Pleasureland Past, Present,… As the Borough of Oakland considers the future of the Pleasureland property, The Journal offers a multimedia presentation covering Pleasureland’s past and present …including photos, music, and videos…for those interested in reading about the infamous event, you can click here. ….Otherwise, enjoy the better memories…. click to enlarge “Our annual family ‘picnic’ was held at Pleasureland, or Suntan Lake! Our parents would take us to all these cool places, like Wild West City, or Fairy Tale Forest, or The Land of Make Believe! (I’m tearing up, here!) We had no cable television, so Saturday morning TV consisted of Wonderama! (If you got up REAL early, you had…
-
-
Installment #1 – Mother Nature, Men Without Good Maps
Oakland History Reconsidered Recap of Oakland History Presentation Installment #1 Mother Nature, Men Without Good Maps, the Brits, the Dutch and Indians Ramapo Mountains The history of Oakland really begins with Mother Nature. A few billion years ago when the earth was forming, the forces of nature created the Ramapo Mountains which originally were as tall as the Alps. However, since their original formation there have been 5 Ice Ages. The ice, about 5 miles thick, literally wore them down to their current size and height in the course of advancing and receding. The same Ice Ages also created the Palisades along the Hudson River and the wide valley between…
-
IF YOU’RE THINKING OF LIVING IN; OAKLAND
Real Estate New York Times – 1985 IF YOU’RE THINKING OF LIVING IN IF YOU’RE THINKING OF LIVING IN; OAKLAND By RACHELLE DePALMA Published: December 8, 1985 NESTLED along the banks of the Ramapo River with the profile of the Ramapo Mountains etched sharply against the sky, the Borough of Oakland stands as a rustic outpost in the northwestern corner of New Jersey. This Bergen County community This Bergen County community owes to the sparsely populated mountains a mix of light, contour and color that visitors have called breathtaking for more than 300 years. Its nine square miles are dotted with lakes, ponds and streams that flow near restored farmhouses,…
-
24th Anniversary of the Pleasureland Massacre
Aug 4, 2009 24th Anniversary of the Pleasureland Massacre Remembering the “Oakland Massacre” August 4, 1985: The Day the Pleasure Died in Oakland, NJ They sit nestled in the woods of the small northwestern Bergen County town of Oakland, slowly being reclaimed by nature like some ancient Mayan ruins being swallowed up by the jungles of the Yucatan. They are reminders of summer days long gone by. Their turquoise blue paint chips and falls away like Puff’s dragon scales, fading into the past a little further with each passing year. Ladders descend, no longer into cool shimmering water, but into a fetid, stagnant soup of algae and discarded picnic tables.…
-
Email Conversation About the Hansen House and Oakland in the 1930s and 1940s by Those Who Lived It
My name is Sonya Hansen I Just found your wonderful article about Oakland. I was especially excited to see the picture of the Neilsen house. Alf Neilsen was my uncle. My parents Dagny and Hans Hansen brought life into an old building that was about to be torn down. They were able to purchase it for 3,000 dollars for back taxes. We had wonderful neighbors, Pulis, Boone, and Bredimus. Frank Ahlers ran the gas station across the street from us, but I never cared for him. Grumpy, mean old man as far as I was concerned, but I digress. There are five of us, that used to live right there,…
-
Ed & Elaine Zindel Remember Old Oakland
Ed & Elaine Zindel Remember Old Oakland Pleasureland and the surrounding area was a kid’s playground like few others. The primary recreational features were the yet unspoiled Ramapo River and Pompton Lake which provided quality fishing, swimming, boating, and ice skating. We also fished Muller’s Brook, Mitchell’s Pond and Delmar’s Pond for the beautiful wild trout which flourished there. Potash’s Island, which we accessed from Island Terrace, was a great place to explore and had some of the best waterfowling and woodcock flights that I have ever seen. Rotten Pond, which was a poacher’s paradise, was a stiff walk from Pool Hollow, but we fished it relentlessly; by day and…
-
History of Sandy Beach and the Brick Factory
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…
-
Historic bridge is returned to its birthplace
Historic bridge is returned to its birthplace The Doty Road Bridge has carried vehicles over New Jersey’s Ramapo River for over a century. The bridge was located where New York District’s Ramapo River at Oakland Flood Control Project is underway. Several years ago it was determined by project managers that the bridge would be an obstruction during floods and that it should be removed. The New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office stated that something needed to be done with the bridge in terms of mitigation because it is a cultural resource and deemed eligible for being listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. Lynn Rakos, a District…
-
An Ode to Our Doty Road Bridge
An Ode to Our Doty Road Bridge The current Doty Road Bridge has no soul and offers nothing to augment our wonderful memories. Made of the latest technology of steel girders wrapped in concrete, it is unable to recall Oakland’s glory days or even to inspire new ones. So sad. Is there a person among us that doesn’t have a fuzzy warm memory of the Doty Road Bridge? Is it just crossing it a thousand times? Or walking astride its beams to Pleasureland? Or perhaps it’s having a beer or two or three at the Pleasureland Pub, Auggie’s or Angie’s to some, at the foot of the bridge. Lee Eramo-Mouacdie…
-
Antisemitism in Oakland
This interesting picture is what we call Jewtown Hey Ron, Considering that you and your family has lived in Oakland forever, I think of you often as THE SOURCE of Oakland info. Remember that I’m a relative newbie as I have only lived here since 1979. That said, I do have a question or perhaps a hypothesis that has been intriguing me for a while. It relates to the possible antisemitism in Oakland’s past. I’ll explain. My hypothesis starts with my possession of a photo of Klein’s Beach taken on 8/24/1932 by Mr. Bush. On the back in his handwriting is the following: “This interesting picture is what we call…
