History of Sandy Beach and the Brick Factory
Yes this is Sandy Beach, or what would have become Sandy Beach. My grandfather, Bill Ebert, and his partner Frank Stutz, built the park by hand, wheelbarrow and vintage pickup trucks from the old brush factory. The lake was formed by diverting a part of the Ramapo River near where “the Colony” was located at that time, off West Oakland Ave. The brush factory building became a beer garden, in the old German style, and the concrete picnic tables were all built one by one, by hand by my grandfather and his partner. I remember on hot summer weekend days in the 50’s the line of car traffic and busses winding down Spruce Street waiting to get in – sometimes 40-50 busses, and hundreds of cars would all come from the hot NJ and NY cities. Many times the parking extending well into what is now the diner factory area (in fact my grandfather and I would hunt deer, rabbit & pheasant in that same area in the fall, after the park closed for the season. My step-sister, Lynn LaVecchia Rongo, went in there on June 2, 2014 to see what was left of Sandy Beach, and were shocked at what we found. There is no evidence of a lake, or the snack stands that stood on the deep side of the lake, very little evidence of the road that led by the gate house where the cars paid to get in, the picnic tables are stacked up like firewood near the old beer garden, and the beer garden itself is completely shuttered and overgrown by weeds and the encroaching woods. I have posted here photos from the good ol’ days, including, the beer gardens front doors, a brick from the beer garden and a piece of the old picnic tables I was able to scrounge up on my visit, pictures of the beer garden from what would have been the ballfield just before the lake, the last vestiges of the gate house at the end of Spruce Street (note the pipe the served as a railing on the bridge that spanned the brook – the gate house would have been to the right of the railing),
The brush factory was located at Sandy Beach and the last of the original brush factory buildings still standing is pictured below.
The brick factory was built by Ludo Wilkins in 1892 in order to build his brush factory. It dates also to the time when the gun powder factory was built as well which probably used bricks from the Ludo WIlkind brick factory as well.
Jack Chadwick If the beer garden was used in prohibition, than it certainly served itself well in the 50’s in Sandy Beach. I remember the bar extended the entire width of the building, so that on busy days, there were a half dozen bartenders, or more, working it. Behind the bar were wooden grates that the bartenders walked on, so that any spilled beer, and such, could get through it and not get sloppy to walk on. The giant kegs of beer and blocks of ice were delivered by trucks through the big back doors on roller ramps. The bartenders would pick up the wooden floor grates and let the kegs/ice roll/slide half way through the bar, until the were shuttled to additional ramps in a basement area. When my step-sister and I were there in June this year, we saw the roller ramps resting on the back side of the building. Boy, what I give to get one of those – but the CRV was just out of space! Of course I was way too young to imbibe, so I would always have a large draft birch beer, with long pretzel sticks… To this day still my favorite snacks! There’s no memory as strong as living in Oakland in the 50’s summers, drinking birch beer and eating pretzel sticks while listening to the Yankees play-by-play on the radio….. and then the 60’s hit, and the Beatles…..that changed everything, didn’t it???
The info on the use of the building as an illegal still during Prohibition came from Doris Sanders who is my neighbor on Grove Street. She lived in the corner house at that time and remembers the nightitime trucks very well.
- Kevin Heffernan The info on the use of the building as an illegal still during Prohibition came from Doris Sanders who is my neighbor on Grove Street. She lived in the corner house at that time and remembers the nightitime trucks very well.
Jack Chadwick Really interesting, Kevin – thanks. It may be of interest to note that the two brick houses at the top of Spruce St. were built and occupied by my grandfather, and his partner, Frank Stutz (although in later years my grandfather moved up to Grove Street). Those two houses are still there and relatively unchanged to this day – one thing we can’t say about a lot of Oakland. My sister, Jayne, and I spent many visits with our grandparents in that first house over the years. My grandfather owned all the land from Ramapo Valley Road (by Spruce Street), all the way down to the river, including what he would later sell off to the bowling alley, diner factory, and others. I remember the intense competition he had with Muller’s Park and Pleasureland in the 50’s, as well as White Birch (which was a beach/colony located down the end of Hemlock Street, I think, at that time). My grandfather would later become, after the sale of Sandy Beach, the manager of Muller’s Park….which went through so many incarnations. However, there was an old house by Muller’s, in back of where the Hansen House once stood, by the old spring well that fed that ice-cold water into Muller’s, that my grandfather rented out to the NY Yankees, and I remember seeing Mel Stottlemyre, and other greats, pack their gear into a Ford Mustang convertible on a Sunday morning and drive off to the game in NYC! This was the era of the Young Rascals’ “A Beautiful Morning”, Turtles and Association (the later two who appeared at either Muller’s Park and Pleasureland). We were so lucky to be growing up in that wonderful town! I’m convinced “The Field of Dreams” and “The Valley of Homes” existed intrinsically entwined during those years!
The dam that created the depth of the river for swimming was built by Ludo Wilkins as part of his brush factory.
And there was a water wheel until the 1950s on the eastern shore of the river.
Hi joananne – thanks for kind words. The Bill Ebert you’re referring to in your post is my Uncle Bill Ebert. There were actually three William (Bill) Ebert during those years; My grandfather Bill Ebert was the one who built and owned the park. His son is my Uncle Bill Ebert, who lived down the end of Hemlock St, and was one of Oakland’s best in the fire dept, and who also worked at the beach part-time along with my parents, and grandparents. My uncle’s son is my my cousin Bill Ebert, who, along with his brothers, my sister and I, spent countless summer days there. So its a bit confusing when referencing the “Bill Ebert” name. One thing is very true, though, as you said, all the Eberts were, and still are some of the finest people you could ever know! They were/are an extremely hard working, kind and dedicated famiy, who contributed so much to the Oakland I remember. Though my grandparents have passed, my Uncle Bill & Aunt Barbara currently reside in the Poconos. My cousin Bill Ebert is a very successful IBM executive, and currently resides in New town, CT (yes, the one where the Sandy Hook school tradegy took place). And my cousin’s brothers are both doing well – all three of my cousins have great families of their own now.