Main St from Passaic St PC w/1910 PM

[BLeafe]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Main-St-Passaic-St-Hackensack-NJ-1910-Bergen-Count-/370442732489?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56401b83c9



.

[just watching]

Wow, nice find Bob.  I've seen tons of old Hackensack postcards, but never saw that image before. 

Those magnificient homes must have been torn down to build the Arnold Constable Department store.  I believe that building is now owned and operated by Bergen Community College.

[just watching]

Before people jump in to comment, let me clarify:

(1) I don't think it is Main Street looking south from Passaic because the large 3-story building on the SE corner of Main & Passaic Street is much older (built mid-late 1800's), and it's not in the subject photo

(2) I don't think it is Main Street looking north from Passaic Street because the editor has other photos on file of that stretch. It's smaller homes, close together, and close to the street

So I think it must actually be Passaic Street looking west from Main Street, even though the postcard doesn't say that.  In fact, the street is very straight for many blocks, which Main Street isn't. Any other ideas out there ?

[Homer Jones]

Two interesting features on that card:

The first is the "electric pole" shown in the middle of the card. It seems to be carrying a lot of power lines for that period of time. If there are other photos of the general Main Street / Passaic Street area, that pole could be a benchmark if it is shown on any other photos. It is also seems that there are no additional poles further down the street -- just trees.

A second feature is the line of trees on the left side of the photo. Beyond the pole there is an abundance of trees while on the near side of the pole there are no trees at all.

It just seems odd that there is a clear demarkation from one side of this pole to the other.

[Editor]

Slices from 1876 and 1896 maps appear below for comparison. May offer more clues.  I've seen those horse stanchions around and will try to take a picture when I see one again.

In the first picture, it says "Anderson Hall" at the corner of Main & Passaic.  According to the History of Bergen County, Anderson Hall was located on the southeast corner. In the third picture, you see a "cupola" that appears on one of the building's in Bob's image (possibly).  If that's the case, the picture is facing south.

The second picture is Main, north of Passaic.  To me, the buildings seem too spread out to coincide with the picture, but I could be wrong.

[just watching]

This helps, and it blows out my original theory.  It's definately not Passaic Street looking west from Main Street.  There isn't a row of houses.

Here's two new theories

(1) Maybe it's Main Street (east side) looking south from Passaic, but starting with the 4th house.  The shape of the 4th house on the street diagram matches the shape of the house in the picture.  But the 5th house doesn't, the porch in the picture goes all the way across.

(2) Maybe it's Main Street (west side) looking north from Passaic, but NOT starting with the irregular-shaped building on the corner.

BTW, I noticed that the large old Black Locust tree on the NE corner of State and Passaic has been removed.  Possibly fell in a very recent storm.