[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 10, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E387-E388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOROUGH OF FAIR LAWN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEVE R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 10, 1999

  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, March 11 marks the 75th anniversary jubilee 
of the founding of the Borough of Fair Lawn, NJ, a town in New Jersey's 
9th Congressional District where I, and more than 30,000 other 
residents, make our home.
  Fair Lawn is a compact community located in the Northwest corner of 
Bergen County, one of the most densely populated areas of our State. 
But it is a very liveable community, with interesting sites, and a 
distinctive history that I would like to briefly call to the attention 
of the House.
  The 75th Anniversary jubilee celebration kicks off on March 11. To 
get the year-long series of anniversary events underway, the Fair Lawn 
League of Women Voters has invited residents to tour the building which 
houses the office of their local government, and to ``Meet Fair Lawn's 
Government-Live!''
  Beginning at 7 p.m., guests can be escorted into the Council Chambers 
and greeted by League members, Mayor David Ganz, Borough Manager 
Barbara Sacks, the Borough Council, 75th Anniversary Committee Chairman 
John Cosgrove, and some 75 year Fair Lawn residents.
  Visitors will be able to select five or six departments to visit and 
Borough employees will be available to explain how their department 
works and to answer any questions guests may have. Among the 
departments available will be: Recreation, Fire, Engineering, Public 
Works, Finance, Building Tax Collector/Assessor, Police, Borough Clerk, 
Health, and Welfare.
  Local students will act as ushers and help to distribute literature. 
As a special bonus, the first 300 visitors will receive a copy of the 
League's popular 45-page book, the ``1999 Citizen Guide,'', which is 
everything you wanted to know about New Jersey Government.
  No historic account of Fair Lawn would be complete without 
recognition of the Lenni-Lenapi (``original people''), native tributes 
of northern New Jersey. Their trails, campsites, rock shelters and 
hunting grounds became the roads and towns that Fair Lawn uses today.
  When the first Dutch settlers made their way up to what we know as 
the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers, it was to establish fur trading 
posts with the Hackinghaesaky Indians, one of the tribes of the Lenni-
Lenapi. The great chief of the tribes was Oratam. As settlements grew, 
the Lenni-Lenapi were forced further west to unsettled land.
  They left behind place names of Indian origin. Few of us realize how 
many such names are still with us, for example: Passaic (either ``where 
the river goes over the falls'' or ``valley''), Paramus (``fine 
stream'' or ``place of wild turkeys''), Wagaraw (``crooked place'' or 
``river bend''). Typically, River Road, one of the oldest roads in the 
eastern part of our country, was once an Indian trail, leading to the 
``Great Rock'' tribal council site in Glen Rock.
  The most interesting Indian relic in Fair Lawn is the fist trap 
(weir) in the Passaic River. It can be seen during low water 200 yards 
upstream from the Fair Lawn Avenue bridge. The trap consists of two 
rows of stones forming a V-shaped dam into which the Indians drove the 
fish during migration, closing the opening at the point of the ``V'' 
with weighted nets. The Dutch called this the ``soltendam,'' or 
``sloterdam'' from the verb sluiten, ``shut.''
  This give rise to the name of Slooterdam (also spelled Sloterdam) 
which was used to describe the surrounding area. Fair Lawn was known as 
Slooterdam as late as 1791, and River Road was called the ``Slauterdam 
Road'' until after the Civil War.
  Probably the oldest structure standing in Fair Lawn is the Garreston-
Brocker home, now known as the Garreston Forge and Farm Restoration, on 
River Road, south of Morlot Avenue. The west wing, the kitchen, was the 
original building built some time between 1708-1730. The main wing was 
built before 1800 but the gambrel roof, dormer and porch were added in 
1903. The property, known at its purchase in 1719 as the Sloterdam 
Patent, was originally a huge plantation stretching between the Passaic 
and Saddle Rivers.
  Another structure, almost as old, was built by Jacob Vanderbeck. It 
is located off Fair Lawn Avenue (formerly Dunkerhook Road) east of 
Saddle River Road. Nearby, on Dunkerhook Road (``Donckerhoek'' or 
``dark corner'' in old Dutch) is the Naugle House, built in the 18th 
century by Jacob Vanderbeck's son-in-law, a paymaster to General 
Lafayette's troops. Lafayette stayed in this house for several days in 
1824 when he returned to this country after the Revolutionary War.
  Another old structure is on Fair Lawn Avenue, east of Plaza Road. It 
is known as the ``Dutch House'' and has been a restaurant or tavern 
since 1929. The sandstone construction is typical of the early Flemish 
Colonial style. No early ownership has been established but it is 
believed to be the Bogert House built between 1740 and 1760. The land 
stretched to the Glen Rock area and was farmed until the Radburn 
developers bought it in the late 1920's.
  The Thomas Cadmus House was moved to its site north of the Radburn 
railroad station from nearby Fair Lawn Avenue to save it from 
demolition. It is now the official Fair Lawn Museum. It has a typical 
dressed stone front and roughly coursed sides, wide board floors and 
hewn beams. It is thought to have been built before 1815.
  The only other old sandstone house still standing in Fair Lawn is the 
G.V.H. Berdan House on River Road between Berdan and Hopper Avenues. 
Although the exterior was carefully reconditioned with respect for its 
historic style when the building was converted to offices, the end 
facing the street has since been marred by numerous signs.
  The ``Old Red Mill,'' which is located along the Saddle River south 
of what is now Route 4, is another well-known landmark of the area. The 
original mill, believed to have been located on the Fair Lawn side of 
the river, was a central meeting place for the neighboring farmers. It 
gave the name ``Red Mill'' to the area. The mill, a large red wooden 
building, was built in 1745 and stood two and one-half stories high.
  At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the mill was converted to 
manufacture woolen blankets and yarn from flax grown in Fair Lawn. 
During the Civil War, the mill produced blankets for the Union Army. 
The mill was visited by at least two famous persons: Aaron Burr was 
honored at a Christmas party there during the Revolution and President 
William McKinley visited Easton's renowned lake and fountains.
  Only a few minor skirmishes were fought during the Revolutionary War 
in the area later to be known as Fair Lawn. But Bergen County had the 
distinction of being the only county in all the nation which saw George 
Washington during each of the eight years of the War. When Washington 
and his troops retreated from the British across New Jersey to 
Pennsylvania in 1776, it was John H. Post of Sloterdam who dismantled 
the bridge across the Passaic River, preventing pursuit by Cornwallis 
after Washington's troops reached safety on the other side. With 
foresight, Post stacked the bridge planks on the far side of the river 
for future use.
  The railroad came through town in the early 1880's and the trolley 
line to Hackensack and the Hudson River in 1906. Toward the end of the 
19th century and in the early 20th, homes were built near the Passaic 
River, off Fair Lawn and Morlot Avenues (``the flats'') and at Columbia 
Heights, to house workers for Paterson's mills and factories and for 
the Textile Dyeing and Finishing Co. on Wagaraw road. Warren Point also 
developed at the end of the 19th century, with a railroad station and 
post office, but most of the development was in what is now Elmwood 
Park.
  Within Fair Lawn's boundaries is a unique community called Radburn. 
One of the first modern planned communities in the United States, it 
was intended originally to be a self-sufficient entity known as ``Town 
for the Motor Age.'' The architect-planners Clarence S. Stein and Henry 
Wright enlisted the practical aid of financier Alexander Bing who had 
organized the City Housing Corporation in 1924. Bing's enthusiasm 
brought his corporation to New Jersey, and Radburn was born in 1928.
  Unhappily, the Great Depression in 1929 struck Radburn hard and in 
1933 the corporation went bankrupt. Unfortunately, the hope for self 
sufficiency for 25,000 residents in Radburn reached only 5,000 by 1964 
when Anthony Bailey wrote his ``Radburn Revisited'' report in the New 
York Herald-Tribune. The Radburn idea did not die, however; it was 
admired, copied and improved on in England, Scandinavia, India, Canada, 
Russia, and in many ``new towns'' in the United States.
  Fair Lawn's greatest period of growth was during the 1940's and 
1950's. Vast areas of

[[Page E388]]

farm lands were developed for single-family homes and several large 
garden apartment complexes. The population grew from 9,000 in 1940 to 
an estimated peak of about 37,000 in 1968. Fair Lawn Industrial Park on 
Route 208 was developed during the 1950's with several additions in the 
following decade. Among the Industrial Park's corporate residents are 
internationally known firms such as Kodak, Nabisco and Lea & Perrins.
  By 1970, the last large tracts of land had been utilized. The last 
farm in Fair Lawn was a 20-acre tract in the Industrial Park at Fair 
Lawn Avenue. In 1998 this tract started development as apartments, and 
by the end of this year, there will be more than 340 new apartment 
units open. The certificates of occupancy for the first units were 
issued just a few weeks ago.
  What began as an agricultural hamlet has grown into a suburban town 
providing homes, schools parks and shops for residents and jobs for 
thousands of workers in businesses, offices and industries.
  All of us who reside in Fair Lawn are proud of our community and Mr. 
Speaker, I thought it would be appropriate to bring to your attention 
that this jubilee celebration gives us all the opportunity to celebrate 
not only a town and good government, but its good people.

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