LOST STRUCTURES OF UPPER SADDLE RIVER

Houses being torn down in Upper Saddle River is nothing new. Today, large scale homes often replace earlier more modest homes, but throughout the centuries homes have been demolished or lost to fire for a variety of reasons. Some have slipped from the collective memory, but others still conjure happy memories of shopping at Elmer’s, Mettowee and Secor’s or picking strawberries at Kroner Farms. The images and information below capture some of the many pieces of history that we have lost. In some cases only the images here survive. They are listed in alphabetical order by the name most associated with them. In addition to what is listed here, we are aware of at least six colonial-era stone homes that existed in town and were burned or torn down as well, but have no visuals to provide.

1853 SCHOOLHOUSE

Perhaps the most well-known structure to have been lost to demolition is the 1853 schoolhouse. This building lived nearly nine lives as it was moved and converted to the Borough Hall and then to the headquarters of the the Sportsmans Club, the Fire Department, the Civil Defense Committee and the Ambulance Corps. It was finally demolished on September 9, 1966 when the new Fire Department building was constructed. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest existing wood-frame schoolhouse in Bergen County.

ANONA PAVILION

Anona Park operated from 1928 to 1967. William H. Yeomans bought up land in 1924 and dammed the river to create a lake. He built a refreshment stand and bathhouses. A year or so later they built the large pavilion seen here. William passed the business to his son and they sold it in 1965. 61 homes were built on the property, but the lake still exists as part of the Anona Association, which runs the beach privately.

James D. CARLOUGH HOUSE & FARM

This is perhaps three entries since the property went through various stages of evolution. It was most recently known as Apple Ridge. The Carlough family owned most of what is now the west side of Carlough Road and some of the east. They produced a variety of crops, but honed in on apples and built one of the largest apple businesses with exports to 14 countries. Seen below is the Queen Anne style Carlough homestead with some of the barns behind it. It was located at 93 Carlough Road. The home replaced an earlier house that was torn down, after less than 50 years and stood a few yards north of the original, close to the top of Ripplewood. This large home was built in 1891 in a simple Queen Anne farmhouse vernacular style, and had unique cornices on all the original windows, which survived into the 1980s, but much of its Victorian detailing was striped over the years including the bargeboard, dentil moulding and wrap-around porch with decorative spindle trim. It was originally a fine example of a home that a wealthy apple grower would have constructed at the end of the 19th century. It had an enclosed well and privy. James D. Carlough was significant for being an industrious businessman and also Upper Saddle River’s first mayor, elected in 1894. Lizzie Carlough Goetschius was raised in this house. Before demolition it was a rental property, rented by a man named Lenny, who served as a bodyguard in the music industry. The Grateful Dead and Charlie Daniels Band both stayed in this house and the police were called because of the line of cars waiting to try to hear the Charlie Daniels Band play while they were performing for a small group in the year. It was torn down in the 1990s.

APPLE RIDGE COUNTRY CLUB

BEN MOORE’S HOUSE (zabriskie house), STORE AND POND

Ben Moore’s store stood on the corner of West Saddle River Road and Pleasant Avenue just south of where Presentation Church is now. Ben sold gasoline and sundries and his farm ran all the way west to Union Avenue. The Victorian home behind the store predated the store and was built by Garret H. Zabriskie on lands previously owned by John Verway (1787) and Albert D. Terhune (1811). The home was likely built in the 1870s in a wood-frame, farmhouse vernacular with a Queen Anne style window in the gable and Victorian scrollwork. Bessie Barrett, the one-room school teacher, rented a room from the Zabriskie’s here when she first moved to Upper Saddle River from Pennsylvania in 1908 (and became good friends with them). Ben Moore sold his farm to Fred Schultze. The house was torn down in 1956. The store and the Moore’s large barn are also gone.

BERDAN HOUSE AND BARNS

The Berdan farm was originally the home of Albert J. Terhune. It was built around 1850. Cornelius Berdan was a well-known local whose father, John Berdan, moved to Upper Saddle River in 1898 when Cornelius was 5. They had 32 acres of land. Cornelius’s brother George did the farming. Cornelius didn’t farm, but when George died he took up ploughing peoples’ gardens and he invested in properties around town. He collected Indian artifacts, which are on display at the Hopper-Goetschius House Museum. He donated his land to the town to be used for the development of the schools. He moved to Hawthorne in 1962 and his house was intentionally burned to clear the land and to serve as pratice for the fire department on August 13, 1965. A barn was moved across the road to the fire department and a corn crib saved from the property, but the remaining barns were taken down.

BINDSCHAEDLER HOUSE

The Bindschaedler family constructed this house in the 1920s across the street from their son’s circa 1810 home on West Saddle River Road. It was the only known Sears house in town, which was ordered from a catalogue and delivered by railcar, likely to Ramsey. Thousands were built around the country in a wide variety of styles. The Bindschaedler house was one of the Dutch style homes - typically 6-room Colonials.

BINDSCHAEDLER BARNS

The simple, Greek Revival home these barn was built for is luckily still standing on West Saddle River Road, across from the police station. John H. Terhune inherited the property from Harmen Terhune, who most likely built the home around 1810. The barns were likely built in the late 1800s, perhaps by the Andersons. They appear to have been English barns with higher side walls than the earlier Dutch barn. They stood behind the house (West of the house). The property ran back to the steep hill that runs along Danebury Downs.

In 1916 Walter Bindschaedler, Jr. moved in with his aunt, Bertha Behrmann Anderson, who owned the home. He inherited the house and lived there into the early 1950s. Walter’s parents built the (Sears) house across the street around 1921-25, which Doris Bindschaedler Myers sold to the town in 1969 to be converted into the police station (see the page about our lost structures) See above.

We have no record of when the barns were demolished.

CAFFREY HOUSE (364 Lake Street)

Nicholas Richard Caffrey (b. 1865) and his wife, Mary Frances Tiernan Caffrey, acquired property on Lake Street from her Sister, Lucy M. Tiernan Bowen and her husband, Peter F. Bowen, who had purchased about 30 acres of land on Lake Street around 1915. The Caffreys lived in Brooklyn, NY and built the bungalow style home seen here prior to 1934, but likely in the late 1920s. It served as the family’s summer home. When their granddaughter, Margaret Louise Beazell (b. 1918) (daughter of Margaret Lucy Caffrey) married in 1945 she and her husband, Joseph Paul Capuano Sr. (b. 1919) bought her grandparent’s house. Claire Capuano also lived in the house for some time. Many members of the family lived along this stretch of Lake Street including the Hennions, Bowens, Caffreys, Capaunos and Brownes. The homes along this stretch received house numbers in 1958. The bungalow was torn down around 2001, but the others all remain.

CARLOUGH BARN (80 LAKE STReeT)

The Carlough barn, which stood on Lake Street opposite Carlough Road was originally part of the property of the neighboring house at 88 Lake Street, also known as the David J. Carlough house, which was built around 1838 in the Greek Revival style. The house was inherited by David’s son, John George Carlough (b. 1854) in 1906. The barn likely dated to the late 1800s and was most likely built by John. After the property sold out of the family the property was divided and the barn was converted to a residence, possibly around 1950. In recent years it was a rental property. It was sold and demolished in 2023 to make way for new construction.

CHRISTOPHER SAWMILL

The Richard J. Christopher sawmill started out on East Saddle River Road below Upper Cross Road and moved to the east side of West Crescent Avenue in Allendale in 1879. Although no photographs survive of the original mill in Upper Saddle River the business was a mainstay in the area for many years. The first mill in Allendale burned down in 1908. They opened a sawmill further north on West Crescent Avenue in 1928 as the R. J. Christopher & Son Lumber Company. The sawmill moved to Route 17 in Upper Saddle River just south of Pleasant Avenue. The land was purchased from the Bindschaedler family in 1933. For 57 years the mill was operated by Andrew J. Christopher, Jr. The Christopher family has deep roots in Upper Saddle River.

CONNOLLY’S RACE TRACK

The Van Buskirk-Penner house is one of the few Revolutionary War era stone homes still standing in Upper Saddle River. It’s located on the border of New York State on East Saddle River Road. It’s a private home now, but has undergone many lives including a time when it was owned by Michael and John Connolly in the early 1900s. They started the first State Line Inn and built a pond and a half mile trotting track on the hill west of the pond. The Penner family, also from Jersey City, bought it from the Connollys in 1937. Benjamin and Bertha Penner ran the inn and later swim club on the property. Their son continued the operation obtaining a liquor license and opening Red Log Inn and later State Line Inn (again). The image below is of John Taylor, who founded Elmer’s Country Store, with one of his race horses and signature cigars in his mouth. The location of the track is roughly where the Saddle River Valley Swim and Tennis Club are today. This is the only known photo of it.

CREATIVE GARDENS (Hopper-Ackerman HOUSE)

A memorable business in Upper Saddle River was Creative Gardens. The large Gothic Revival home (and later business) at 409 East Saddle River Road was constructed around 1860 on the site of a thatched roof home belonging to the Hopper family. It was a significant home with Italianate styling and a full-width, rubble stone veranda that was added around 1900 along with a porte-cochere with fluted columns. Stephen G. Hopper was listed as the owner on the 1861 map, perhaps after inheriting from his father, Garret, whose estate was settled in 1856. Stephen G. Hopper sold it to John A. Ackerman, who moved from Saddle River. (Stephen’s brother lived just north of Hidden Glen). The farm originally consisted of 67 acres.

When John A. Ackerman died the home and farmland were purchased for $3,000 by Josephine Townsend Curtin, wife of Thomas J. Curtin. Josephine’s parents lived in the farmhouse across the street, which was altered to become the HH Ranch (see below). Josephine was born in New Jersey in 1865 and they married in 1898. Thomas was born in England in 1869. They purchased the 58 82/100 acre property from Aaron C. Ackerman and his wife in 1905 and sold the land to the east for $2,500. They lived there until at least 1925, mostly in the summer months, and had one child, Henry “Harry” Thomas Curtin, who, like his father was a furniture dealer. Thomas commuted into the city from Upper Saddle River and carpooled with a neighbor.

The house had a large central hallway with a large living room complete with leaded and stained-glass windows and decorative woodwork.

For a brief time in the 1930s the home became known as Shady Lawn, a recreation spot where city dwellers could rent a space for the day and make use of the pond and restaurant. The pond was cemented to become a swimming pond, though the dam broke in the 1980s and is no longer there. It was owned Meshirer family from the 1940s-1950s, who were good friends with Steve and Lizzie Goetschius. It had a kitchen extension on the rear added by Martin D. and Kathleen Wojcik who converted it into a nursery called Creative Gardens shortly before 1970. They ran the business there for 35 years into the 2000s. The land was sold and the house demolished in 2015.

DEBAUN-PARKER BARN

Oliver Parker’s barn at 471 West Saddle River Road, seen below was originally part of the property of James DeBaun, who had a 210-acre tract in the 18th century. It passed to several DeBaun descendants. The wood-frame farmhouse that still stands today was built about 1830 on West Saddle River Road just below Ackerson Lane. The DeBaun’s had one son, John, who went to Australia and became a pearl farmer, married and never returned. The other three children - Walter, Minnie and Irving - never married. Walter DeBaun was the last to live there and died in 1929. Ollie Parker bought the property and was a well-known local builder and is the namesake of Parker Place. The barn was featured in the Upper Saddle River Heritage Calendar in 1986 and was demolished in January, 1986.

DEBAUN BROOM FACTORY

This small building stood south of the John T. DeBaun house on West Saddle River Road and Ackerson Lane. The house is visible at right. According to historian, Claire Tholl, it was possibly built as early as 1800 - ten years prior to the house. It may have served as a tenant house for the farm, but according to stories it was also used to make brooms, which were used as fake guns for soldiers to practice with for the Civil War. When the Butscher family purchased the house around 1908 they remodeled the broom factory and had a farmer live there who helped them out on the property. The story of it being a broom factory was told to the Butschers when they bough the home. The building fell into disrepair and was demolished sometime prior to the 1980s.

ECKERSON BARN

The Eckerson barn on Carlough Road just north of Lake Street was one of the most beautiful and well-constructed barns in Upper Saddle River. The farmhouse and stone well are still standing. This barn originally belonged to James Van Blarcom Terwilliger (1810-1885) and his wife, Catherine Mullen (1810-1898). James V. B. Terwilliger was one of the four founders (in 1849) of the Methodist Church, “Little Zion.” The farm was likely sold around 1885 when he died to Cornelius D. (DeBaun?) Eckerson (b. New York 1845, died 1928) and his wife, Susannah Doremus. Susannah died in 1910. Their only daughter, Sarah Ann, married a Winters, built the first house on Winters Avenue in Midland Park and eventually moved to Florida, so when Cornelius became a widow he moved to Main Street in Ramsey. Reeves Wood bought the house from the Eckerson family and lived there with his parents and siblings. They moved from Passaic to begin a rural life of farming – somewhat as a hobby. They hired Sam Kanreck, who helped run the farm for the first few years, until they moved to the Terhune-Hopper House on West Saddle River Road and Lake Street and Sam left to work for the Carloughs. Reeves Wood took the photos seen here, and developed them himself. After the market crash in 1929, landscaper, Joseph Prusack, and his wife, Caroline "Kary” Cissla Prusack and their 5 children lived in the barn, according to recollections by John Hopper. There were cows on the lower level. By 1933 they lived on West Saddle River Road and later moved to Waldwick. The barn was demolished sometime after 1930.

ELMER’S COUNTRY STORE

In the 1860s the property was owned by a carpenter, Lewis M. Planck (1834-1901) and his wife Cleantha Cordelia Preston (1835-1864). Lewis moved to Westwood around the time that his wife died and sold the property in 1880. Planck lived on the east side of the road, so the barns may not have necessarily been connected with the Hopper family, who owned a stone home just to the south (which was destroyed). John Taylor, a New York haberdasher, who lived in the white wood-frame farmhouse just south of it (see below), kept racehorses in this barn. He raced them at the HoHoKus racetrack and at Penner’s, where the Saddle River Valley Swim and Tennis Club are now. After the stock market crash in 1929 John converted the barn to a small store and added gas pumps. It was originally known as The Little Store. See John Taylor house below for more detailed information on the land transfers.

According to the late John Hopper, when the market crashed in 1929 Mr. Taylor lost his money. He put the gas pump in and started a gas station. Sometimes he would tell you to just go pump what you need. He wouldn’t even check. To get gas you didn’t use the hose and nozzle like today. It was done by gravity feed. You would set a lever tor the number of gallons you wanted. It would stop at that amount.

Later the Carlough family purchased it and Carlough set up John Paterson in the gas station in what became known as “The Little Store.” There wasn’t much in the store, just a few items. John used to close up on Sunday and go home for lunch. People would wait for him to come back so they could get gas. The store closed during World War II.

After WWII Elmer Haring took over the store and the name was changed to Elmer’s. More recently the store was run by neighbors Joe and Mattie Dobias, Joan and Dave Ballingall and Don and Eleanor Kahrer. The Schottmeyer Brothers purchased it and submitted plans for a replacement structure. After working with the Historical Society the town approved the design and the original barns were torn down. Some original clapboard siding was retained and is mounted inside the new store. The name Elmer’s has remained to this day.

GOETSCHIUS-Keidel HOUSE (382 East Saddle River Road)

This large house was constructed in wood-frame and local fieldstone about 1880 by John Stephen Goetschius (b. 1848), older brother of George Goetschius (who lived in what is now the museum). John Stephen was born in the Hopper-Goetschius house in 1848, married Mary Jane Duryea in Saddle River in 1873 and moved with her family to Michigan for one year. After returning, John Stephen inherited what was known as the Hall farm just north and across the street. He was a carpenter. Their son, Jesse Irving Goetschius, was born in this house and also became a carpenter. The house burned down and was rebuilt around 1905, according to historian Claire Tholl.

On the 1912 map this house was labeled as the home of the Filer family, though it seems they were living further up the street in the Hopper house. John Frederick Filer (1854-1936) and Maude Margaret Rodkey Filer (1866-1948) moved from Altoona, PA in 1906 and purchased land from the Goetschius family. The Filers raised two children in USR; Jessie May Filer Ibsen and John Frederick “Fred” Filer. Their son, Fred and his wife, Edna Eckerson, moved into the Goetschius tenant house across the street (extant) when they bought it in 1921. Edna and Fred moved up the street to a cottage on the Gardiner farm October 10, 1922 and remained there until 1927 when they moved back to the Goetschius tenant house with Fred’s parents. Edna and Lizzie were good friends. Margaret and John moved with them and Margaret died in 1948 and John in 1936.

It became the home of Louis Aloys Keidel (b. 1874) and Mary Ellen "Ella" McGreeney Keidel around 1914, when they bought property from Mary Goetschius. They added to the land in 1916 and amassed a vast apple orchard (about 87 acres) going up the hill toward Montvale — the largest in Bergen County at the time. There was a fire in the kitchen of the house on January 30, 1924. The Keidels built an addition onto the rear of the house that year (perhaps where the clear vertical division shows in photographs). Louis and Ella Keidel moved to Allendale (and bought a large home on East Allendale Avenue), where he became the mayor in 1938, and remained so through WWII. He was also director of Schenley Distilling Corporation. He left his son Charles F. Keidel and his wife Ruth Forgee to manage the orchard in Upper Saddle River.

David J. Carlough bought their entire farm from the Keidels on May 6, 1935, adding to their massive real estate holdings in town and to their international apple business. One year later, Garnet W. Warren (b. 1872) and his wife Juliette Rejane Willis (b. France, 1881) bought the house from Carlough in 1936 after his retirement as a writer and cartoonist. They moved from Ridgewood, where they had been living since 1918 when they fled Europe. Garnet died in 1937 and Rejane sold the house in February, 1938 to Harry and Anna (Gerken) Bohlman. They owned a confectionary store in Hackensack. Mr. Bohlman died in the house in 1940 and Anna’s niece, Louise (Nuckel) Woolheater (b. 1902) and her husband Howard Woolheater moved in with her (summer of 1940). Anna Bohlman put the house on the market in July, 1953 and moved to Ho-Ho-Kus in September while Louise and Howard continued living there until until it sold. They stayed locally and moved to Oneonta, NY in 1955. October 9, 1953, Naval officer, Thomas “Tom” Joseph Cerio (b. 1896) bought the home with his wife, Eugenia O’Connell, a retired New York City school teacher, and moved there from Ramsey. Tom died in 1967 and Eugenia sold the house and moved to an apartment in Ramsey where she died in 1971. The Kitchen family bought it from Mrs. Cerio on Feb. 3, 1971. It was listed for sale in 1981, but the identity of the buyers are unknown. They may be the couple from Tuxedo, NY who lived in the house before it was demolished in 2012. After being torn down, the land was left empty for many years. A new home was constructed south of the original site and there is still nothing where this large home once stood. The garage was also demolished.

*Edna Eckerson Filer referred to this house as the Keidel, Carlough, Warren house in her 1938 journal and listed the above, specific dates of sale.

GOETSCHIUS BARNS

Many buildings stood on the Goetschius property over the years and their timeline is unclear. The images below appear to be in roughly the same part of the property, but the massing and orientations of them change. We have no record of any outbuildings burning down, so we must assume they were torn down. We do know that Lizzie sold the wood of the last large barn she had to be used in the Greyhound Bus pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York in 1964. The contents of that barn were tossed into a heap on a concrete slab left behind from another building and were excavated in the 1990s.

HICKS FARM (SPRUCE HOLLOW)

The Hicks farm at 33 Union Avenue was one of the last working farms in Upper Saddle River and the only devoted solely to raising livestock - specifically Leghorn chickens. The farmhouse would conjure a moody, cinematic image of a weathered house hidden behind solid overgrowth that stretched to the power lines. It was a simple, 2-story wood-frame farmhouse with gable roof on 6 acres and was built in 1834 by the DeBaun family (who also built a house at Union and Pleasant that is also gone). It had been doubled in size in the 19th century with an addition that looked as though a second house was tacked to the side of the first. Victorian bargeboard decoration along the eaves was a later addition. More recently, the house sagged with age. It was situated close to the road and would have been seen by parishioners of Presentation Church as they left through the rear drive and faced it at the stop sign. It had a small porch landing facing the street and a green asphalt roof. The house never had electricity. Water was pumped from a well just off to the side - even into the 1980s. A grape arbor protected the well area.

The longtime residents of the farm were Eva Jewett Curtis (b. Switzerland 1872), her husband, Charles Follen Hicks (b. 1867) and their only child, Ruth Hicks (b. 1903), who moved from New Brighten, Staten Island to their new home on October 2, 1906. It was originally very isolated. There was only one other house on the entire length of Union at the time. Charles died in 1921 and Eva in 1950 leaving Ruth to manage the farm despite being deaf from rheumatoid fever as a child. Ruth lived in the house alone until her death in 1989 and sold eggs from a table outside and bartered with Buck’s Pork Store in Saddle River. Ruth held a ping-pong paddle with the word Stop on it to cross the street and visit neighbors. She was very close with her neighbors, who also helped pick up sundries for her. USR resident Betty Odo told us the well would dry up in the summer and Mayor Dennecke, a neighbor on Elizabeth Terrace, would connect hoses and run water to the house. It was heated by coal until a propane heater was used as it became increasingly difficult to locate coal.

After Ruth’s death the house and barn were demolished and cleared for Spruce Hollow Road, named after her farm. There is no trace of it that remained, but those who knew Ruth have fond memories.

HOFFMANN HOUSE (52 OLD STONE CHURCH ROAD)

This house was built by August Robert “Bob” Hoffmann. It was built after 1912 and most likely about 1927 in a semi-bungalow style. It appears to have been a Sears home and would have been one of several built in town at the time. Bob was born in New York on Dec. 11, 1873 to Carl Wilhelm Albert Hoffmann and Christina Wurster, who emigrated from Germany. He was raised in Jersey City and his siblings tended to work in the construction industry. Bob married Mary Elizabeth Sullivan (b. 1882, Paterson) in Jersey City in 1900 and had 7 children. He owned Hudson County Metal Ceiling Company with his son, Walter Wilbur Hoffmann. Another son, Fred, worked with them temporarily. Bob moved to Upper Saddle River from Jersey City, possibly seasonally at the beginning, and was living there into the 1940s. His wife remained in Jersey City. He built this home to try to entice her to move to USR as well, but she wouldn’t budge. Their son Walter and his wife, Mae Elsner Hoffmann, lived almost directly behind him at 35 Lake Road.

According to John Hopper, when he (John) was about 10 years old (c. 1929) Bob paid he and his brother Reggie 25 cents a bushel to collect dandelions and elderberries and Bob made wine in a still he set up in his basement. Bob frequently invited some of the local men, including Ed Snider, Charlie Cassidy and Adrian Snider, to play pinochle and partake in his homemade creations. When Social Security hadn’t begun people sometimes found themselves in difficult situations. Bob brought a kerosene stove into a former barn or chicken coop behind his house and was living there while he rented out his house toward the end of his life. Bob died sometime after 1941 and his son Walter died in USR in 1950. The location of their burials are unknown.

In more recent years (~1961-1970s) the home was owned by James W. McElroy (b. 1915) and Jean Marshall McElroy and family.

ABRAM A. HOPPER HOUSE

The Abram A. Hopper house stood on East Saddle River Road just south of the Creative Gardens house (where the south corner of Jan River Drive would be now), which was torn down (or possibly burned down, according to Cornelius Berdan) after the 1930s. The only known photo, seen here, was a realtor's photo from Ethel Terhune labeled Ike Hopper - Neithardt. East Saddle River Road at Jan River Drive. It was for sale for what appears to be $9000. Ethel was selling real estate in Upper Saddle River and took several photographs of houses that were on the market in the 30s.

The Greek Revival, wood-frame vernacular home was likely built in the 1830s like several others in town of a similar configuration. It was owned by Abram A. Hopper (b. 1832), who also had his nephew, Garret A. Van Gelder, living there and an African American man named Sam, who was well-known and liked in town and whose parents had been slaves (presumably to the Hopper family). Godfrey Van Kampen spoke highly of Sam and said there was a big funeral for him when he died (around 1910). Sam was buried in the Hopper Slave Cemetery and his grave is one of the only identified markers. Ike Hopper, Abram Hopper’s son, also lived in the house after owning a store in Paterson that he closed after having an issue with a customer and divorcing from his wife.

The barn at the Abram A. Hopper house was struck by lightning on June 7, 1885. It instantly killed Garret Van Gelder and knocked Sam “senseless.” Garret was only 26. The event was written about in several papers, including the New York Times.

Abram A. Hopper’s son inherited the house and was living there in the early 1900s, but sold it before 1920. Abram also ran a mill on the river behind the house, which was the last operating mill in town. There may be remnants of it along the river, but the building, which was a wooden structure, is no longer there.

The Filer family lived in this house in the early 1900s as well. John Frederick “John” Filer and his wife, Maude Margaret Rodkey Filer, moved from Altoona, PA in 1906 and this may have been their first house in town. Their children John Frederick “Fred” Filer and Jessie May Filer Ibsen, lived here with their parents. After Jessie married Carl Ewald Ibsen in 1906 he and Jessie continued to live here and their children were born in this house. The Filers purchased the Goetschius Tenant house from Stephen J. Goetschius for $4,000 in 1921. They renovated it and moved there in 1922.

Arthur Ernest Neithardt appears to have been living there around 1917-1920. Arthur was born in New York City in 1887, married Amelia Schwarz in 1913. He worked as a carpenter. They moved to Paramus by 1931, where he became the poormaster. Their family continued living in Upper Saddle River into the 1970s.

By 1930, Theobald “Theodore” Bell and his second wife, Margaret Phoebe Fink Bell, moved from Paterson and lived in this house (according to a note by Edna Eckerson Filer) and were likely the last residents. Theodore was born in Germany in 1865 and ran a large farm. He became a US citizen in 1885. Phoebe was born in New York in 1885 and died in 1936. Theodore died in 1934. They were buried in Cedar Lawn Cemetery, Paterson.

HOPPER-WOOD-TAYLOR BARNS

The Terhune-Hopper house on Lake Street and West Saddle River Road had a variety of buildings to support the farming done there. The house and water well are the only remaining structures of the original farm. The structures seen here were likely built by the Hopper family and used by the Wood family after they moved into the house in 1915. The house was passed to their adopted daughter and her husband, Dallas Taylor. The large English barn seen here was filled to the rafters with antique furniture, vintage cars and farming implements. It was emptied by an auctioneer with a few items saved for the Hopper-Goetschius House Museum including a sifter, a large grain bin and a door that was used as a ledger to keep track of sales. The barn was dismantled piece by piece and sold to an antique lumber dealer.

UNKNOWN HOPPER HOUSE

KRONER FARM (319 west saddle river road)

The Kroner house was a handsome Queen Anne vernacular farmhouse on West Saddle River Road just north of Little Zion Methodist Church (The Cultural Center). The 60-acre property was purchased for $3,800 by Fred Kroner in April, 1905 from Conrad Voll (or Boll) and was built on the site of the Abram Smith house, which was an early stone house that burned down in 1903. Voll had purchased it from Smith and Smith moved to where Western Union was later. The Smith house had been an Ackerman house and before that a Terhune house. Albartus Terhune bought 330 acres from Isaac and Leah Valleau in 1746 including this property. According to John Kroner, “Voll had built two rooms by the side of the foundation and they came in from the west side of the house. People lived down in the basement but that was not unusual at that time. The foundation of the old house was still there, 60 feet by 30 feet, a large house. The burnt timbers were still there. My father filled in the section he didn’t need, 15 feet of the basement, and built on what he needed. My father built onto the house three different times to what it is today.”

Jakob Friedrich “Fred” Kroner was born in 1863 in Germany, came to the United states in 1883 and met his wife, Louisa Kroh (b. 1869). They married in Manhattan in 1892 and had seven children; William, Helen, Marie, Caroline, George, John and Alice. The last three were born in this house in Upper Saddle River. In 1905 Fred and Louisa sold their bakery in New York because Fred was allergic to flour dust and moved to Upper Saddle River. Someone told him there was money to be made in milk cows so he took up farming.

They were most known for their pick-your-own strawberries, which John continued running into the 1970s. He sold off a portion of the property and it was developed into Kroner Farm Road. After John Kroner passed away in 2012 at age 103 the house was demolished. No known interior photographs exist, but John provided a wealth of information on life in Upper Saddle River and was always willing to lend a hand at the Hopper-Goetschius House Museum.

MARKLEY HOUSE (333 LAKE STREET)

Horace Theodore Markley, Jr. (b. 1894) and his second wife Elizabeth Louise Ware constructed this home themselves during the Great Depression. The property was purchased in September, 1935 from Lucy M. Bohen. It stood on the south side of Lake Street and the work was completed and family moved in that year. The side facing the road did not have a door. The entrance was on the back. Horace was a carpenter, who was born in England and was living on East Saddle River Road in Saddle River by 1905. Elizabeth grew up next door on East Saddle River Road and had deep roots in the area, descended from the Christie and Ackerman families. Horace and Elizabeth married in the Bronx in 1933. Elizabeth worked for Wright Aeronautics. They had two children, Rayner Ware Markley and Sandra. Rayner supplied the photos below, which includes him as a small child, along with wonderful recollections of town during WWII. The Markleys moved to Chestnut Ridge Road in Montvale to a larger home built by Horace, in 1947. The house was torn down many years ago.

MCNEIL BARN (Knights Day Camp)

This large barn was originally part of the McNeil property. The adjacent Craftsman style bungalow home was built around 1905 by John McNeil of Brooklyn, NY. He purchased an initial 25 acre plot of land from Herman Terhune in April, 1904 and an additional 104 acres from John Swartz and his wife in March, 1905. He died shortly after its construction and his daughters continued to live there for a while. He was in business in Brooklyn manufacturing steel machinery and components for ships. The barn likely dated to the same time as the house. The house is still standing, but the barn was knocked down decades ago. It was last used as part of Knights Day Camp.

SHUART-MESSENGER HOUSE

This modest home stood at 490 East Saddle River Road on the corner of Weiss Road and was built sometime between 1872 and1890 on land owned by the Shuart family. Anna Louisa Shuart (b. 1857) married Frank Albert Messenger (b. 1856) and they were living in Tallman, NY. Around 1890 they moved in with Susan Shuart. Frank Messenger was the first borough clerk in 1894 and secretary of the Board of Education. They had four children including Albert Francis Messenger, who was born in Tallman, NY in 1885. Frank died in a hunting accident in 1897 and Anna in 1932. Their son Albert also raised his family there with his wife, Irene Strong Messenger, whom he married in 1910. Albert died there in 1960. Albert and Irene’s sons, Frank and Ray both lived in Upper Saddle River.

In addition to the above, Mrs. George Penick (b. 1912) lived there in 1972, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Philip Radicchi in 1973. The house was sold in 1982. More recently the home was owned by Jay Sude (1980s). It was torn down before 1987 and a luxury home built in its place. The house most recently stood on a 1.4 acre lot and contained 1 1/2 baths and a 2-car garage with original well.

METTOWEE FARMS

Mettowee Farms was an Upper Saddle River landmark. It was located on East Saddle River Road on land that had belonged to Otto Kramer (b. Germany 1863), a hotelier from New York, and his wife Louise. Otto purchased the land from Mary A. Peck in 1905. In 1920 the farm was purchased by Richard Dykstra and his family, who ran it as a dairy farm initially called R. Dykstra and Sons Dairy. The name was changed to Mettowee. The Dykstras came from the Netherlands and built the house that’s between Oak Drive and Grandview Avenue, opposite the site of their farm.

John Martin sold his dairy business in Clifton in 1951 to purchase Mettowee and went into business with his sons, William J. and Raymond W. Martin and eventually sons Edward R., John, Jr. (Jack) and George A. as well. John Martin had taken over his father, Cent Martin’s dairy business, Martin Dairy Company, founded about 1911, so they were dairy farmers for decades. John retired in 1969, leaving the business to his sons. The Martins delivered their own brand of milk in glass bottles until 1987. They then closed the dairy, but maintained the milk routes, selling another farm’s product. Mettowee was the last remaining farm in Upper Saddle River. The Martins sold the 17-acre property in 1997 and it was developed into luxury homes on what is now Mettowee Farm Court. It was a picturesque site to see and a loss for the town when it came down.

NATURE’S CREATIONS

Nature’s Creations was a business located on a large lot at 530 East Saddle River Road behind the Queen Anne Victorian house (Hopper-Demarest). The circa 1880 home and barn/business were owned by John C. Coan (b. 1901). His company manufactured nonflammable window displays for stores such as B. Altman’s, Macy’s, Abraham and Strauss, and Lord and Taylor. John was the son of a horticulturist and veteran of WWI. He began his career as a whole florist and established Nature’s Creations prior to 1956. John scoured the earth for unique materials, gnarled tree trunks from the Sierra Nevada, for example. He retired in 1984. The original barn had been destroyed by fire on April 3, 1964, as seen in the photos below. According to the newspaper, one sandstone building survived, which was built in 1756 and had been used as an office. The building is no longer standing and has not been identified. The town approved a residential development on the property in 1974 and the street, Mallard Run, now occupies the entire space where the barns once stood.

NUSSEAR-O’SHIELDS HOUSE

A circa 1920s wood-frame, bungalow style home, which did not conform to zoning standards due to its date of construction, stood close to the road at 420 West Saddle River Road, south of what later became Midland Drive. Its original owners and the builder/architect are unknown, but starting in the late 1940s it was the home of USR tax assessor, Charles Henry Nussear (b. 1917) and his wife Maryruth Patricia Nussear (b. 1920). Charles started out as the assistant tax assessor to Steve Goetschius and later became the chief tax assessor. They lived there with their children for about twenty years through the early 1960s. Catherine M. DeBlock Fisher (b. 1923) and Frank Russell Fisher, Sr., a veteran of WWII from Fair Lawn, owned the home in the late 1960s to 70s. Later Brenda Rothlein O’Shields and William Robert O’Shields lived there with their daughter into the 1990s. Mrs. O’Shields was a teacher in Reynold’s School. The home was demolished to make way for a large home on Midland Drive around 2000.

OLD STONE CHURCH CHAPEL

The chapel of the Old Stone Church served as a Sunday school, social hall and meeting place for the Cub Scouts, PTA, American Legion and other organizations from 1895 to 1975. It was built in the (carpenter) Gothic Revival style in the late 1895. It was also used for school classes while the first Bogert School was being built. It was across Old Stone Church Road from the church, an area used for parking today. You can see the Nicausie Hopper house in the distance at the left.

OSBORN HOUSE AND BARN

The Garret A. Osborn house at 289 East Saddle River Road (torn down in the last 10 years) was located just north of Upper Cross Road on the west side of the street. It was a large white, wood-frame home with a rubble stone wall along the property’s edge. It was located on 2.6 acres.

The home below was likely built in the 1820s by Hendrick Hopper and was remodeled and enlarged significantly in 1916, losing much of its historic fabric and value. Only the front portion of the north wing, seen here (with a large extension added to it), remained from the original house. The barn seen here was built about 1860. Garret Osborn owned the house for many years and was born in 1812, was in possession of the house by 1861 and was still living there with his wife, Margaret Ackerman, as of 1876. He died in 1882. By 1884 it was owned by William Ward. Later owners included Charles L. Lietz and the Kelly family.

The barn is an English style barn with a high gable roof running the length of the building. Wagon doors are located in the long sides. In 1989, the Osborn Barn was deemed obsolete by its owner, was scheduled to be demolished and replaced by a new housing development. He collaborated with Claire Tholl, George Turrell, several others as well as Pater and Cassie Strasser, who rebuilt the barn in Monsey piece by piece using stones from the original foundation to create the new one and replacing only what had been too far rotted or damaged.

Moving a historic structure is recommended only as a last resort, and it was the only way that the Osborn Barn could be preserved. Its owners, Mr. & Mrs. Melamed, made it available for removal and Peter Strasser saved the barn from demolition and moved it to Hillside Avenue in Monsey, NY. So this is a rare case that the barn was saved, but it is no longer in Upper Saddle River.

Thanks to https://rocklandhistoryblog.tumblr.com/ for this information.

EVerett PITT HOUSE (39 Parker place)

Ev Pitt (b. 1886) was a local legend and knew an array of mountain songs passed down from family members in the Ramapo Mountains. He worked for William H. Yeomans in the sand pits (behind his farmhouse, up what is now Ripplewood) in the 1920s and later at Anona Park. He was a talented craftsman who made beautiful baskets. He also built this house with the help of John Hopper (who lived on the corner of Old Stone Church Road) around 1920, on land given to him by William H. Yeomans. Parker Place didn’t run that far west at the time, so you accessed the house from the Yeoman’s sand pits. Ev lived there with his wife, Louise Bertha Straut Pitt, and raised their eight children there. Once Parker Place was extended it was at the very end. He constructed the stone wall along the property’s edge as well. The house was demolished around 2012, but the stone wall survived. Nothing has been built in its place.

POST-MORRIS HOUSE

This home stood at 538 West Saddle River Road on the corner of Sparrowbush. The land was originally owned by Michael Fisher and his wife who conveyed it to Joseph Post on May 11, 1807. Joseph Post passed the title to his son Henry Pohlman Post (b. 1822) and his wife, Margaretta Valentine, in 1854. Margaretta died in 1890 and Henry lived on this property until his death in 1895. Henry’s executors conveyed land to his daughter Margaret Louise Post (Gildersleeve) (b. 1846) and her daughter, Louisa Gildersleeve. They may have constructed this home around 1895-1900, perhaps on a foundation of a previous home. Henry P. Post’s son, William T. Post (b. 1856), lived there with his wife Ella Paul and their son and died there in 1914. Margaret Gildersleeve died in 1919 without a will, so the property went to her children, Mrs. (Lulu) Harry Norton (b. 1881) of Upper Saddle River and Mrs. John Irwin of New York City. They divided the property in half in 1923. William ran a small feed business. He was the brother-in-law of Henry Hall Goetschius. The Cassidy family owned the house and consisted of two bachelors (Charlie and William) and two spinsters. Charlie was a night watchman at Anona. The Cassidys sold the house to the Morris family in 1945. Paula E. Farrelly Morris (b. 1913) and William W. Morris owned the home until 1986. Paula worked at Elmer’s. The property was sub-divided in 1986. The Indian mortar at the Hopper-Goetschius House Museum came from this property.

PULIS-SNYDER HOUSE

The Pulis-Snyder house stood at 74 Pleasant Avenue on a lovely 5 acre plot of land. It was built about 1880 on the site of the John J. Mowerson house, which burned down after 1876. John W. and Ida J. Pulis lived in the reconstructed house by 1884 (though Mowersons still lived nextdoor to them). They sold some (or all) of their land November 14, 1887 to James Tracey. They moved to Ramsey and by 1902 J. Snyder purchased it and was still there by 1913. Elsie and A. Robert Mosley and their daughter, Margaret N. Sorge and husband (whom she married in 1942), Capt. Robert C. Sorge, bought it in 1958. Elsie died in 1964. Robert Sorge was a member of the USR Ambulance Corp and the Sorge family still owned it in 1984 when the Historic Sites Survey was conducted. The house has been replaced by a luxury home.

The home was a 2-story, wood-frame, farmhouse vernacular, which had a veranda that was subsequently removed. It had a large bay window on the east side.

The lot was subdivided in 1998 and the home demolished.

CHIEF DEWITT REHAIN HOUSE (30 LAKE ROAD)

William Dewitt Rehain (b. 1911) and wife, Loretta “Lill” McGauley built their home at 30 Lake Road themselves about 1939/1940 after moving to town from Bogota, NJ. Dewitt’s brother was a mason and likely helped construct the chimney of local field stone. It stood on the south side of the street. It has since been demolished and replaced with a handsome home with similar fieldstone chimney. Dewitt Rehain was an avid hunter, taxidermist, and served as the borough’s first police marshall, initially dispatching from his own house at 30 Lake Road, according to his daughter, Joan Rehain Fabris, who purchased the home from her mother in 1995. Chief Rehain put himself through fingerprinting school, brought the first uniforms to town and passed away in 1953 before the department had constructed its first headquarters. Dewitt and Lill raised their three children, Joan, Merilyn and William “Bucky” in this home.

P. H. Richardson HOUSE

This home stood facing south at 547 West Saddle River Road. Portions of it dated to the 1790s and were built in a simple Federal style with Greek Revival elements, but it underwent renovation in the 1940s with Colonial Revival additions. It was a frame dwelling with the east gabled end facing the road. Barrels of old letters were found in the house (only some were saved), which indicated that descendants of Dr. Edward Cooper (b. 1803) lived in the house. Cooper was the brother of Peter Cooper, founder of Cooper Union in New York City. P. H. Richardson was living there in 1850 and John Richardson, who was born in Ireland in 1807, and his wife, Anne owned the home from at least 1860-1876 and had a blacksmith shop across the street in the mid-1800s. They were members of the Saddle River Reformed Church starting in 1859 and appear to have transferred from the Fifth Avenue church in New York. John died March 17, 1880 and it seems Ann continued living there for at least a year, but was then dismissed from the church in 1881, so she likely relocated. A housepainter, John McLaughlin (b. 1848 in New York) and Sarah E. McLaughlin were living there in 1900 and James McLaughlin was there around 1912 until at least 1920. They had no children. Patrick D. and Veronica Montano Moran (b. 1906) bought it around 1942 from Barbara Chalmers and made alterations, which were confirmed by dates of newspapers found in the walls. It became a 5 bedroom, 5 1/2 bath home with large carriage house. They lived there until at least until 1970 and Pat Moran was instrumental in setting up the Civil Defense League. John F. and Joan Inganamort lived there by 1972 and petitioned to subdivide the property. It seems they sold the home, or perhaps the subdivision in 1973 to Ralph J. (b. 1923) and Carol Scafuro, who owned two pet stores and ran a dog kennel and training school in the carriage house under the name Pine Hill Kennels. He died in 1987. George Mutschler was also listed as running the dog training school in 1978. Dr. Daniel and Angela Tortora appear to have purchased the home in 1984 and Lutfi Mansoor in 1994, who proposed turning the carriage house into a residence. The main house was demolished by 1995 and replaced with a luxury home. In 2013 an application was submitted to expand the 5-room carriage house on the property and it is still standing at the end of a long driveway, behind the new house, but has not been studied.

ROUTE 17 BUSINESSES

Route 17 provided a route to the Adirondacks, Greenwood Lake, state parks and other recreation areas. Motels and roadside restaurants began to open in the area in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Because of the delineation of the town a small segment is on both sides of Route 17 and these businesses are technically within its borders. Below are a sampling of them, all of which are now gone. Many others have come and gone and there are still businesses along there today that fall within town limits.

SECOR FARMS (Mowerson-Campbell House)

One of the most picturesque and memorable scenes from Upper Saddle River is the Secor Farm on Lake Street. The farmhouse was built as a Greek revival transitional style wood-frame homem constructed in two sections; the right portion around 1810 and left addition around 1845. It was part of what had been a 231-acre lot in the Ramapo Tract map. Jacobus Mowerson was building a house there in 1787 and it may have been the smaller house that stood behind the big one. The house maintained its mid-19th Century appearance, except for the shingle siding that replaced original clapboard.

The property was owned by John Mowerson in 1878 and he sold 57 contiguous acres and the farmhouse(s) to Charles Grant Secor (b. 1866) in 1910. Charles raised horses on Long Island before becoming a blacksmith and owner of a livery stable in Paterson. He had done quite well - enough to purchase such a large tract of land. Although we have no photos of it, a barn burned down on the property on February 21, 1928. When Route 17 was developed in 1936 Secor opened farm stands on either side and had a very visible presence. He died in 1949 and Charles’ son, Winfield Charles Secor, and his wife, Emma Straton Secor (pictured below) ran the farm next and passed it to their son, Charles Wesley Secor and his wife, Joyce Hoffman Secor. Charles W. was a town Councilman and died in 1992. The farm stand in Upper Saddle River closed in 1987 when the overpass was built and was the oldest working farm in Upper Saddle River when it closed its farm stand and sold the land in town. The family opened a new farm stand in Mahwah, which is more removed from the prominent location of the original. Later, the portion of the farm in Upper Saddle River was sold to developers in the 1990s. The farm in Mahwah is still in business and currently owned by Darryl Secor, Charles’ son, and his wife.

A portion of the farm across Route 17 was sold off to be developed into a drive-in movie theater on the opposite side of the highway (see below). They also sold 45 acres in 1965, but purchased 23 more acres in Mahwah in 1974.

The bucolic look of the weathered old farmhouse atop the hill with its spot of bright red and yellow on the old wagon on the porch is a very much missed view. It set the tone for the country-like setting of the town as you entered from Route 17.

SNYDER FARM (LAKE STREET)

The Snyder farm was located on Lake Street opposite Union Avenue. The land was purchased from the Terwilleger family in 1902 and expanded into five parcels totaling over 78 acres. It consumed the property that is now Orchard Drive, Forrest Ridge and the hill going down ‘hairpin turn’ to roughly Danebury Downs. It was started by Henry Snyder, who was born in Upper Saddle River in 1878 and was a first cousin of Lizzie Goetschius. They mostly produced apples and sold them at the Paterson market like so many farm families in Upper Saddle River at the time. The house on the property faced Lake Street and replaced an earlier home. The Terwilleger house, which stood on this site burned to the ground in 1924, so this home likely built in the mid to late-1920s in the then popular Colonial Revival style. Below is one of the only extant photographs that includes the house. Behind this home stood a smaller tenant house and behind that was a large barn where cattle were kept. Henry married Lucinda “Lucy” Gamble. Their son George Henry Snyder (b. 1901) took over the farm, married Hazel M. Smith and had 3 boys. George died very young, in 1940, while returning from Paterson. He had been suffering from arsenic poisoning from spraying crops. His youngest boys were then raised by their aunt in Allendale. The property was sold at auction in 1944 to Henry Freudenstein (b. 1909, Kassel, Germany) and his wife Johanna Woehler. They lived in the rear house and rented the main one seen here to the Williams family. The house stood until about 1980 and was roughly where the first house on Forrest Ridge now stands. Others who lived there included the Koffman and Berry families. The property was likely eventually sold to the Wulsters of Upper Saddle River who developed Lilline Lane and Orchard Drive. Several of the original apple trees can still be seen along Orchard Drive.

SNYDER HOUSE (WEST SADDLE RIVER ROAD)

This house stood on the west side of West Saddle River Road roughly where Applewood Drive is today. An extant brick column indicates the property line between this former lot and that of the Richardson house next door. Sometime prior to 1924 Adrian Snyder, Sr. (b. 1886 Upper Saddle River), purchased this house. Adrian was born and raised on West Saddle River Road in the old Litchult house on the corner of Cherry Lane. He had four children with his first wife, Minnie Singer. When she died he remarried to Jessie “Jess” Bell, and had four more children. The photos below show some of them on the porch of the house. They are the only images we have and from them we can guess that it may have been built around 1870 or perhaps earlier. The records of the late historian, Claire Tholl, indicate that a home stood in this location that was owned by Conrad Bush, Albert G. Zabriskie, Peter Howard (1811-1865) who was married to Adeline Henion and lived there from 1848 to 1865 and Martin Brown (1806-1875). It is very likely this house and that it went through some stylistic changes over the years. Adrian died in February, 1947 and the home was torn down sometime after that.

SNYDER GREENHOUSE

The circa 1810 house on West Saddle River Road on the corner of Cherry Lane is still standing and known officially as the Abraham L. Litchult house. It may have been built by a member of the Bush family, but the first known owner was a Litchult. 

More recently, however, this was the long time residence of the Snyder family starting with Cornelius I. Snyder (born in 1849) and his wife, Hester Elizabeth “Ellen” Courter, the aunt of Lizzie Goetschius. In 1932 Cornelius willed the house to his grandson, Adrian Snyder, Jr. who inherited it when he was only 16 years old. Adrian, Jr. married Josephine Filip of Upper Saddle River and they raised two daughters in this house. The large greenhouse seen here was north of the home and part of a big, successful farm. They sold produce at the Paterson market, as well as Christmas trees from the property and for a number of years also operated a farm stand further down West Saddle River Road. Adrian sold 31 acres of land to a developer, Philip Gustafson, who extended Cherry Lane west alongside the house. That is where the greenhouse roughly stood. The Snyders sold the house in 1954 to Judy Van Riper.

SKINNER’S FARM STAND

The Filip family bought the Zabriskie house across from the Old Stone Church in August, 1922 and turned the 95 acres of land back into a farm after it had been allowed to reforest. Michael Filip (b. 1878) and Marianna “Marie” Kreszy Filip (b. 1872) were born in Poland. They met in New York City and lived in Paterson for a while before moving to Upper Saddle River. Mrs. Filip was a savvy businesswoman and had purchased several homes in Paterson and a small farm in South Jersey. They built a successful farm and popular farm stand on East Saddle River Road and ran it for many years until their daughter, Mary and her husband, Al Skinner, took over the business. They owned the property until June, 1984 before selling it to developers. The farmhouse is still standing, but much of the land they once farmed became Hopper Farm Road.

JOHN TAYLOR HOUSE

The land where Elmer’s is was originally a 350 foot wide plot that ran from the Saddle River 1.5 miles up Lake Street to Montvale. It was owned by various people including the Van Blarcom family as early as 1822. A circa 1778 one-room sandstone house belonged to Hendrick A. Hopper, a Revolutionary War soldier, and once stood just south of Elmer’s, which was likely the home that the barns that became Elmers were built for (sandstone blocks can still be seen scattered about). The Brower family owned it until at 1853. Pannter bought it in 1856 and Coburn in 1859. Isaac Duryea/Durie and family tore down the sandstone house and are possibly responsible for building the 9-room, white, wood-frame vernacular farmhouse - perhaps around 1890. The land (composed of two tracts) was purchased from Isaac Durie in January, 1907 by John Edward Taylor, a men’s clothing designer from New York. It is possible John was the builder of the house, which according to Claire Tholl, was the likely scenario. John had done well in the clothing business, paid $2,500 for the property so he and his family could escape the city in the summer. At one point Wylde Wood, whose family lived in the Terhune-Hopper house, also lived with them (for reasons unknown). John occasionally rented out the house, advertising it in Brooklyn papers. Some residents may recall the house, which stood just south of Elmer’s and had been abandoned and slumped behind a fence before being torn down.

John Taylor was born in New York in 1865 and in 1896 married Emma Marie Wüstl, who was born in Nürnberg in 1869 and came from a family of costumers (see Wüstl house below). They lived in Brooklyn and had four children; Marion F. (1897), Edward J. (1898), Ruth (1900) and John Edward (1907). The children grew up spending summers in Upper Saddle River with their parents and grandmother, Maria. In 1915 John sold all but 6 acres of his land from East Saddle River Road up to Montvale to his brother-in-law, Frederick Joseph Wüstl (who built the house across the street).

He kept racehorses in the old barns which pre-dated his house and eventually opened what would become Elmer’s there after the market crash in 1929. When Elmer’s was sold to the Shottmeyer Brothers they proposed tearing it down and building a new store on the site. The house was part of the purchase and they left it abandoned for many years until it was demolished. Only one small barn remains as of 2020.

TERHUNE-JOHNSTONE HOUSE AND BARN

The Terhune-Johnstone house was built by James A. Terhune about 1850 on the original Albartus Terhune Tract of 1746. It was located just north of where Reynold’s School is now at 409 West Saddle River Road. It was set back from the road and shaded by very tall evergreens. James was the great grandfather of Alan Johnstone, who lived in the home until his death in 2009. It was a little-altered example of 19th-century domestic architecture and was built in wood-frame in an Italianate design with simple corbeled eaves. The south wing was thought to have been added about 1870 and probably was a kitchen/dining area to replace the cellar kitchen. The house passed from Edgar Manning Terhune to his daughter, Ethel Terhune Johnstone and then to her son, Alan Johnstone. The home was demolished after Alan’s death and has since been re-developed.

TERWILLEGER/ECKERSON TENANT (SLAVE) HOUSE (CARLOUGH ROAD)

The colorized images below are rare visuals of a vernacular structure that was typically long lost. Many of the early European settlers had enslaved persons on their land to carry out the farm labor. There are two extant tenant (slave) houses still standing in Upper Saddle River, but we know there were many others. The images below, taken by Reeved Wood around 1910, show the tenant (slave) house that was associated with the Terwilleger-Eckerson farm. The lovely farmhouse is still standing, but the beautiful barn and this simple structure are gone. The visual clues that give us the idea that it was the home of slaves are the fact that it had a chimney and only a door intended for humans to pass through (unlike farm structures). As one can deduce from the photos, this building stood on the east side of Carlough Road, opposite the house that is still there, and just south of the small brook that runs under the road. The farmhouse is visible in the last photo. These pictures were on glass negatives found in the Hopper-Wood house, where the Wood family moved to after living here.

TOWNSEND-GOERTNER HOUSE (MODIFIED)

This house on Ranch Road and East Saddle River Road is still there - sort of. You would never recognize it based on its current appearance or guess its fascinating history. According to a deed search, the property was initially owned by John H. Terhune prior to 1873. Next it belonged to William L. Wells, William S. Sturges and John Gorman, then Peter Welling (in 1874), Abraham Masker (in 1874) and Herman Terhune (in 1875). He sold it in 1898 to farmers from Norway, Frederick (b. 1851) and Lena Anderson, who moved to Brooklyn in 1903 and sold it to James Townsend.

James Andrew Townsend was born in St. Andrews, BC, Canada in 1842. He married Sophie M. Pilweber, who was born in Germany. They lived in Brooklyn and James owned a well-known shipbuilding business on 43-acre Shooters Island (near Staten Island) called Townsend & Downey, which built some of the world’s most prestigious yachts and also armored ships. They were responsible for building the luxury yacht Shenandoah, the 186-foot Atlantic, and Meteor for Kaiser Wilhelm in 1902 and employed up to 1700 people. The plant shut down in 1903 and reopened again after fierce striking that killed 2 workers.

That same year, Sophie and James Townsend purchased the 52.84 acres of property in Upper Saddle River as a summer home, perhaps bowing out of the business. The house was across the street from John McNeil’s home (later Knights Day Camp), who built ship engines and is likely how they knew of it. In 1914 they sold it for $1 to Francis J. Goertner, who also lived in Brooklyn. James and Sophie died in Brooklyn in 1923 and 1926 respectively.

Francis J. Goertner/Gardiner was born in Geneva, IL in 1893. He worked in the plate glass business for Semon Bache and Co. of New York. He served as Vice President for a period. He married Rosamond “Rose” Landau in New York in 1892 and had one son, Francis Barnes Goertner. They did not officially divorce, but he married Winifred May Dennison, who was born in 1879 in Canada. It seems they lived in Elizabeth, NJ until 1913 and were living in Upper Saddle River from 1914 to 1922 when Francis moved to Miami. Francis commuted into the city with Harry Curtin (who lived where Creative Gardens was later). After moving to Miami in 1922, Francis remarried again and died in 1929, leaving a considerable sum and a legal mess. In the five years that he wasn’t living in the house Francis had the Filers take care of the house and property. They lived in a cottage on the property and were tasked with showing the house to prospective buyers.

Francis Gardiner sold it to a real estate investor, Thaddeus Lincoln Walker (b. 1881) and his wife Charlotte Lehrfeld Walker in 1927. It passed to a real estate company named for their son Dana (Dana Realty Company, of Jersey City), who sold it to Charles Schmidt, agent for Ace Automatic Sprinkler Company of New York, who had a tenant renting the property. His name was Alfred B. Resnick (b. 1905), a wholesale produce dealer from Norwood, who was arrested in August 1932 for operating a still on the property, which lead to a discovery of many stills he was involved with. He pleaded guilty and served time. The volume of liquor on the USR property was said to be worth $100,000 and was dumped out causing cars on East Saddle River Road to slide in the muck (according to Godfrey Van Kampen).

In 1942 (and 1948?) the property was finally sold by Neil Van Kirk (b. 1902) and Lydia “Lyla” Bengert Van Kirk of Paterson (though Neil was born in Upper Saddle River) to Harry and Margaret Himsel. Neil Van Kirk continued farming chickens on the property until at least 1945. The Himsels remodeled the house extensively, removing the second floor and lowering the roof, removing the porch and north extension and re-siding it to look like a log cabin. They also added a large stone fireplace and chimney with an embedded stone in the shape of a horse head. The original barns were retained as is, but were demolished later on. Harry and Margaret opened the HH Ranch in the late 1940s. The property was largely sold off in 1970, reducing it by 37 1/2 acres and the land was developed into Ranch Road. The modified house passed through several more hands until the Hubers bought it and they own the home to this day.

TUTHILL HOUSE (30 Old Stone Church Road)

Henry Hall Goetschius (who lived on the corner of Old Stone Church Road and West Saddle River Road), built this home for his son, Theodore Goetschius when he married Charity Elizabeth Smith in 1884. It was located just up the road on the south side of Old Stone Church Road, west of the big bend in the road, and was set back from the road considerably. Theodore and his wife moved to this house and John Walthery (b. 1871) (the man Henry Hall hired to do blacksmithing) moved the blacksmith business to the property opposite this house for a period of time. (See Walthery barn entry below) and Henry and Theodore ran the business side of it. Meanwhile, Charity ran the successful farm, hired and fired men who helped her, and she took produce to the market in Paterson (and would stay overnight at her sister’s).

Their house was a wood-frame Victorian farmhouse. Henry Hall was handicapped and couldn’t do physical labor. He and John Walthery moved their business to Waldwick and soon after Theodore’s wife died (in 1901) leaving Theodore to raise six children alone while living in this house. Much of the burden fell on his 14 year old daughter, Olive Rye Goetschius (b. 1887) because his oldest daughter Alice had polio. Eventually they also moved to Waldwick to his father’s place because he needed more help. Jennie (Benjamin), Olive’s daughter, was born in 1907, and spoke of her family’s time living in this home. You can read her oral history on our oral histories page.

The house was renovated and owned by Arthur A. Tuthill (b. 1904) and his wife, Edith C. Eggerking, from 1951 until at least 1976 when Arthur passed away in the house. They removed much of the Victorian detailing. Arthur was a self-employed engineer starting in 1930 and served as Borough Engineer from 1956 to 1974, running his business out of this house. He was elected to the Borough Council in 1974. Their daughter, Ruth Hopfer, lived next door. The home was listed for sale in 1989 as a 4 bedroom, 2 bath on 2.45 acres. Approval was granted for a lot subdivision and soil removal and the home was demolished after 2001 with two large homes taking its place.

UNIQUE MEDAL AND BADGE

The Unique Medal and Badge Company was located on a four-acre lot at 67 Old Stone Church Road next to the building that had been Walthery’s blacksmith/wheelwright shop (see below), where Patriot’s Lane is now. It specialized in Catholic medals and badges and was founded in 1896 by Frederick Koch (b. 1862 Germany), who lived in Teaneck until the 1930s when they moved to Old Stone Church Road (possibly moving the company there at the same time). His son, Louis Arthur Peter Koch, who was born in Tenafly in 1898, took over the business in 1935 and and ran until he moved to West Palm Beach, FL.

Koch sold the home and adjacent business in 1960 to Myrtle “Mimi” C. Kutschinski Miller (b. 1908 MI) and Edward “Eddie” B. Miller (b. 1910 Indiana), who were married in Michigan in 1934 and moved to New York in 1936, then the Poconos, where they taught archery. They moved to Upper Saddle River in July of 1960 and when they bought the property it also came with a dog named Buddy.

There was a small one-story, wood-frame bungalow on the property about 100 feet from the main home which caught fire in 1963 killing the manager and secretary of their company, Philip John Newman, 24, who ate all his meals in the Miller’s home and was like a son to them. Myrtle Miller was an award-winner archer and archery teacher and is in the Archery Hall of Fame. The Millers also owned an archery camp in Roxbury, VT and taught in Pomfret, CT, where they died and are buried. No record has been located as to when the badge company was closed or sold. The site was re-developed for a luxury home.

Mimi Miller conducted the oral history of Lizzie Goetschius and was interested in local history.

VAN BUSKIRK BARN

The Abram Van Buskirk house still stands on West Saddle River Road just north of Presentation Church and was built around 1830 and remodeled into an Italianate style home around 1855. This barn may have dated to that period. The round-top window in the central peak would fit within the vernacular Italianate vocabulary. Although the home is still standing the barn was demolished and appears to have been rather worn when it came down. Little is known about the history of the house and even less about the barn. The Otens family (chief of police) lived here as well.

“VALLEY VIEW FARM” (Albert J. DEBAUN HOUSE)

This Victorian farmhouse stood on the west side of West Saddle River Road, facing the road, north of where the schools are today. It was owned and likely built by Albert J. DeBaun and either first wife, Christiana Garrison, whom he married in 1860, or his second wife, Rachel Zabriskie Winter DeBaun whom he married in 1865. It was a wood-frame house built in the popular Italianate style with intricate scrollwork on the full-width porch. Behind it you can see a barn in the photo below, which is also gone.

Albert was born in Upper Saddle River in 1835 to Jacob J. and Elizabeth Terhune DeBaun. They were living here by 1880 and had a farm laborer and a servant living with them. They had at least 3 children including John Garrison DeBaun (b. 1866) who married Annie Mowerson in 1894. John G. was postmaster of Saddle River and ran a general store (the Saddle River Market, which later became Buck’s Pork Store) until his retirement in 1937. John lived in Saddle River for the majority of his life. Around the time that John’s wife died (in 1897) his parents, Albert and Rachel DeBaun, moved in with him in Saddle River. The farm in Upper Saddle River may have been left empty, or possibly rented out. Rachel died in Saddle River in 1911.

In January, 1914, Albert sold the 100-acre farm to a young divorcée, Edna Louise Sands Boardman (b. 1884) of New York for $13,000 - a large sum at the time. She was working with an insurance and real estate agency in Ridgewood to complete the sale. She was listed on the 1915 census in Upper Saddle River, left for Paris in 1916, and never lived in Upper Saddle River again. Her story was a colorful one involving several husbands and a number of lawsuits over alimony. Albert died in 1916 in Saddle River two years after selling the house.

According to historian Claire Tholl, the home burned to the ground in November, 1915 and the only thing remaining was a chimney. John Kroner told us the chimneys were built by Walter Smith who was proud that they withstood the fire. Edna Boardman may have burned the home on purpose to collect insurance money. The barn burned in the 1930s. The land was sold to the Butscher family, who were local developers, prior to 1931. They built a small real estate office and began advertising it, but nothing was built until 1951 when zoning passed and the Rasmussen family built the homes on what is now “Old Chimney Road.” (The real estate office was eventually moved down by the river and became the home of the Gewald family). Prior to that the land sat empty and locals would go there to pick berries. Mrs. Bogert brought her students there for the day to picnic once.

The postcard image below was labeled J. G. DeBaun for John Garrison DeBaun, who likely sold it in his Saddle River store along with other postcards of the area. It’s the only remaining visual of the home.

John O. WALTHERY BARN

This barn actually belonged to Henry Hall Goetschius, who built the Gothic Revival home on the corner of Old Stone Church Road and West Saddle River Road, closest to West Saddle River Road. The home is still there. Henry was handicapped and hired a man named John Walthery (b. 1871) to do blacksmith and wheelwright work while Henry managed the business side of the enterprise. The barn was the site of Upper Saddle River’s first election on December 18, 1894 on the second floor of the barn. A vagrant man attempted suicide in the barn during the Great Depression. The property was sold to John J. Hopper and he used it as a garage, but tore the barn down in 1943. Henry Hall Goetschius and Walthery moved the blacksmith/wheelwright business to Old Stone Church Road (the odd collection of buildings is still standing on a 2.4 acre lot) and later to Waldwick to Benjamin Carlough’s barns.

WESTERN UNION (ONe Lake street)

Western Union constructed a 367,000 square foot office building in a Brutalist style in the 1960s, while also purchasing the 44-acre tract across the street in 1971 that was later developed into the Mountainview Executive Park. The property was purchased from the Secor family, who owned and operated Secor Farms on this corner of Lake Street. The Western Union building later became Prentice Hall and later Pearson Education, a publishing house. The building was demolished in the 2000s to make way for residential development.

WOLL MANSION (Extensively remodeled/partially demolished)

Matthew Woll and his wife (though they may have never actually been married) Celeonor Dugas, built this impressive home on what is now Gristmill Lane in 1946 on land purchased from August and Meta Weiss (Mayor of Upper Saddle River). Matthew was born in Luxembourg in 1860 and moved to Chicago with his parents. He began his career as a photo engraver, completed a law degree and quickly became President of the Photo Engraver’s Union, then worked his way up the political ladder to the President of the American Federation of Labor under Samuel Gompers - one of the most conservative Labor leaders in US history. Due to safety concerns (death threats) because of Matthew’s work they wanted a home that was hidden rather than the visible Victorian “Hopper-Woll” house that they remodeled on East Saddle River Road (though they kept that house too). They also maintained an apartment in New York City.

This rather modern-looking house belied its age. It was the first home built on Gristmill Lane before the street was developed and faced north with a teardrop shaped driveway that came in from East Saddle River Road. A grindstone from the old mill (for which the street is named) was at the vortex. The large house had a grand entry with a sweeping staircase up to a second floor landing and balcony where a massive pier mirror leaned against the wall. Some accent windows could be described as Gothic Revival. A third floor tower was where Celeonor (b. St. Paul, MN 1887) did portrait paintings under her maiden name Celeonor Dugas. A ground floor rear corner library was lined from end-to-end with the yellow bindings of National Geographic magazines. There was a pool, gardens, a caretaker’s cottage and 3-car garage on the property. Mrs. Woll rented out the little cottage and let the property fall into disrepair before her death in 1967. It was purchased by Jack and Dex Levin, who had a real estate business (J. D. Levin and Associates) and they planned to restore it, but it was abandoned, exposed to the elements and heavily looted (The railing was gone and furniture piled from the ground to the second floor with a large wooden writing desk at the top of the pile.) The home was partially demolished and the remaining portions extensively remodeled and added onto in the 1990s to become another large, luxury home, which can be seen today. One would never know its origins by looking at it.

WORTMANN CABIN

Dietrich Wortmann (b. 1884) married Anna Mertin and bought property in Upper Saddle River in 1919. He built this log cabin on what is now Sherwood Road around that time. There were several small cabins there and several members of the Wortmann family eventually lived along that street. Dietrich was educated in Leipzig, Germany and became an architect and developer and co-owned the firm Wortmann and Braun. He was responsible for a number of apartment buildings in New York in what could be classified as the Vienna Succession style. He was also an award-winning wrestler and coached the 1937 U.S. Olympic Weight Lifting team. He would come out from the city with friends for the weekend and used it as a hunting cabin and country escape. His grandchildren settled in Upper Saddle River.

WÜSTL HOUSE

Frederick Joseph Wüstl was born in Nürnberg, Germany in 1865 to Joseph A. and Emilie Köhler Wüstl. The family emigrated in 1872 settling in Brooklyn and Fred eventually married Ella Walter. They had six children; Emilie (1893), Frederick C. (1894), Henrietta Lina (1897), Charlotte “Lottie” (1899), Eleanor Jeanette (1902) and Dorothy (1906). In 1874 Fred’s father started a very successful costume business - the first of its kind in Brooklyn. He made a significant amount of money and purchased all but 6 acres of the 350 foot wide plot of land that ran from the Saddle River up Lake Street to Montvale. He bought it from his brother-in-law John Taylor, for $2,500 and built a handsome wood-frame Bungalow style house as a summer home, which had a Dutch gambrel roof, a dramatic, broad dormer, and porch across the front. It had a large, gambrel-roofed barn behind it, along Lake Street. When the house was completed, Steve Goetschius brought over saplings that he planted in the front yard and the trees grew to be towering evergreens.

One hot, dry summer night in 1936, while the Wüstl family was in residency, a fire broke out in the dairy barn at Dykstra’s Dairy (later Mettowee Farm), just down the road, killing livestock and destroying the barn. Lizzie Goetschius noticed the flames and called the fire department. Fire fighters came from several towns and traffic piled up to see the scene. While they watched the blaze no one noticed that an ember floated toward the Wüstl house and it too was on fire. Crews raced up the road, pumping water from the river, and while trying to put out that fire their barn also ignited. In the end, the roof and attic of the house were destroyed and many of the home’s contents ruined by water, smoke, and the rain that followed. Fred had the house rebuilt, which was costly during the depression, so he simplified the design and the family never liked it as much. The photos seen here show the home before the fire, apart from the aerial shot.

After Fred’s death in 1941 the costume business was carried on by his daughter Henrietta Wüstl Beckman, who married Robert Charles Beckman in 1924. The business was dissolved and their building in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn auctioned in 1952. Henrietta inherited the house in Upper Saddle River and passed it to her sons, Fred and Robert “Bob” C. Beckman, Jr.. Robert lived there with his wife until about 1988 before moving to Otego, NY. Robert Jr. was helpful in filling in details of the two interwoven families. Their house was demolished after he sold it and the land has since been redeveloped.

ZABRISKIE-FILIPS-SKINNER BARN

The rustic barn seen here, south of the Zabriskie house, was located on East Saddle River Road, just south of the Old Stone Church. The house is still standing and a newer barn can be seen north of the home today, but this barn is gone. This photo was taken in the 1960s looking down Rolling Ridge Road. The house was built about 1860 by John H. Zabriskie. Michael Filip (b. 1878) and Marianna “Marie” Kreszy Filip (b. 1872) bought the house in 1922. Their daughter married a Skinner. Together they ran a roadside stand here (see above). The barn seen in the photo was likely from the time the home was constructed.

ZEMAN HOUSE (389 East saddle river road)

The Zeman house was a Cottage Style home located two houses north of the Hopper-Goetschius house and was set back on the west side of East Saddle River Road. It was built between 1935 and 1938 by Dorothy Kocvarra and Daniel “Dan” Zeman (b. 1899), who emigrated from then Czechoslovakia in 1921. They moved to Upper Saddle River from Grantwood, NJ and lived in this home for 41 years and raised two children here. Daniel ran Zeman Motors (or Daniel Zeman Auto Body Works) in North Bergen, NJ, Ridgewood, and later Mahwah. They had also owned a Studebaker dealership and a Kaiser-Fraser dealership. Their home was possibly the first in Upper Saddle River to have an in-ground pool. They also added a playhouse and bungalow to the property in 1943. They are buried in Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Saddle River. The house was demolished and the property subdivided in 1992.

ADDITIONAL BUILDINGS

Debaun-Osborn HOUSE (60 Pleasant avenue)

No known photos exist of the DeBaun-Osborn house, which stood at 60 Pleasant Avenue just north of the Hennion property, where Union Avenue runs perpendicular to Pleasant Avenue. It was a wood-frame house built by Abraham J. DeBaun, likely around 1820. Charles O. Osborn (b. 1857) and Mary Gibson Osborn (b. 1850) purchased the property and raised two daughters there. Their daughter Mamie married and moved to Hawthorne and Jennie (b. 1889) inherited the house and lived her entire life there, dying in the house in 1968. She was a close friend of Ruth Hicks. According to Betty Odo, Ruth’s neighbor, it was a 2-story very simple, wood-frame home similar to Ruth Hicks’ house. Both homes were constructed by Abraham DeBaun. Betty doesn’t think Jennie ever had electricity. She worked as a school teacher in Waldwick and drove herself there. She passed away in 1968 and the land was proposed for subdivision in 1969. It was torn down sometime prior to 1973, when a new colonial style home was constructed.

JACOB A. BANTA HOUSE

This circa 1835 home stood on the south side of Weiss Road. A J. Banta was living there in 1850 and Jacob A. Banta (1835-1925) was there in 1860 with his mother, Cornelia Eckerson Banta and his wife Hannah, then with his second wife, Jane Maria Demarest, in 1876. Their daughter, Cora, married John Henry Goetschius. According to historian Claire Tholl, the house was torn down January 25, 1967.

James V. B. Terwilleger HOUSE

This home stood on Lake Street directly opposite Pleasant Avenue. It was built by Jost DeBaun around 1826 and was left to James Van Blarcom Terwilleger (1810-1885) in a will dated 1840. James was the husband of Jost’s granddaughter, Catherine Mullen, daughter of Anne. The house burned to the ground around 1924. Jost had about 50 acres of property along Lake Street running nearly to Carlough Road and owned the land opposite his home, on the south side of Lake Street, west of Union Avenue. He left some of his land to grandsons, Anthony and Joseph Crouter. Jost’s other daughter Catherine was the wife of Andrew H. Hopper, who lived in the no longer extant house opposite the Carlough home where Lake Street and Carlough Road meet. It seems Jost also worked as Overseer of the Poor for Franklin Township in the early 1800s.

The second owner, James V. B. Terwilleger, was one of the four founders of the Little Zion Methodist Church.

The site of this home was redeveloped by the Snyder family. See above for the farmhouse that stood in its place.

Union Avenue Carpet Cleaning

There is very little information and no existing photographs of the carpet cleaning business that once existed on Union Avenue. It was south of where Iron Latch is now. They stored rugs there as well and the building was set back from the road.

Van houton-GRAAFSMA HOUSE

A farmhouse located on West Saddle River Road and owned by Stephen Terhune Van Houten (b. 1866) and his wife, Georgianna Schneider Van Houten, of Franklin Turnpike, Allendale, burned to the ground on February 8, 1923. The property likely passed from Stephen’s mother, Matilda Terhune, who was born in Saddle River in 1836. At the time of the fire, the house was rented at the time to dairy farmer, Frank Graafsma and his wife, Anna Kuiken Graafsma. The fire started between the two floors and couldn’t be contained by the neighbors who attempted to help. Their children were asleep, but everyone survived, with only the clothes on their backs. The children attended the one-room schoolhouse and were acknowledges for their perfect attendance. By 1929 the Graafsma family had moved to East Allendale Avenue in Allendale and ran Pine Tree Dairy. Both Frank and Anna Graafsma were born in the Netherlands. No known photographs survive of the house.