Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards

http://xrl.us/1837USPostmasterDocument


Seller's description:

Up for auction is a vintage Post Office historical document related to New Jersey postal history, more specifically to Hackensack Post Office, located in Bergen county, New Jersey.  It is an original document sent from the Post Office Department and Amos Kendall Postmaster General, dated January 1837.  Apparently, these were sent out to various local post offices throughout the country, requesting topographical data of the particular local office.  A fire had destroyed all of such records at the main Post Office Department in Washington DC, and the information was being requested of local post offices so that they could recreate the topographical records.  The request states in typeface:

"Sir:  To determine with as much accuracy as possible the relative positions of the several Post Offices in the United States, so that they may be correctly delineated on the maps of the Department, you are requested to fill up the spaces and answer the questions below, and return the same to this Department, care of H.A. Burr.  The recent fire having destroyed all of the information before obtained on this subject, renders your immediate attention to it necessary.  I am, sir, Very respectfully, Amos Kendall, Postmaster General."

Below, this request, are the handwritten responses of the local postmaster, D.D. Demarest.  The responses identify the name, township, county and state, names of the nearest Post Offices and their distances from the subject office along the mail route, and the name of any nearby river, creek or brook and the side of if that the office lies on.  It is then signed by the local postmaster, D.D. Demarest.

There is an interesting passage written by Demarest toward the bottom, where it says:

"Hackensack is a village of about one thousand inhabitants.  The county house is located in Hackensack.  The inhabitants would like to have a ______ main if it should meet your apbrobation".

See the other photo which shows the rear side of document with the handwritten return address,"Hackensack Bergen Co. N.J.".

This document is in excellent condition considering that it is over 170 years old.  It has some bits missing at certain spots around the perimeter, but is otherwise intact, and the ink is very dark and legible.  The document, however, is clearly fragile.

You can also seen the watermark of the paper manufacturer, Amies Philadelphia, through the paper, but I could not get it to show up in the pictures.  Sorry about that.

A fantastic piece of New Jersey postal history!



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http://xrl.us/FuelSvcInc


Seller claims it's from the 1930s.



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http://xrl.us/1929BCBankBill


Circulated.

OK - good.

It should be easy to set this up quickly.

Keep us posted.



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<< For anyone who is counting, that's: newspaper, internet, hand-delivered fliers, television, public meetings. >>


And yet no one seems to have any specific information about what's going on.

Why would that be?

Newspaper, Internet, Television: no informative or up-to-date information - we all know the street is closed

Fliers: email from one of the 3 businesses yesterday - "no flier here"

Public Meetings: no advance notice about specific discussion regarding this topic. The fact that meetings are scheduled a year in advance has nothing to do with the issue at hand.


It's clear that dissemination of information needs an upgrade over the current scavenger hunt model. Why not offer to collect email addresses of interested parties and simply send out a FACTUAL weekly update? Wouldn't that be a lot more efficient?



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Neither of those is the least bit informative about what's going on or why the delay. Telling us on September 17 that the road is closed for 4-5 weeks "due to continued repairs" is disingenuous at best, since actual repair work ceased 2 weeks prior to September 17 and has not resumed.

That would be..........uh, let's see........add the 2, carry the 1...........5 weeks of continued non-repair!

Just give us honest facts and periodic updates - even if it's not good news.

We can take it.



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It's been exactly one month since I last posted about this. What's happened in the interim? I'll show you.





This is a combination of 2 images: (l-r), one taken on September 9 and the other taken today, October 9.

On September 9, I labeled the first picture "Nada". I'm not sure what to call today's......."Mas nada"? "Nada ounce of improvement"?  "Nada worker in sight"? Other suggestions welcome.

What's even sadder than the loss of a vital Hackensack thoroughfare is the lack of information provided by the city to Hackensack residents - especially those in the affected neighborhood. You KNOW something's not right when people are asking ME what's going on. Is it really a good idea to leave us with nothing but rumor, speculation, and third-hand knowledge? Would it really kill someone in the know to post once in a while and keep us informed?

And I'm not referring to this site's Editor - I'm referring to people with knowledge who are directly involved in whatever's going on............assuming something IS going on.

Until then, here's what we have (and have had):





As for rumors/speculation, I've heard two scenarios:

1. The block will be closed off and made into a pedestrian mall. The three non-residential entities most affected by all this - you know who they are - will combine to create a new product found nowhere else: religious medical moving vans.

2. The block will become a tourist destination: Steelhenge!






And as for that third-hand knowledge? This is a really wild one that bears watching:

The city received bids for the work that were to be opened on September 29. If one was found to be acceptable, work would commence on October 15...........AND BE COMPLETED IN THREE DAYS!

Anyone care to confirm or deny? Kindly shed some light on what's going on in our neighborhood.



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http://xrl.us/Guidos


Unused/undated.



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