Saddle Brook Water Department

Saddle Brook Water Department Drinking Water Report Info
The history of the 2.7 square miles that we know as our township encountered the majority of the land transitions that occurred in the present New York and northern New Jersey territory. At one time it was secured via sea water, and New York City was a chain of volcanoes. At a later point in time, dinosaurs such as the Hadrasaur roamed the land as flying reptiles coasted through the skies. More as of late, around 200,000 years back, a succession of glaciers descended from Canada. The last, the Wisconsin Glacier, withdrew a concise 20,000 years back. Volumes of water from its melting façade cut channels in the land which formed a frosty lake, Lake Hackensack. It had external reaches as far north as Saddle Brook and ran south to Perth Amboy. After some time, the lake depleted leaving low-lying wetlands, a factor in the present flooding problem. In the long run, pristine forests grew and pulled in wildlife: fowl, deer, elk and mammoths. This brought the first meandering hunters-gatherers around 6,000 years prior. In time, they formed permanent communities based on farming and chasing. They were known as the Lenni-Lenapes (unique individuals). The Ackensackies based on Hackensack and the Aquakanonks revolved around Passaic. Both used the land which is now our township. In the mid 1600's, the Dutch settled in Manhattan and westward into the northern New Jersey region around 1650. The zone flourished under the Dutch, yet was attacked and taken over by the British in 1662. Jacques Cortelyou, a surveyor, purchased the land which would become Garfield, Saddle Brook and the lands north from the Acquackanonks in 1680 and settled the transaction with a patent conceded by the British in 1685. Boundaries moved constantly and present-day Saddle Brook was a piece of Essex County, Passaic County and at long last Bergen County. It was also part of a smaller county division called New Barbados. Until 1709, Bergen County didn't expand west of the Saddle River. Saddle River Township is first mentioned in Bergen County records in 1716 with respect to bounties for slaughtering wolves. After some time, the Indians who succumbed to smallpox and different diseases brought by the Europeans and diminishing game, steadily disappeared. Much of the Revolutionary War was battled in New Jersey, and its greatest figures Washington, Burr, Paine, Lafayette and Hamilton traversed Saddle River Township. During Washington's retreat from the British in 1776, Outwater Lane became an escape course and three future presidents Washington, Monroe and Madison were a piece of the retreat. During the 1800's, our zone grew as the country grew. Horticulture kept on being the zone's mainstay. Roadways were created; and two railroads the Bergen County Short Cut, a part of the Erie, and the New York Susquehanna started. The Dutch culture and language, which had been dominant in the early period, diminished by 1825. This period also witnessed the Civil War which grew out of economic rivalries and the issue of slavery. Saddle River Township had slaves, however the training was denied by State law in 1840. Two members from our township, Samuel Vandalinda and John Ackerman, served the Union forces with distinction. Despite the fact that historical events have a way of covering, the turn of the Twentieth Century serves well as a passage point into modern times. While still a farming community, a small business, industrial matrix grew on Market Street, Midland Avenue and Fifth Street. Henry Fords' "Dilapidated car" supplanted the horse-drawn vehicles, and increasingly more residents worked outside of Saddle Brook, especially in Passaic and Paterson. Electric street lamps supplanted gas lamps around 1930, and gas and oil furnaces started supplanting coal furnaces. The trolley, which went along South Broadway, was terminated in 1936, a victim of automobiles and Public Service bussing. Township churches, the First Reformed in the late 1890's and Saint Philip the Apostle in 1953, would be the first of many. The professional police department would be formed in 1942, and schools starting with Lincoln School in 1892 would be worked to reflect instructive needs. Our Volunteer Ambulance Corps was established in 1952 by members of our VFW Post 3484. In 1911, men from Rochelle Park and Saddle River Township met to form the first fire company, The Rochelle Park Hook and Ladder and Hose Company. The post World War II period would serve as a catalyst for growth as our soldiers were sent to Europe and the Pacific to destroy and came back to construct, and assemble they did! Farms were supplanted by homes, and streets like Floral Lane which consisted of small farms and huge greenhouses were almost immediately transformed. Our own post office was devoted in 1960, and service organizations multiplied. Saddle River Township had grown smaller after some time with Garfield seceding in 1898, East Paterson in 1916 and Fair Lawn in 1924. Because of postal confusion with municipalities with similar names, Upper Saddle River and the Borough of Saddle River, townspeople casted a ballot to change our name to Saddle Brook. This occurred in 1956. Because of its proximity to the Garden State Parkway, Routes 46, 17, 4 and 80, our township interestingly benefits as a center point which provides townspeople with helpful access to numerous locations. When our hotels-the Marriot, Howard Johnson and the Holiday Inn were fabricated, individuals never again needed to ask where Saddle Brook was-it's on the parkway by the Marriot! The last existing marsh region in our township was loaded up with the construction of the 140 Mayhill Street Apartment Complex after the turn of this century. Saddle Brook will keep on changing with the times. Challenges such as flooding, giving quality schooling, infrastructure, modernization and subsidizing will be proceeding with endeavors. Saddle Brook has a long history of townspeople who share and care, individuals who volunteer and give. This will keep on being our greatest asset as we face the coming years. The Saddle Brook Historical Society is presently setting up a book containing much fascinating information, pictures and personal accounts of individuals who knew our township in the first 50% of the twentieth century. Our amazing prehistory, the Lenapes, the Dutch, accounts of the first land purchaser as well as the development of our governmental and social organizations are also included. Readers should think that its an interesting "mirror" into our past..