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I am humbled to present this direct contribution to the Irvington Remembered web site by the great Alan A. Siegel.
Thank you Alan. You are The Man !!!
Alan is the author of the following two books:
1) Smile - Picture History of Olympic Park 1887-1965
2) Irvington, NJ - Images of America
 
The following is an historical account of Irvington as authored by the man himself, Alan A. Siegel.
AN OUTLINE HISTORY of IRVINGTON, NEW JERSEY
By
ALAN A. SIEGEL
Published by the IRVINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1998
Harry Stevenson, President
A BRIEF HISTORY
 Fifteen thousand years ago what is now Irvington lay buried under hundreds of feet of glacial ice. As the climate gradually tempered, the glacier loosed its frigid grasp upon the land, and the present-day contours of the town emerged. The Elizabeth River is the chief geographic feature of Irvington, bisecting the town from north to south. The river, which enters Irvington at a point 140 feet above sea level, descends gradually until it crosses into Hillside at an elevation of 70 feet. The land east of the Elizabeth River is a gently rolling plain. To the west of the river a spur of the Orange Mountains reaches 220 feet above sea level at Franklin Terrace.
The first inhabitants of the Elizabeth River valley were the Awkinges awky or Hackensacks, a subtribe of the Lenni Lenape. No Indian village is known to have existed in Irvington, but the region's plentiful game and well-stocked streams leaves little doubt that the Hackensack made their camps here. In 1666 several small vessels from Connecticut sailed up the Passaic River in search of a safe landing. Within a decade Newark's first settlers laid out highways, erected a meeting house and established themselves on the banks of the river. The next generation looked to the west for additional land. Irvington had been explored soon after Newark was settled: The Indian trail that later became Clinton Ave. led straight to the Elizabeth River and the open meadows of the valley. History has not preserved the name of Irvington's first European settler nor the date when he and his family cleared the woods to build the first rough cabin here. Tradition has it that Irvington was founded in 1692.
During the early years of the 18th Century a handful of families inhabited the valley, most of them clustered along the river. West Farms, as the place was first called, gained its earliest citizen of note when Samuel Camp sold his property in Newark and moved his family here about 1725. His son, Joseph, opened a general store on what is now Clinton Ave. about 1740, farmed the family's lands, owned a sawmill on the river and operated a cider mill and distillery on Vinegar Hill. At mid-century Joseph Camp and his numerous relatives and descendants owned nearly one-third of the arable land in what is now Irvington, reason enough for West Farms to become known as Camp's Town.
The story of the American Revolution was played out in miniature in what was to become Irvington. Joseph Camp's son, Caleb, was a stalwart patriot. A member of the Provincial Congress, he served as a member of the General Assembly after independence was declared member of the Council of Safety for 11 years and Speaker of the Assembly. His neighbor and sometime business partner, Samuel Hayes, earned his laurels during eight years as a major in the Essex County Militia. More than 40 men from West Farms and vicinity served the America cause in the fight for independence.
Village life began to return to normal soon after the British were driven from New Jersey. Camptown built a new schoolhouse in 1809, saw it burn to the ground in 1826 and replaced it with a three-story brick building that was to stand as a landmark at the Center until 1913. The Camptown Academy was Irvington's only schoolhouse until Central School on Clinton Ave. opened in 1870. A stagecoach line between Morristown and Jersey City began operating with a stop in Camptown in 1798. The new fast mail line from Philadelphia to New York City chose the village as a relay station in 1800.
By the mid 1800s Camptown had grown to a village of about 900, most of them farmers but a growing number professional and business people from Newark, Jersey City and New York City who had sought the place out for its quiet country lifestyle. When Stephen Foster published his new ballad, "De Camptown Races," in 1850, the "better folk" of the village were mortified that people would associate their hometown with the bawdy goings-on celebrated in Foster's song. To Lydia Crawford, the wife of the local postmaster, belongs the honor of choosing Camptown's new name: Her 1852 suggestion, "Irvingtown," commemorated Washington Irving, America's greatest living man of letters.
Irvington sent nearly 70 of her sons to fight for the Union in the Civil War. Amos J. Cummings, sergeant major of the 26th New Jersey Volunteers, was the most decorated, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor for "distinguished gallantry" at the Battle of Salem Heights.
On March 27, 1874, the state approved legislation that created "a body politic" known as the Village of Irvington. Until then only a section of Clinton Township, Irvington was now an independent municipality with its own mayor, village trustees, police department (1893) and fire department (1894). Laws approved in Trenton in 1903 and again in 1908 that would have joined Irvington to Newark were turned aside as local voters soundly rejected the idea of annexation.
By the turn of the century Irvington had been transformed from a country village to a thriving middle class suburb of Newark. The town's first electric trolley in 1890 was largely responsible. Throughout the period 1860 to 1890, when horse-drawn trolleys on Clinton and Springfield Avenues were the swiftest means of travel between Irvington and Newark, Irvington's population hovered between 1,500 and 2,000. By 1905, just 15 years after the first electric trolleys plied Springfield Ave., there were 7,180 people here. Irvington's development began gradually in the late 1880s, gained momentum at the turn of the century, then skyrocketed during the 25 years between 1905 and 1930. Irvington's population was 11,877 in 1910. Ten years later 25,480 people called the town their home. By 1930 the number stood at 56,733, an amazing 223% increase.
Since the building boom finally ended in 1930 after having consumed every farm and field in town, Irvington's population has remained relatively stable. A little over three square miles in area, Irvington is one of the most densely populated places in the state. Census takers in 1905 found that one-fifth of Irvington's people were foreign born, most of them natives of Germany, England and Ireland. During the first three quarters of the 20th Century, a wave of immigrants swept over Irvington. German Americans bought or rented so heavily in the East Ward that from the 1880s to the 1950s they were the town's most dominant ethnic group. The town's Jewish community, numbering over 9,000 in the 1970s, was virtually non-existent until 1900. The largest ethnic group by the 1970s, Polish-Americans moved here in force after World War One. Italian-Americans began arriving in the West Ward in the early 1940s, followed in the 1960s by Ukrainian-Americans, 4,000 strong (most of them in the North Ward) when the 1970 census was taken.
In July 1967 Newark’s black community exploded. Four days of rioting and burning left the central city devas-tated, hastening an exodus of families from the city. Until 1965 Irvington was almost exclusively white. By 1980 the town was nearly 40% black, by 1990 it was 70%. Michael G. Steele, the town’s first black mayor, was elected in 1990.
AN OUTLINE HISTORY
13,000 B.C.
What is now Irvington lies buried under hundreds of feet of glacial ice.
1000 A.D.
The Awkinges awky, or Hackensacks, a subtribe of the Lenni Lenape, make their camps in the Elizabeth River Valley.
1666
Puritans from Connecticut arrive on the banks of the Passaic River, establish the village of Newark.
1692
Traditional date for the first permanent settlement of the Elizabeth River Valley.
1705
Thomas Brown, one of the earliest settlers here, erects a sawmill on the Elizabeth River at the Great Swamp (present-day Union Avenue & Mill Road).
1725-1730
Samuel Camp and his family move from Newark to the village of West Farms (now Irvington)
1732
Caleb Camp, grandson of Samuel Camp, is born in West Farms. A major figure in Irvington's history, he is moderator or chairman of Newark’s town meetings for many years, Sheriff of Essex County, member of the General Assembly and Council of Safety, and Speaker of the State Assembly in 1778-1780. A true patriot of the Revolution, he dies in 1817.
1740-1745
Joseph Camp, father of Caleb Camp, opens a general store on the highway to the mountains (now Clinton Avenue). Ten years later he builds a cider mill, one of many erected in West Farms during the 18th century when apple orchards covered large tracts.
1745-1750
Period of the colonial land riots, precursor to the American Revolution. Anti-Proprietor rioters are led by Amos Roberts, a carpenter from West Farms.
1775-1783
Samuel Hayes, a surveyor from West Farms and business partner of Caleb Camp, serves as Major of the Essex County Militia during the Revolution.
1776
British troops in pursuit of General Washington's army raid West Farms, nearly capturing Caleb Camp and killing Thomas Hayes, a farmer who lived on what is now the northwest corner of Clinton and Stuyvesant Avenues.
June 6, 1780
Units of General William Maxwell's brigade are stationed at West Farms on the eve of the Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield.
1784-1785
The periauger, "Sally & Betsey," is built at the Camptown Navy Yard at the top of Vinegar Hill by Caleb Camp. When completed, the boat is rolled down Clinton Avenue to the Elizabeth River and there launched.
1800
West Farms is now commonly known as Camp’s Farms, [and later as Camptown] due to the prominence of the Camp family. The tiny village is chosen as a relay station on the fast mail stage from New York to Philadelphia. Passengers take refreshment at the Camptown Tavern.
1806
Construction begins on the Springfield and Newark Turnpike, a toll road, now known as Springfield Avenue.
1806-1808
The first schoolhouse is built in Camptown [at present-day 1102 Clinton Avenue]. Burned to the ground in 1826, it is rebuilt by the people and stands until 1913.
1807
The Great Court House Election is held in Essex County to decide whether the County Seat is to be moved from Newark to Day's Hill in Camptown.
1812-1814
Twenty-two men from Camptown serve in the War of 1812.
1827-29
Joseph Wheeler Camp, Caleb Camp's son, is Sheriff of Essex County.
October 24, 1830
The First Congregational Christian Church is founded, making it the oldest in Irvington.
1831
Baltus Rol is murdered by an intruder at his Mountainside farm. Peter Davis, keeper of the Camptown Tavern, is accused but found not guilty after a famous trial. Baltus Rol’s land was sold off to developers who built the world- famous BaltusRol golf course.
1834
Clinton Township, which includes what is now Irvington, Maplewood and parts of Newark and South Orange, is created. In 1902 what remains of the Township is absorbed into Newark.
1835
Cyrus Durand (1787-1868), famous inventor and banknote engraver, settles in Camptown.
He builds his "Castle on the Hill," designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, the renowned architect.
1836
The Belcher brothers open their ruler factory on the Elizabeth River, just north of Clinton Avenue. In 1853 they supply 60,000 square feet of etched glass for New York's Crystal Palace, an exposition hall.
1840
Temperance advocates raid cider mills on Vinegar Hill (W. Clinton Ave., near Sanford), smashing barrels of hard cider.
April 1, 1843
Nathaniel Drake, the first of his family in Irvington, purchases Baker's Mill on Union Avenue and Mill Road. His grandson, Mahlon Drake, known as the Ice Baron, will harvest a fortune in ice from the millponds during the second half of the 19th Century.
February 28, 1844
Clinton Cemetery is founded on two acres of land "on the road leading from Baker's Mills to Camptown," today’s Union Avenue. There have been over 11,000 interments in the cemetery, which is still active.
1846
The last four slaves in Clinton Township are emancipated.
1849
The Rev. John L. Chapman (1812-1891) opens the Home Institute, a school for young boys and girls, on what is now Chapman Place.
1850-1931
The Ollemar family farms 32 acres between Springfield Avenue and Grove Street for 81 years. Theirs is the last farm to be sold for housing development. For many years the circus pitched its tents on the Ollemar tract.
November 2, 1852
Camptown's name is changed to Irvington, honoring America's foremost author of the time, Washington Irving. Irving never sets foot here but does visit Newark frequently.
1855
Moses Cummings (1816-1867) becomes editor of The Christian Palladium, the first newspaper published in Irvington. He also operates a small religious press from his home, printing books and pamphlets.
May 4, 1863
Amos J. Cummings (1838-1902), Sergeant Major of the 26th Regiment, N. J. Volunteers, wins the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Salem Heights, Virginia.
Seventy men from Irvington serve in the Civi1 War, including George Jefferson, a private in the U. S. Colored Troops.
July 1863
The first horse-drawn trolley cars reach Irvington on the Clinton Avenue line.
1865-1900
This is the era of strawberry culture. One hundred thousand baskets are harvested in 1898.
1866
Nearly 6,000 fans watch as the Irvington Base Ball Club plays the New York Mutuals.
September 1870
Clinton Avenue School is completed at a cost of $22,000 and serves as the town’s high school for many years. The building is demolished in 1974.
1871
Irvington's first secular newspaper, The Irvingtonian, is published by raconteur, Dr. Joseph L. Wade.
April 24, 1874
What is now the northerly two-thirds of modern Irvington is set off from Clinton Township. Trustees of the new Village of Irvington meet for the first time.
June 4, 1874
Wooden sidewalks, a mark of progress, are installed at the Center.
December 1874
77 gas lamps are erected in Irvington Center.
1875
Prudential Insurance Co. is organized in Newark, with Capt. Allen Bassett (1827-1892)
of Irvington as first president.
1876
Elias W. Durand (1824-1908) wins a bronze medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition for his prize strawberries.
December 15, 1878
St. Leo's Church is dedicated, the first Roman Catholic church in Irvington.
January 1884
Irvington’s first telephone is installed at Boice's drugstore on Springfield Avenue.
1886-1908
Era of the Irvington-Millburn Bicycle Race, renewed in 1933 and 1974. Twenty thousand spectators line the Springfield Avenue route for the 1896 race.
1890-1930
A building boom hits Irvington, with the town's population skyrocketing from 3,000 to 56,000 by 1930 when the Great Depression calls a halt to further expansion.
1890
Electric street cars, the sensation of the decade, begin operations on Springfield Avenue. Irvington's last trolley is retired in 1937.
April 5, 1894
The Irvington Volunteer Fire Department is established. In November 1907, a paid department takes the place of the volunteers.
June 1894
Irvington's first underground water system is instalIed.
July 1894
Public ceremonies at the dedication of “Enterprise Hill” at Coit Street and Nye Avenue mark the beginning of Irvington’s industrial growth.
September 2, 1895
The first Town Hall is dedicated on Clinton Avenue just west of the Center. Designed to house both the police and fire departments as well as municipal offices, it remains in use until 1943.
1895-1910
German-Americans move to Manhattan Park [the northeast section of the present East Ward] in large numbers. The first emigrants to settle in town, the Irish-Americans, began arriving before the Civi1 War.
1898
The “Town of Irvington” is incorporated. It includes all of the Village and a portion of Clinton Township south of Chancellor Avenue. Thirty men serve in the Spanish-American War.
1900
Dr. Albion Christian purchases a Winton, the first auto owned by a town resident.
1901-1908
Unsuccessful movement to annex Irvington to Newark.
May 20, 1902
A paid police force is established with John Coleman as chief. He commands two patrolmen.
1904
Herman Schmidt and Christian Kurz become the owners of Becker's Grove, renaming it Olympic Park in honor of the Olympic Games held that year in St. Louis.
1905
Clinton Avenue becomes the first paved road in Irvington. The high school, with twenty-two students and two teachers, now takes four years instead of two to complete.
1906-1960
Irvington Varnish & Insulator Co., founded by Carl P. Berger, puts the town on the industrial map of the world.
1910-1915
Italian-Americans move to Irvington, settling in the Harper Avenue neighborhood.
November 1911
The Rudolph Aeroplane Company builds a six passenger monoplane. A year later the plane is sold for scrap.
April 12, 1912
First issue of The Clinton Weekly, now the Irvington Herald, comes off the presses.
April 7, 1914
Following a national trend, the town votes to change from Mayor-Council to Commission form of government.
March 1, 1915
The Irvington Free Public Library opens in a small store on the corner of Union Avenue and Cottage Place (now Nye Ave.) with 2,000 books.
1917
The last cow auctions are held in the sheds behind the old Irvington Hotel. The Lionel Corporation, world's largest manufacturer of model trains, relocates here. 2,000 workers are employed in the firm’s best year, 1950. The company moves to Maryland in 1967.
June 5, 1917
2,217 Irvington men register for the draft. 1,032 serve in World War 1, 26 dying in the war to end wars.
October-November 1917
Twenty-nine die from the Spanish Flu.
1919
Gladden Lodge, a private sanitarium on Chapman Place, becomes Irvington General Hospital. The building on Chancellor Hill opens in 1924 on land donated by Mayor William Glorieux.
1920-1950
Springfield Avenue from the Center east to the Newark line is the used car capital of northern New Jersey.
1921
Commissioner Greene calls for an ordinance to ban the driving of cattle and sheep through the town.
February 4, 1922
Patrolman William Finnegan, shot by an auto thief, is the first policeman to die in the line of duty. His murderer is tried and convicted of the crime within five weeks.
1922
Polish-Americans settle in East Ward. Temple B’nai Israel organizes, Irvington’s first synagogue.
1923
Olympic Park’s pool, the world's largest outdoor fresh water pool, opens. The pool has a 3.7 million gallon capacity, its own wells and sand beach.
September 25, 1923
Mayor Edward Folsom commits suicide after his boyhood crimes are revealed in the press.
1924
William L. Glorieux, founder of Irvington Smelting & Refining Co., philanthropist and mayor of Irvington for 18 years between 1891 and 1917, dies.
August 1924
Irvington taverns are padlocked by Federal agents. Illicit beer and liquor are widely available despite Prohibition. Local mobsters are said to be "plenty tough."
1926
Frank H. Morrell High School opens, named in honor of Irvington’s Supervising Principal and Superintendent of Schools from 1875 to 1924.
1929-1953
High school baseball teams coached by Doc Gantz win 436 games, lose only 97, capture 15 state and sectional crowns.
1933
Depression is at its worst. A town food store opens, thousands are out of work, 4,000 are on relief. The WPA builds the Elizabeth River flume, repairs streets and parks.
1933-1940
Tri-City Stadium on Mill Road hosts night baseball and motorcycle racing.
1934
A slot machine scandal rocks town government, forcing the resignation of one official and the demotion of the police chief.
May 1938
Herbert A. Kruttschnitt becomes mayor, serving 16 years. A commissioner from 1930 to 1958, his 28 years sets a record.
July 1940
The state treasurer of the German-American Bund lives in Irvington. The town is called a “hot bed" of Bund activity by the FBI.
1940
The Irvington High School Band under the direction of Marlin Brinser performs at the New York World’s Fair.
December 7, 1941
Fireman Robert Wyckoff of the U.S.S. Arizona is killed in the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. 172 Irvington men and women die in World War II. Over 7,000 serve in the armed forces.
May 15, 1943
The new Municipal Building on Civic Square is dedicated.
1943
The last appearance of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus at Ollemar field.
March 1945
Frank Dailey opens The Ivanhoe on Springfield Avenue. The supper club draws the best bands of the era to Irvington.
1950
Percy A. Miller, Jr., former Mayor (1934-1938), is elected Speaker of the N.J. General Assembly.
1950-1953
Eleven Irvington men give their lives in the Korean War.
1950-1955
The Garden State Parkway is built through the middle of Irvington, disrupting entire neighborhoods.
1962
Voters discard Commission form of government, adopt Mayor Council Plan D. A move in 1969 to change back to the Commission form is turned aside by a two to one margin.
September 1965
Olympic Park, one of the largest amusement parks in the East, closes.
1965-1970
Ukrainian-Americans begin moving into Irvington, many near the Vailsburg line.
1967
A new Free Public Library is dedicated on Civic Square.
1972
The Public Safety Bui1ding on Civic Square is built, combining police and fire headquarters in a modern million-dollar structure.
May 1972
Air Force Capt.Theodore Sienicki is shot down over North Vietnam, becoming the only POW from Irvington. 13 from the town die in the conflict.
April - October 1974
Irvington celebrates its 100th anniversary on the theme, "Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future."
1980
U.S. Census counts 23,397 blacks [a 10-fold increase since 1970) and 5,181 of Spanish descent. On July 1, Fred Bost, the first black to serve on the Town Council, is sworn in as East Ward Councilman.
January 1984
The town leases Irvington General Hospital to an independent non-profit foundation and a $16 million expansion program begins. Later, IGH affiliates with Newark’s Beth Israel.
April 1992
The Municipal Council approves the largest bond issue in the history of the Township, $50,000,000, to build the Thurgood Marshall School and additions to Union Avenue and Myrtle Avenue Schools. The project is mired in controversy and becomes the subject of investigation as both Union and Myrtle Avenue Schools remain closed for over three years.
FORMS OF GOVERNMENT SINCE 1874
1874-1898
Village of Irvington
Governed by 5 village trustees elected annually. One trustee elected by his fellow trustees to serve as village president (mayor)
1898-1914
Town of Irvington
Governed by a mayor and 6 ward councilman (2 from each ward). Mayor and councilmen serve two year terms.
1914-1962
Town of Irvington
Governed by a Board of Commissioners. Five commissioners elected every four years. One commissioner chosen by his fellow commissioners to serve as mayor.
1962 to Date
Town of Irvington/Township of Irvington
Mayor Council Plan D under the Faulkner Act. Three councilmen at large and four ward councilmen elected for four year terms. Mayor elected directly by voters for four year term. [On May 12, 1982, Irvington like numerous other municipalities across the nation became a “Township” to gain a greater share of Federal aid.]
MAYORS OF IRVINGTON SINCE 1874
(Village President, 1874-1898)
William H. Murphy 1874-1875
Sanford B. Hunt 1875-1876
Edward C. Clement 1876-1877
Isaac 0. Wade 1877-1878; 1882-1884
Charles W. Harrison 1878-1879
John N. Crawford 1879
Abram M. Hassell 1880-1881
Hiram M. Haskins 1881
Elias W. Durand 1881-1882
John H. Van Cleve 1884-1886; 1902-1904
Will C. Headley 1886-1889
John W. Wolf 1889-1891
William L. Glorieux 1891-1892; 1896-1897;
1898-1902; 1904-1912; 1914-1917
John H. Mortland 1892
Henry L. Leibe 1894-1895
William A. Reeve 1895-1896
Isaac J. Casey 1897-1898
David H. Greene 1912-1914; 1923-1930
Edward R. Folsom 1917-1923
John H. Lovell 1930-1934
Percy A. Miller, Jr. 1934-1938
Herbert Kruttschnitt 1938-1954
Edward J. McKenna 1954-1958
William E. Lovell 1958-1966
Harry Stevenson 1966-1974
Robert H. Miller 1974-1982
Anthony T. Blasi 1982-1986
J. Walter Jonkoski 1986-1990
Michael G. Steele, 1990-1994
Sara B. Bost, 1994-
POPULATION GROWTH
1870 1,500 (Est.)
1880 2,000 (Est.)
1890 3,000 (Est.)
1900 5,255
1905 7,180
1910 11,877
1920 25,480
1930 56,733
1940 55,328
1950 59,201
1960 59,379
1970 59,743
1980 61,493
1990 61,010
IRVINGTON STREET NAMES
Many street names in Irvington reflect the history of the community. Some honor the families who owned the property before the street was built, others are named for real estate developers, while still other streets are named after local officials.
ADAMS STREET was originally known as Sorrento Place before it was renamed to honor Frank Adams, who died in World War I.
ALLEN STREET was Allyn Street until it was renamed in honor of Lyle Allen, one of 26 men from Irvington who died in World War I.
BACHMAN PLACE was Kosciusko Street before it was renamed to honor Frederick Bachman, a war casualty.
BALL STREET ran only from Clinton Avenue to Nye Avenue until 1912 when it was extended south to Lyons Avenue. In 1860 Ezekial C. Ball bought part of the estate of Dr. William G. Lord, building his home on what is now the southwest corner of Ball Street and Clinton Avenue. During the Civil War he opened Ball Street and built a row of "neat cottages."
BAMFORD PLACE, originally Casserta Place, is named after Robert Bamford, who died in World War I. BANTA PLACE perpetuates the name of Charles M. Banta (18661936), a local builder and developer.
BEAUMONT PLACE honors John Beaumont, who died in World War I.
BECKER TERRACE was known as North 43rd Street until December 1966, when it was renamed to eliminate confusion with 43rd Street. Town Historian Clinton N. Rutan suggested the new name in honor of John Becker, who owned a large farm in the area in the late nineteenth century.
BEDFORD TERRACE honors Henry P. Bedford, who was Police Court Recorder and served as a commissioner from 1922 to 1934.
BREAKENRIDGE TERRACE is named after John H. Breakenridge, who developed the area along with his partner, Halsey Tichenor.
BROOKSIDE AVENUE was opened after Myrtle Avenue was developed. Stables and carriage houses for the homes on Myrtle Avenue were built at the rear of the property to keep odors and insects away from the main residence. An alley along the western boundary of Jacob Skinkle’s property gave access to the stables. Known as Skinkle's Lane, the alley was also called Tompkin's Lane. Skinkle's Brook paralleled the alley.
BROSS PLACE was named after Jacob F. Bross, who died in World War I.
BRUEN AVENUE, one of two street mapped in 1866 by William Hickok, is named after the Rev. James McWhorter Bruen. Born in Newark on July 30, 1818, Rev. Bruen was minister of the Reformed Dutch Church of Clintonville from 1850 to 1852 and served as Clinton Township Superintendent of Schools from 1866 to 1867. He died in Clayton, N.J., on January 30, 1881 and is buried in Clinton Cemetery. Rev. Bruen, who lived on Clinton Avenue opposite the new west wing of Irvington High School, edited a magazine called "Every Month" in the 1870s.
CAMPFIELD STREET honors George F. Campfield, who died in World War I.
CHANCELLOR AVENUE, long known as Pot Pie Lane, ran from the stone schoolhouse on Elizabeth Avenue in Lyons Farms to the Swamp Mill road, or Union Avenue. At the turn of the century it was known as Prospect Avenue from the Newark line to Union Avenue, where the road stopped. From Stuyvesant Avenue west to Springfield Avenue, the road was called Halstead Avenue. In 1914 the entire length of the road was renamed Chancellor Avenue in honor of Oliver Halstead, a wellknown nineteenth century jurist who served as Chancellor of New Jersey from 1845 to 1852. Before automobile traffic became too heavy, Chancellor Avenue Hill was a favorite spot for sledding. Children and grownups alike glided down the steep hill on "cheese cutters, fliers and bobsleds." During the Thirties the hill was the scene of soapbox derby elimination races.
CHAPMAN PLACE and CHAPMAN STREET honor the memory of the Rev. John L. Chapman, whose famous estate was once located between Elmwood and Springfield Avenues.
CIVIC SQUARE was cut through Centre Playground in 1941 to provide access to the new municipal building, then under construction. A townwide contest to name the new street drew entries from more than 1,000 Irvington school children. Norbert Dreher, a 12yearold, was the winner with his entry, Civic Square. Other entries were Defense Boulevard, Defiance Street, Tax Street, Revenue Square and Kruttschnitt Boulevard.
CLEMENTS PLACE, opened in 1928, is one of the newest streets in town. It was named after Mrs. Edith S. Clements, who developed the west side of Chapman Street in the late twenties.
CLINTON AVENUE is one of the oldest roads in Essex County, formerly an Indian trail that led up from Newark to what is now Irvington Center, then took a sharp turn to the south (to avoid a small rise known as Bunker Hill) down what is now Union Avenue. It made another turn to the west and followed what we now call Nye Avenue and Elmwood Avenue to Maplewood. During the 19th Century Clinton Avenue was variously known as Camptown Road, the Plank Road and Irvington Avenue. Until the 1870s West Clinton Avenue was called Belcher Avenue.
CLINTON TERRACE, opened in 1919, was known as Clinton Place until 1942 when it was renamed Haertter Place in honor of Edward D. Haertter, principal of Irvington High School from 1923 to 1942. It became Clinton Terrace in 1948.
COIT STREET honors the Rev. Charles B. Coit whose son, Olin B. Coit, and daughter, Burnettie P. Coit (18591940), owned property in the neighborhood.
COOLIDGE STREET, named after President Calvin Coolidge, cuts through a 35-acre tract owned and developed by Nicholas Weber. Weber’s Pond was the scene of iceskating in the winter.
COTTAGE PLACE was formerly known as Hawthorne Avenue.
CUMMINGS STREET was opened after 1873, the year Mrs. Julia Cummings, the widow of the Rev. Moses Cummings, divided her farm into building lots.
DASSING AVENUE is named after Henry J. Dassing, a real estate developer who built homes there at the turn of the century.
DENMAN PLACE is named in honor of Ralph Denman, who died in World War I.
DRAKE'S LANE is one of the oldest streets in town. Originally, it was merely a path leading to Belcher’s Rule factory. In 1843, in conformity with a new state road law, Thomas Belcher applied to have the lane set out as a private road 25 feet wide. Later, the factory and surrounding land passed to the Drake family, and in September 1926, the lane became a public street.
DURAND PLACE memorializes Elias W. Durand, who owned the land before the street was opened about 1901. South Durand Place was formerly known as 37th Street.
EASTERN PARKWAY is a remnant of the old Essex County Speedway, which became Oraton Parkway in 1927. Oraton Parkway, which ran from Springfield Avenue to Park Avenue in East Orange, was lined with ornamental shrubs and flowering cherry trees its entire length. In the 1950s, when the Garden State Parkway obliterated the last traces of Oraton Parkway, the service road to the east of the Parkway was named Eastern Parkway. Oraton was the name of an Indian chief who lived in here in the 17th Century.
EBERHARDT PLACE honors Gustav A. Eberhardt, who died in World War I.
ELLIS AVENUE was known as 22nd Street and 23rd Street (in part) until 1913 when it was renamed after John W. Ellis (18731924), a wellknown contractor and developer who built many homes in the area.
ELMWOOD AVENUE, which perpetuates the name of Rev. Chapman's estate, was once an Indian trail. During the early 19th Century it was known as the "road to Middleville" and the "old road past Stephen Headley's" farm.
ENS PLACE is named after local property owners.
FEINER PLACE is named after Walter Feiner, who died in World War I.
FRANKLIN TERRACE and FREDERICK TERRACE are named after brothers, Frederick and Frank Eckelhofer, who developed the area. Frederick Eckelhofer was a councilman in 191011.
FULLER PLACE is probably named after Ealon A. Fuller (18441918), who lived in the area.
GLORIEUX STREET honors Gilbert Glorieux, who died in World War I. Until 1918, 20th Street was known as Glorieux Street.
GRACE STREET was named after one of the daughters of Village Trustee William R. Adams, who served from 1892 to 1896.
GREENE TERRACE honors David H. Greene, mayor of Irvington from 19121914 and again from 1923 to 1930.
HARDGROVE TERRACE perpetuates the memory of Walter Hardgrove, who died in World War I. Hardgrove's uncle, Jonah, was foreman of the Irvington Volunteer Fire Department (18971904) and Irvington's Superintendent of Streets and Sewers from 1915 to 1931.
HARPER AVENUE is named after Edward and Joseph Harper, who owned land in the area at the turn of the century.
HARRISON PLACE is named after a prominent Irvington family which owned a large farm between Clinton and Springfield Avenues. Charles W. Harrison was clerk of Clinton Township, 185253, member of the Board of School Trustees, 188594, trustee of Irvington Village, 187980, 188384, member, Board of Managers, Clinton Cemetery, 187988, and president of Irvington Village, 187879. His son, Edwin D. Harrison, was a surveyor who laid out Harrison Place and Alpine Street, now known as Hopkins Place.
HEADLEY TERRACE is named after Stephen Headley. Before 1914, a portion of the street was known as Webster Street, another section, as Stephen Street.
HENNESY PLACE honors Joseph J. Hennesy, who died in World War I.
HILLSIDE TERRACE, which was opened in 1916 as Hillside Avenue, was the last street in town built with horsedrawn equipment.
HOFFMAN PLACE is named after Herman Hoffman, who owned an 11acre farm there at the turn of the century.
HOWARD STREET is named after one of the sons of Village Trustee William R. Adams. Adams, who died in 1924, was known as the "father of the Town Hall and was instrumental in establishing Irvington’s volunteer fire department in the 1890s.
KROTIK PLACE commemorates Thomas Krotik, who gave his life in World War I.
KUNA TERRACE is named after Adolph Kuna, who died in World War I.
LAKE STREET, which was opened in 1871, was sonamed for its proximity to Durand's Pond. In 1993 its name was changed to
BULL ST. to honor World War I casualty Lt. Wm. Bull.
LAVENTHAL AVENUE is named after Jacob Laventhal who died in World War I.
LENTZ PLACE is named after John Lentz (18571933), a nurseryman who lived near what is now the site of St. Paul the Apostle Church.
LIBERTY STREET was once Wilson Avenue.
LINCOLN PLACE, named after President Abraham Lincoln, was once known as Deadman's Hollow. During the 1880s and 1890s it was called Criqui's Lane, sonamed because it was at the rear of property owned by John Criqui (d. 1911) on Union Avenue.
LINDSLEY AVENUE is named after Stewart Lindsley, who owned a 32acre farm to the west of Drake’s Lower Pond in the early years of this century.
LYONS AVENUE extended only as far as Union Avenue until about 1910. It was once known as the "road to Lyons Farms," now in Hillside.
MADISON AVENUE, named after President James Madison, was extended from East Speedway Avenue (now Eastern Parkway) easterly to Springfield Avenue in 1924.
MAPLE AVENUE was formerly known as Elizabeth Street, which had been named after one of the daughters of Village Trustee William R.Adams.
MARSHALL STREET was named in honor of General of the Army George C. Marshall in 1944 During the 1920s and 1930s the frontage along Springfield Avenue was rented by the town to 18 used car dealers.
MARTIN PLACE is named after Joel P. Martin, a member of the Board of Commissioners from 1923 to 1926. Undersheriff of Essex County and a founder of Clean Government Republican, Martin headed the Irvington Draft Board during World War II.
McGOTTY PLACE is named after John J. McGotty, who died in World War I. It is the only street in Irvington that lacks sidewalks.
MILL ROAD was once known as "the road from the Sawmill." It was laid out on June 29, 1760.
MOMM COURT is named after the Momm family, owners of a large farm in the area.
MYRTLE AVENUE, once one of Irvington’s elite addresses, is mentioned in a deed, dated August 1863.
NADEN AVENUE is named after Edward Naden, who died in World War I.
NESBIT TERRACE is one of the many streets in town laid out by Nicholas Weber. The section from Harper Avenue to Mill Road was originally known as Bull Terrace in honor of Lt. William Bull, who died in World War I. Bull Terrace was later changed to Nesbit Terrace to avoid confusion.
NEWTON PLACE commemorates the Newton family, whose farm extended east to Stuyvesant Avenue. The Newton homestead, built before the Revolution by the Hayes family, stood at what is now the northwest corner of Clinton Avenue and Newton Place. At the turn of the century, Clinton Avenue from Sanford Avenue east to Stuyvesant Avenue was much steeper than it is today. Until the grade was lowered at the time of World War I, it was the best hill in Irvington for sledding, always crowded during the winter with sleds and bobsleds that could seat as many as 20. The largest sleds could travel from Sanford Avenue to Cummings Street before stopping. Barrels of water from the Elizabeth River would be hauled to the top of the hill and poured down it to improve the course.
NYE AVENUE was known variously as Cottage Street, Water Street and Park Avenue before being renamed in 1914 to conform with Nye Avenue in Newark. The road was named after Captain Ezra Nye, who lived in a fine mansion on Clinton Place, Newark, before he died in 1866.
OAKLAND STREET was once Wilson Street.
ORANGE AVENUE dates from the early 18th Century and was once known as "the old road from Camptown to Orange." As late as 1905, the portion of Orange Avenue from Clinton to Springfield Avenues was called Centre Street.
OSBORNE PLACE is named after Loyal A. Osborne, who died in World War I.
PETZINGER STREET, changed from Irvington Place in 1993, honors World War I casualty Fred W. Petzinger.
QUABECK AVENUE is named after another casualty, John Quabeck,
RICH STREET, which was originally Dotto Avenue, is named after William S. Rich, a developer.
RODWELL AVENUE is named after Aaron M. Rodwell, a Newark businessman who made plans to develop Manhattan Park.
SAGER PLACE honors Oscar Sager, who died in World War I.
SANFORD AVENUE was known as Crest Hill Road in the 19th Century. During the early part of this century sections of the road were called Evergreen Avenue and Netherwood Terrace. Sanford Avenue is named after Peter Sanford, a member of the Clinton Township Committee in 1872 who served on a committee to lay out streets in Clinton Township.
SELVAGE STREET was Duquesne Avenue prior to 1914.
SHARON AVENUE is one of two streets mapped and developed in the late 1860s by William Hickok, formerly of Brooklyn, and is named after Sharon Cottage, the home of Josiah L. Baldwin. Sharon Cottage stood where Washington Avenue is today.
SHERMAN PLACE commemorates the family that owned land there in the 19th Century. Alvah Sherman, who operated a store on the corner of Stuyvesant Avenue and Springfield Avenue in the 1840s and 1850s, was a State Assemblyman in 1845-46 and served on the Board of Managers of Clinton Cemetery from 1844 to 1850. William Sherman was a paymaster during the Civil War. William A. Sherman was secretary of the Board of Education from 1901 to 1918. The area was long known as Sherman's Corner.
SMALLEY TERRACE is named after George H. Smalley, who served on the Board of Education from 1898 to 1916. Smalley was also a village trustee, serving from 189394, 189596 and 189798.
SMITH STREET is probably named after Moses Smith, who lived in Camptown during the first half of the 19th Century.
SPRINGFIELD AVENUE, which began life as the Newark and Springfield Turnpike, was commonly known as Springfield Avenue by the late 1850s. In 1919 the Hill Civic Assn. urged the County to rename the avenue Pershing Boulevard.
STANLEY STREET is named for Harry J. Stanley (18741929), a member of the Board of Commissioners from 1914 to 1929. He was a member of the Board of Education from 1904 to 1905.
STEWART AVENUE is probably named after Charles H. Stewart (18741951), president of the N.J. Automobile Club from 1928 until his death.
STOCKMAN PLACE commemorates an old Irvington family. Moses Stockman, a farmer, moved to Camptown in 1803, building his home on what is now the corner of Orange Avenue and Bachman Place. Moses and Mary Stockman had seven children. Their son, Ira, was a grocer on Springfield Avenue near what is now Orange Avenue. Mahlon Stockman, who was clerk of Clinton Township from 1877 to 1902, was another descendant.
STUYVESANT AVENUE was once known as the "road from Connecticut Farms to Camptown" and as Log Hill Road and Log Hill Lane until 1875 when the name was changed to Wall Street. Wall Street became Stuyvesant Avenue in 1907, probably named in honor of Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of New Amsterdam. In 1718 John Johnson sold "25 acres on Logg Hill, on the westward side of Elizabeth River.”
TEMPLE PLACE honors Harold Temple, who died in World War I.
TICHENOR TERRACE is named for its developer, Halsey Tichenor.
UNION AVENUE has been known by many names, including the "road from Camptown to the Swamp Mills," the "road from Irvington to Drake's Mills," the Saw Mill Road and the Saw Dust Trail. It became Union Avenue after 1857 when Union County was organized.
VERMONT AVENUE was once known as Arlington Avenue.
WAGNER PLACE was, until 1928, 37th Street.
WEBER PLACE is named after the Weber family.
WILLS PLACE is named after Walter H. Wills, who died in World War I.
WILSON PLACE, which was opened in 1901, is named after Wilson W. Durand, the son of Elias K. Durand.
WOLF PLACE honors Joseph P. Wolf, who died in World War I.
WOOLSEY STREET is named after William L. Glorieux's business partner, John B. Woolsey.
WYCKOFF PLACE, which ran between Laventhal Avenue and Webster Street, was the last paper street in Irvington until it was vacated in 1976 and sold to a developer in 1988. It was named in honor of Robert Wyckoff, who died at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Irvington in 1939, Alan A. Siegel is descended from New Englanders who made their homes in Newark and Elizabethtown in the 17th Century, then moved here c. 1800. Siegel was active in the community as president of the Irvington Historical Society, Councilman at Large and Township Attorney before moving to Somerset County in 1984. He has served as president of Irvington’s Clinton Cemetery Association since 1972. Siegel is the author of six books, four of them about Irvington: Out of Our Past, a history of Irvington published by the township in 1974 and now out of print; For the Glory of the Union [Associated University Presses], the story of the 26th N.J. Volunteers, a Civil War regiment raised in Irvington and environs; Smile [Rutgers University Press], a photographic history of Olympic Park that is now in its 5th printing, and Images of America:Irvington [Arcadia], a photo history of the township published in 1997. This is the third edition of Mr. Siegel’s Outline History of Irvington.
ABOUT THE SOCIETY
The Irvington Historical Society was founded in 1965 to promote the study and preservation of Irvington’s history. It maintains a large collection of photographs and other material documenting the township’s history.
An Outline History of Irvington, New Jersey
By Alan A. Siegel
Published by The Irvington Historical Society
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