A Borough Steeped in History

Ho-Ho-Kus borough historian John Hanlon says he’s not necessarily a history buff. It’s just that having been born and raised in the bucolic town, then returning to raise his own family there, he’s been around for a while and knows a thing or two about the events that shaped the municipality.

And, as the United States celebrates 250 years of independence this month (officially called the semiquincentennial), the Ridgewood & Ho-Ho-Kus Magazine team thought it would be apropos to explore some historical facts/sites that make Ho-Ho-Kus what it is today, with Hanlon as our guide.

Many are aware that the original inhabitants of the area were the Lenni-Lenape (or Delaware Indians), who left behind artifacts indicating their inhabitance. The name Ho-Ho-Kus is a contraction of the Indian word meaning “the red cedars.” The first recorded date of white settlement in the area is 1698.

Another well-known historic fact is that during the Revolutionary War, famous visitors to the historic Hermitage included George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Monroe. The home was also the scene of the courtship between Aaron Burr and Theodosia Bartow Prevost. They married there after her first husband’s death.

Hanlon, who was the longtime chairman of the borough’s Planning Board, says that including a section detailing the history of the town in the latest version of the Master Plan in 2019 was a labor of love that helps preserve the building blocks that make Ho-Ho-Kus what it is today—a charming town that residents cherish and call “home.”

Here are some perhaps lesser-known historical nuggets about the town. 

The “Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ” Song

Did you know Ho-Ho-Kus has a theme song? The novelty tune was composed by well-known lyricist Allan Stillman, in collaboration with band leader Ray Block, with contributions from Paul McGrane, in early 1947, when a trend in music called for upbeat tunes featuring perky city and town names.

Several recordings of the song exist (it’s reported that Stillman sent the track to Bing Crosby, who recorded it in the studio but never released it for sale).

The Andrews Sisters recorded the song in 1949, and this version is the best known. In June 1949, the sisters flew to New York for a three-week string of live performances at the famous Roxy Theater. The Ho-Ho-Kus Chamber of Commerce arranged for the trio to attend a block party and dance on the town green and Orvil Court in the borough and perform the song.

On June 9, the sisters were greeted at LaGuardia Airport by Ho-Ho-Kus Police Chief John McElroy, Chamber of Commerce president James Anderson, and Alice Henry of the Contemporary Club. Flowers and gifts were presented to the singers, along with the official invitation to attend the block party.

On Friday, June 24, 1949—a very hot and humid night—a crowd of 5,500 people showed up for the block party. Stillman, Block, and McGrane also made an appearance.

At around midnight, the sisters, Patty, Maxine and Laverne arrived with a police escort. They sang “Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ” along with other hits before mingling with the crowd (down to about 4,000 due to the late hour) and signing autographs, returning to Manhattan in the early hours of the morning. What a night in Ho-Ho-Kus!

The Zabriskie Dam, Sylvan Lake, and the Sylvan Lake Hotel

Believe it or not, there was once a large manmade lake in Ho-Ho-Kus called Sylvan Lake that stretched from the business district to the edge of Hollywood Avenue. The lake, which covered about 70 acres and was over 70 feet deep in some areas, was formed by a 50-foot-high cut brownstone dam built in 1863 by John “Jake” Zabriskie to supply water power to local mills, including the Zabriskie Cotton Mill, located in the area of today’s railroad station’s lower-level parking lot.

In addition to providing power to the mill, the lake became a recreation center and tourist attraction. At the base of the Zabriskie Dam, a picnic ground and recreation area were formed, and people came from miles to visit and enjoy the view. At the north end of the lake, there was a pavilion for band concerts, exhibits, and dancing, along with a beach area for boating, fishing, and swimming.

The Erie Railroad advertised the area as a tourist attraction and ran special trains to the Ho-Ho-Kus Train Station, which in those days was located at the top of Hollywood Avenue. People would come to stay for weekends and holidays at the Sylvan Lake Hotel—a two-story wooden building built in the mid-1850s, where many a jolly time was had in the dining and bar section of the first floor.

The lake disappeared shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, 1882, after a very intense three-day rainstorm, during which several mill dams failed upstream, causing undue pressure on the Zabriskie Dam.

According to the Master Plan, if one wishes to understand the magnitude of the lake’s size, terrain and depth, they should walk along Knollwood Drive and marvel at the view down into the ravine and across to the rail cut along the western edge.

The Ho-Ho-Kus Racetrack

Racetrack Road is named thusly for a reason; the Ho-Ho-Kus Race Track and grounds, developed in the late 1860s and early 1870s, flourished for nearly seven decades, until a serious accident in 1938 halted operations.

It was considered one of the most important and historic tracks in the United States and was a key stop on the first circuit of auto racing from 1920 to 1938.

Of course, before auto racing, there was horse racing. The track was also used for a variety of community events, including livestock exhibitions (after all, Ho-Ho-Kus began as a farming community), county fairs, carnivals, weddings, fireworks, bicycle races, baseball games, polo events, and even as a military remount center for horses during World War II.

In the 1800s, people came by horse and wagon, horseback, stagecoach, and train. But by 1920, nearly all arrived by car or trolley.

It was at the annual Fourth of July race, attended by nearly 10,000 people, that a fatal crash brought the fun to an end.

During the first lap of the 30-lap main feature, two cars locked wheels in front of the grandstands, careening into the pit area on the other side of the roadway. They hit more than a dozen people, plus several cars in the pits at 60 miles per hour.

The police and track employees transported the injured to various hospitals. An 11-year-old boy and a photographer died of their injuries.

The Borough Council held a special meeting on July 6 to ban auto racing and speed racing at the track came to an end.

Over the next decade, the grounds continued to host events, such as the annual Labor Day picnic and field day programs. During World War II, residents set up large “Victory Gardens” inside the track as part of the war effort.

In 1950, most of the track grounds and buildings were sold to a construction company. Roads and more than 100 homes were built on the parcel, forming the neighborhood many residents call home today.

Cheelcroft

One of Ho-Ho-Kus’s most sought-after neighborhoods is also its first, and a notable subdivision at the time, as various local and nationally recognized architects were commissioned to design individual homes.

Cheelcroft is the vision of Harold Cheel, who grew up in Ridgewood and went on to attend Yale and serve with the United States Army Air Services during World War I. In 1926, Cheel was the high bidder for six lots on the west side of Sheridan Avenue, north of Hollywood Avenue.

He constructed six homes (a Cape Cod, a French Tudor, and four English Tudors). The entire neighborhood would take 25 years to complete, as Cheel acquired more land, with the final home completed in the mid-1950s.

The term “development” was not common when Cheel entered the real estate world. Yet, with advertising (including two very large billboard signs along what’s now Route 17) featuring photos, he showed future homeowners what his vision was and why it was desirable.

Cheel’s concept of community development was an award-winning idea. Better Homes & Gardens gave its “Seal of Approval” in 1931 for the eclectic styles of home construction. Several homes won design awards.

Cheelcroft is beloved for its unique, individually designed homes with no repetitive construction. 

Architectural styles found in the neighborhood include Cape Cod, Dutch colonial, English Tudor, English cottage, Georgian, modern traditional, ranch, saltbox, and split-level.

Despite best efforts to secure positive press, Cheelcroft ended up in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in the spring of 1935. A neighborhood resident discovered the body of an unidentified man. He had been dumped in the undeveloped fields at Ackerman Avenue and Gilbert Road.

He was identified as Edward Martin, a well-known East Coast gangster. The killers were found and prosecuted, and the incident was on the front pages of newspapers for several weeks.

The Trolley

Have you ever noticed the public service right-of-way in town? It’s a grassy, relatively wide pathway that runs between Warren Avenue and Hollywood Avenue, once the route of a trolley that traveled through town and served as an incredibly popular mode of transportation in the area from 1909 to 1929.

Officially known as the North Jersey Rapid Transit line, the trolley was a single-track system with bypass tracks to allow two-way traffic. When fully operational, the route started in East Paterson (now Elmwood Park) and had stops in Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Ho-Ho-Kus, Waldwick, Allendale, Ramsey, Mahwah, and Suffern.

The headquarters building was in Ho-Ho-Kus, off East Franklin Turnpike; it was the largest in the borough at the time and included a sizable substation, a coal-fired heating plant, a machine shop, and a three-bay car barn with repair pits.

The trolleys seated 44 passengers but were known to have carried more than 150 with ease on special race days.

In Ho-Ho-Kus, crossing signals were located at East Franklin Turnpike, Warren Avenue, Sheridan Avenue, and Hollywood Avenue, and though there were two official stops in Ho-Ho-Kus, friendly trolley operators were known to pick up and drop people off in between stations.

The Ho-Ho-Kus Board of Education arranged for high school students to travel to and from Ridgewood High School (where borough students attended at the time) via the trolley.

The trolley was very popular and prospered until the middle of 1925, when bus companies began to take over the transportation market. More roads were paved, and automobiles were becoming popular and accessible.

At the end of 1928, the company received permission from the state to terminate operations at the end of the year—truly the end of an era.

We hope you enjoyed these tidbits of Ho-Ho-Kus’s rich history. Perhaps you learned a thing or two about the borough and had a little fun imagining what your hometown was like hundreds of years ago. And for the true history buffs, there’s much, much more to learn.

Find the borough’s Master Plan at hhkborough.com/planning-board.

Sarah Nolan is a writer with a passion for telling people’s stories. A Ho-Ho-Kus native, she believes in the power of local journalism to connect and inform residents and foster a sense of community.