Newark Ave between Erie St and Grove St

The north side of Newark Ave, between Erie and Grove Street has retained a lot of turn-of the century buildings and their architectural details have been restored. The south side is a different story though... Several buildings have been torn down and replaced with one story retail spaces.

However, if looking closely at the three buildings that are nearest to the photographer on the right hand side in the photos above, it is probably the 19th century buildings that are still standing. These three buildings have exactly the same total (as well as floor height) as the buildings in the old postcard, and it likely that they just had their original facades covered up in the 70s or 80s.

Also, if you visit what is currently the 'C H Martin' store (third building on right-hand-side) you will notice that the ceiling is a tin ceiling on the ground floor - suggesting the building would be significantly older than the facade would have one believe.

Imagine if the facades of these buildings were restored to their former glory - that would be an important step towards revitalizing this whole section of Newark Ave.

(A funny detail is the clock to the left in the old photo - in that photo the base is in itself as tall as a grown man. The clock that is in the same place today is significantly lower.)

Picture Credits

The old picture is from Jersey City Free Public Library's great collection of historic pictures in the New Jersey Room at the main branch.

Using the Picture Slider

You should be able to use the green handle in the middle of the picture above to show more or less of the old and new pictures.

• In recent versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer you should be able to click on the green handle in the picture and (while still holding down the mouse key) drag it from left to right to show more or less of the old picture.
• In other browsers you may need to single or double click on the image, to make the slider move to the location where you clicked.

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Newark Ave at Grove St (Grove Pointe)

The old picture is from circa 1900. At that point the building on the north east corner of Newark and Grove (the building in the foreground of the picture) was a Drake Business College.

The old pictures has so many interesting details and activities going on - street vendors, horse drawn carriages, 'old school' merchandising in glass cabinets outside the stores, etc.

At that point there was an extensive trolley system in place in Jersey City - at the time of the picture they were horse drawn, but a switch was later (c:a 1910, I believe) made to electric trolleys.

The sign on the building behind the trolley is advertising toys - there also seems as if there is a larger than life sized statue of something that looks like Santa on top of the canopy. On the furthermost building in the picture there is a mural advertising Omega Oil.

Some of these buildings were torn down when Grove Point was built, while others had been demolished long before.


Picture Credits
The old picture is from Jersey City Free Public Library's great collection of historic pictures in the New Jersey Room at the main branch.


Using the Picture Slider
You should be able to use the green handle in the middle of the picture above to show more or less of the old and new pictures.

• In recent versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer you should be able to click on the green handle in the picture and (while still holding down the mouse key) drag it from left to right to show more or less of the old picture.
• In other browsers you may need to single or double click on the image, to make the slider move to the location where you clicked.

View Larger Map

Henderson St at Railroad Ave (aka Marin Blvd at Columbus Ave)

When I bought the old photo, all I knew was that it was taken in Jersey City. But I had no clue as to where - whether it taken downtown or in the heights. There is an elevated railway running between the buildings in the old picture, which hinted at downtown; there were several railways that cut through the city. One of them ran along Columbus Ave; that street was at the time called Railroad Ave. But the elevated tracks in the old photo could also have been the elevated trolley that ran from Hoboken up to the Heights, to the Jersey City court house.

But the angel at which the streets in the photo intersect is not straight - this is rather uncommon downtown Jersey City - it's essentially only Newark Avenue that runs through the city on an angel. So I started looking at old maps trying to figure out where it was by following Newark Avenue, both in downtown and uptown.

The old Jersey City maps that Rutgers University have made available online were essential, or even crucial in the quest. In the old maps, wooden buildings are yellow and the brick structures are red. I looked for the pattern of yellow and red buildings in the map that matched the old photo for a very long time. Finally, after a thorough search, I found the pattern in the map, and the streets at a 'strange' angel. But it was not where I expected - rather it was on Henderson St (now known as Marin Blvd) where it met Railroad Ave (now Columbus).

But even though the map and picture was a perfect match, I still was not 100% sure. But then I saw a photo of the same area from around 1999-2000, before Grove Point was built. That photo included the first building on the right from the old photo.


At that point, after many weeks of searching, I finally knew that the photo was of Henderson St (now Marin Blvd), from Morgan St to Railroad Avenue (now Columbus).

If you like challenges like this, check the 'Unsolved Mysteries Tab' where I will upload photos and postcards that I do not know where they were taken. Please use the comments functionality if you can help out or have more information about what Jersey City used to be like!


Center of old image magnified, showing intersection of Henderson St (Marin Blvd) and Newark Ave and Railroad Ave (Columbus).

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Victorian Building Barrow-Wayne St Corner

This Second Empire / Victorian building on the Corner of Wayne and Barrow used to house a Baker and Lunch establishment.

Note the gas street light in the top left hand corner of the older image - every night these street lights would be manually lowered and lit.
Based on configuration of windows, door and stoop I believe that the building that currently stands to the right of the corner building is the same as in the old photo. It just seems as if another floor was added. Next to that the wooden building has given way to a parking lot.

The Building is Endangered

Apart from the mansard roof, there is not much that today gives away that this used to be a beautiful building. The building was labeled 'unlivable' by a Jersey City agency in 2012, and no visible improvements have been made over the last 10 years. As it is unoccupied and deemed unlivable, it's likely that it will deteriorate quickly from this point onwards if nothing is done to save it.

In 2004 a plan was drawn up to redevelop the block, under the 'Columbus Corner Redevelopment Area' and I believe this plan involved restoring the building. More details here (second half of article). But nothing ever came of the plan.

Even though the building is in 'less-than-great' shape, it can still be saved and restored to it's former glory. An example of how this can be done is 241 Seventh Street, in DT JC. A local developer took what was a condemned building, gut renovated it and restored the facade in historically sensitive way that blends in very well on the block.

I hope this is what in the end happens to the building at Barrow and Wayne St corner.

Picture Credits

The old photo comes from Jersey City Free Public Library's awesome collections in the 'New Jersey Room'. But I must confess that rather than obtaining the copy directly from the library, I scanned it from this book on Jersey City. The book is a good introduction to what Jersey City's various areas used to look like.

When I find the time I will try to obtain a copy directly from the library and upload it here - the picture quality should benefit.

Telephone Co Building

The NY & NJ Telephone Co building has fared well over the years - the store front detailing, the stone carving over the entrance and some iron work on the second floor is missing - but overall in pretty good shape.

In the old picture, please note the trolley tracks, though they are barely visible - there was a horse 'pulled' trolley running on Erie St.

In a high resolution picture it's possible to see that the ground floor store is selling 'Fancy Goods'.

The old NY & NJ Telegraph Co Building is currently being converted to residential apartments and commercial space on the ground floor.




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