Jersey City History
Historical Heights / Palisades Cliff
 Postcard View of Washington Village Atop Palisades Cliff (Yost Collection) |
Need to rewrite text as walking tour; this text originally from Jersey Journal article.
It takes a learned guide to uncover the gems of Heights history, often hidden by aluminum siding, diluted by conversion to condos, impinged upon by modern structures or just plain demolished.
John Gomez of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy was just the man for the task Sunday, sharing his encyclopedic knowledge during a walking tour that zigzagged Odgen Avenue, an area once known as Washington Village.
 Postcard View of River View Park Looking South (Yost Collection) |
About 25 people gathered for the two-hour trek in 100-year-old Riverview Park at Palisade Avenue and Bowers Street, taking in the view of Hoboken and Weehawken rooftops fading into New York City skyline.
The group followed Gomez south on Ogden, past 1890s red brick row houses decorated with inset glazed tiles and on to the home of former Gov. Aaron Ogden. The Ogden home, built in 1760, was the longtime home of Ted Conrad, one of Jersey City's foremost preservationists, who died in 1994. In the yard were remnants of New York City's Penn Station and parts from the New York City Public Library, said Gomez.
 Postcard Views of Ogden Avenue (Yost Collection) |
The tour passed an old Victorian/Gothic home from the 1860s featuring an arched door and windows, as well as a stable behind. Many of the structures on Ogden Avenue were designed by the Neuman Brothers, who also designed the columned building at the corner of Summit and Manhattan avenues, said Gomez.
Near the corner of Ferry Street, the group stopped at an old horse-grooming stable with a cobblestone driveway, then moved on to Pohlmann's Hall, a three-story German social club from the mid-19th century that is the only Heights structure on the state and national historic registry. It was restored in the 1980s when it went condo, said Gomez.
 Postcard Views of the Hoboken/Jersey City Elevated Trolley (Yost Collection) |
Beside Pohlmann's Hall is a vacant lot where elevated tracks once carried trolleys down the 120-foot drop from Jersey City to Hoboken. Near the "El" once stood a wagon elevator and a staircase called the "100 steps," which were removed in the 1920s.
The tour turned off Odgen onto Mountain Road, which angles down the Palisades in hairpin turns, passing beneath an old coffin factory - now apartments - and down to Paterson Plank Road, where the Koven Stove Works once built stoves that heated residences from the late 19th into the early 20th century.
 Postcard View of the "100 Steps" at Franklin Street and Mountain Road (Yost Collection) |
Mountain Road was originally built with cobblestones, and during paving work a few years ago, caves were found beneath - including some that had been utilized by a brewery for storage, Gomez said.
The group then braved traffic and crossed Paterson Plank Road, once an American Indian trail that ran to the Hackensack River, Gomez said, describing how Lenape Indians would canoe across the river and continue as far as Paterson.
At Ogden and Congress, he pointed out a modern housing development that once housed Pathe Studios, a force in the early years of the American cinema.
It was then on to Palisade Avenue near South Street to see Jersey City's second-oldest building: the ivy-covered, bluestone-and-brick Van Vorst House, built in 1740 and said to have housed Colonial troops.
The tour ended on Holland Street off Ogden Avenue, the Heights' only remaining cobblestone street and one of only five in a city once paved in nothing but cobbles, said Gomez.
 Postcard View of Paterson Plank Road beneath Holland Street Steps and Carriage Road (Yost Collection) |
Howard Pinhasik, who took in the sights with his wife, Judy, and their 15-month-old son, Joey, said he at first found the idea of moving from New York City to Jersey City a bit scary, though he's found reasons to like his new hometown.
"I was fascinated by the beautiful buildings, and I hope efforts to preserve and restore them are continued," he said. "I was not aware until this tour of the historic jewels hidden here. I think the tour was wonderful."
Sunday's tour was one of eight the nonprofit Landmarks Conservancy will host to celebrate National Historic Preservation Week. For information on upcoming tours, call 420-1885 or go to www.jclandmarks.org.