A family friend from Oakland has recently passed away. Shortly before her death, Sonya shared a short story she had written years before. As a gesture to her family, I offered to have this published in print or on a known site. It is a very clever and possibly unique story line. Since this site is just being launched, it is only fitting that Sonya is the featured writer. To underscore her importance to Oakland, see the photo of her with Kevin Heffernan touring the Hansen House. Sonya wrote several more stories, but this is my favorite. Aunt Etta It was unusually quiet; but I guess when someone dies people…
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The Roots and Origin of the Hansen House
July 3, 2018 The Roots and Origin of the Hansen House Oakland, New Jersey 1938 – 1973 The Portobello Banquet Facility as a Time Capsule Summary and Conclusion The core of the Hansen House is believed to originally be a farmhouse built at or before 1861 and greatly expanded by Mrs. Florence Vernam in the early 1890s. The Case for Its Origins as a Simple Farmhouse 1. The original foundation is crude stone rubble typically deployed by farmers building their own farmhouses. 2. There is evidence of late 19th Century masonry in the basement of Portobello’s Banquet facility indicating a significant expansion of the building during that period. 3. A…
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The History of the Famous Seel’s Bar
The History of the Famous Seel’s Bar and Its Demise The mention of Seel’s Bar and Grill to most current Oakland residents will most likely result in questioning stare. Seel’s? Huh? What? Where? Well, unless you lived in Oakland prior to 1957, it’s entirely understandable that you might not have ever heard of it. But I assure you that you pass its ghost every day. It lives on as a section of a parking lot on the NE corner of Yawpo Ave and RVR directly across from Krausers. Some might currently know it as Seel’s Shopping Center. Read on to learn its history and how and why a storied watering…
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The Early Years of the Oakland Volunteer Fire Department
13 Apr, 2016 in Features THE EARLY YEARS OF THE OAKLAND VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT By Kevin Heffernan Responding to the Ashes History records that in November, 1903 a major fire was discovered at the large barn of the Calder estate then located where the Coppertree Mall is currently situated and the need for a fire department in Oakland became apparent. Six years later on June 10, 1909 a informal meeting was held at Ivy Hall to create a volunteer fire department in Oakland. Ludo Wilkins, the owner of the Wilkins Brush Factory in Oakland, was appointed as the first fire chief. And he served six terms as chief until 1916. 1908 Oakland…
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Vernam Spring – Kanouse Spring Water Co
Vernam Spring – Kanouse Spring Water Co. ….another business giving employment to more than a dozen people was the Knouse Water Supply and Bottling Co. In 1912 Andrew Spear (Drew) as he was often called, leased his sawmill property to the Kanouse Spirng Water Co. The old sawmill which was located off present day Long Hill Road had originally been built before the Civil War era by Henry I. Spear, Andrew’s great grandfather. The mill which was located approximately a quarter mile below the natural spring, known then as the Remington Vernam Spring, was situated in such a way that the water would run by gravity down the grade and…
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The Relatively Recent History of the Wigwam
The Relatively Recent History of the Wigwam by Those Who Lived and Remembered It – As of 3/7/2014 Barbara Potash shared your photo. The Ramapo Wigwam as it was officially called was opened around May 1966 by my parents and the Parettes as partners, it was to be an Old Fashioned Ice Cream parlor. My mother ran a contest in all grammar schools to actually name the store. The winner received a prize. If my memory serves me, doubtful at our age, but it was to open around time of the opening day baseball parade. Work was started in 1965 to do total renov. Inside of it. I do remember Mrs. frank…
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The Proskey Home
Sue Proskey March This is my grandmother, Ethel Proskey’s, well house and the back of her house. The well was operational when I was a kid, but there was a barberry bush at the entrance to keep kids out, and a climbing rose on the end that needed pruning every year. According to records, the house was built in the later 1700s. You can see the chimney that was for the dining room fireplace. To the right (out of the picture) there was a 2 sided firebox for cooking/baking. In the kitchen there was cooking area, in the “summer kitchen” or back hall-there were baking ovens.
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THE MYSTERY AND HISTORY OF ROTTEN POND
THE MYSTERY AND HISTORY OF ROTTEN POND (RAMAPO LAKE) by Ed Zindel Feb 2015 When I reflect on the impressive list of local angling opportunities that I enjoyed in my youth, the finest warm water fishery was undoubtedly in an impoundment known as Rotten Pond (Rottan? Pond); located on the Oakland – Wanaque border. Furthermore, due to the abundance of large fish in this lake, it was also the most exciting fishing resource that was accessible to me during those cherished years. From the time I overheard the first whispers about this mountaintop fishing hot spot, the origin of the name “Rotten Pond” (as it was referred to by locals) was a…
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The Last Outhouse
The Unfairest Oakland Tax of All What you are about to read is true and factual as improbable as it may seem. And it’s even official as codified into law. Said another way, you can’t make this stuff up. On occasion some laws pasted by our elected officials seem just down right silly particularly when viewed in a distant retrospect. Thoughts come to mind like ‘What were they thinking?’. Or, they just couldn’t be serious! But when it comes to taxes in general or a particular tax on a particular item held or used by only a portion of the population, one knows that they were serious even though we…
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West Oakland Memories
West Oakland Memories Published: December 31, 2008 WEST OAKLAND MEMORIES By Bob Blumenthal It was a magical time, and I was lucky to be a part of it. For fifteen summers I experienced a “high” that no drug can induce. Who knew that the summer of 1948 would change my entire life? I was an eight-year old city boy who was accustomed to the fumes of buses and the clanking of garbage cans. Then, one day, my parents decided to spend the summer in a place called the West Oakland Bungalow Colony. As I sat in the back seat of a ‘48 Dodge, I took in the sights. After crossing…
