school purposes until 1896 when School No. 1 was erected on Abbott Avenue. School No. 1 was destroyed by fire in June, 1955.

The Ridgefield Public School Library was established in the early days of the 1900s by General Shaler and Louis H. Cotton, in School No. 1. In 1927, four women, active in civic affairs in the Borough, made inquiries at the New Jersey State Library Commission and other sources regarding the establishment of a public library. Due to their efforts, the Free Public Library of the Borough of Ridgefield was founded in 1927, and ready for operation in September of that year in Public School No. 2 on Prospect Avenue. A modern, air-conditioned building was erected in 1962 on the site of former Public School No. 1 on Abbott and Morse Avenues between Edgewater Avenue and Banta Place.

On Armistice Day, November 11, 1928, the Ridgefield War Memorial was unveiled. A large boulder found on the Shaler Estate is the base of the monument of a doughboy with fixed bayonet. The figure is made of bronze and weighs 900 pounds. It is located on the triangle at Broad and Elm Avenues and Route No. 5.

In 1939, 16½ acres of land were purchased from the Jacobus Estate to be used as a public park. The land was officially dedicated to the memory of Ridgefield War Veterans on Memorial Day in 1951. In 1952, 21 maple trees were donated by American Legion Post No. 221 and planted in the park along Shaler Boulevard, in memory of 19 boys who made the supreme sacrifice in World War II and 2 boys who lost their lives in the Korean War.

The Public Service Electric & Gas Company erected a generating plant in the meadows in 1961, which increased the revenues for the Borough considerably and resulted in a low tax rate for property owners.