1926: FORTY FIVE DOLLARS DOWN, THIRTY MONTHS TO PAY!

Back in the :Roaring Twenties," you could have gotten a choice piece of real estate at Ortley Beach, located between the Seasides and Lavallette for the princely sum of $45 down and 30 months to pay. It would be interesting to know how much real estate at Ortley Beach is compared to those 90 years ago.

1944: FROM MY "NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" FOLDER

How great it is to be able to meld yesterday events and directly connect them to current situations and locations! Here's a 1944 real estate ad from Brundbook Builders offering 8 modern brick homes. I am speculation has it that the Google view above from the 200 block of today's Oliver Avenue in Ewing are the very same homes offered in the ad 60 years ago and quietly reside in my "EWING" and "NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" folders.

1909-1911: EVOLUTION OF NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE "LALOR TRACT"

These two graphics show the evolution of the area along Lalor Street that includes Remson, Home, Virginia, and other familiar South Trenton neighborhoods whose real estate planning was laid out in the year1909.

 

1955: SUNNYBRAE VILLAGE

You think real estate is not a good investment? Check out the prices on these homes in Yardville's Sunnybrae area. This was when newly weds Tom and Judy Glover went house hunting. $12,000 to $13,000 dollar homes were out of the question for us. Back then when one applied for a loan, the banks would not accept a woman's salary as part of the earned income and thus Tom Glover's under $100per week take home salary put homes such as those in Sunnybrae Village off limits. I remember how we fell in love with that brand new home on the corner of Nottingham Way and Paxon Avenue, but alas, it was priced at a price that I could pay cash for today. How tempus has fugited and how prices have risen!

1926: ORTLEY BEACH REAL ESTATE!

Hurry up, shore lovers, at these prices these lots won't last long! Can you imagine purchasing real estate back in the 1920's and then take a mental trip up to the 21st century and the year 2011 and envision paying such incredibly low prices?

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM.....I CAN'T HELP THINKING ABOUT THE SHORE IN THE 1920'S. THE ONLY PAVED ROAD WE TOOK WAS TO AS BURY PARK. FOR SOME REASON MY FATHER PREFERRED BELMAR. IT WAS A DIRT ROAD AND WE DROVE WITH THE WINDOWS UP. MY FATHER LOVED TO WATCH THE COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN BRING IN THE FISH AT BELMAR. THERE WASN'T A THING ON THE BOARDWALK, AND YOU HAD TO HOLD ON TO ROPES IN THE OCEAN OR GET SWEPT OUT TO SEA. AS A KID I THOUGHT THE PLACE WAS VERY BORING. REGARDS.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Noel said...

Hi Tom, My parents owned a home on 4 7th Ave from the 60s into the 80s. I spent many days at Ortley Beach. Many memories. Noel Goeke

Saturday, March 19, 2011

omad said...

My son and his wife owned a sweet little bungalow on 4th a block from the ocean for several years. Ortley is a Mecca for people from around East Hanover. So many great memories as each grandchild was born and introduced to the joys of the Jersey Shore. They got interested in boats and still keep one on the other side of bay. As the boys got older they had their own interests in Morris County and my son sold the place. Unfortunately not at the ridiculously high prices they are going for now. They still rent a beautiful place there each year.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

1866: TRENTON'S WILSON WOOLEN MILL

In my estimation, Samuel K. Wilson was the wealthy "John D" of the Trenton area back in Victorian times. Coming on the scene in the mid 1800's, Wilson built up a real estate portfolio with countless parcels of land all over the city of Trenton. The site on which St. Francis Hospital, and much of the surrounding area was a part of his real estate holdings. His Wilson Woolen mill was known far and wide a source of quality textiles

1903: NEW WILBUR; NEXT TO HOMEDELL

Journalists and real estate agents had a tough time distinguishing the line from the borough of Wilbur in the city of Trenton, and eastward to Hamilton Township. This little glitch can be seen by the real estate transactions in the graphic above. The article is from 1903 and the map has been lifted from my 1905 atlas. For some strange reason, Bromley, "New Wilbur" and "Oldenhurst" always seemed to be included in the Wilbur section of Trenton. The aforementioned neighborhoods were the beginning of the easterly development of "suburbia."

1912: CUYLER-COOK-ARDMORE AVENUE DEVELOPMENT

Here's a plat map showing the burgeoning community adjoining Villa Park, as Trenton expanded ever eastward during the first decade and early teens,

1928: Darramoor Oaklyn Terrace Wayside Lane Lawrenceville NJ

1928: A SEARS ROEBUCK HOME

My buddy, the late Jesse Anderson lived in a Sears, Roebuck home all during his childhood years, Jesse's dad was a master carpenter, and undoubtedly had a hand in crafting the most beautiful little cottage you ever saw, right on Ward Avenue, adjacent to Greenwood Cemetery. I remember my Mom's admiration for that delightful little home. She typified it as being right out of a Shakespeare country English cottage. The lovely old home was demolished recently and all that remains is an ugly open lot with an uglier open excavation.

1890: TRENTON'S SUMPTUOUS MANSIONS

Don't you wish we could go back and start all over again? Greenwood Avenue area near the rail station, Monmouth Street, West State Street, and the immediate environs had some of the most incredibly beautiful homes with the accompanying gardens and verandas back in the Victorian era. As you pass down Greenwood Avenue today, you will still see some of these beautiful mansions, once owned by some of Trenton's most affluent and influential people, falling into ruin. Some are even boarded up.

1914: The Atterbury Tract - Trenton Western Section

From the "NEIGHBORHOODS - NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" digital folder, this graphic illustrates the genesis of another of those beautiful communities in the secluded and sometimes dangerous riverfront area. The map shows the location of what was known as the
"Atterbury Tract."

Jay said...

From a distance, these homes still look very much the same. The roof lines are very much identifiable when you are driving down Route 29.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Tom Glover said...

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT, JAY. TOM GLOVER

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

1903: NEW WILBUR AKA HOMEDELL

Their proximity to Villa Park and its proximity to the Borough of Wilbur resulted in the officers of the New Wilbur Land Association to name their new development "New Wilbur." Symmes B. Hutchinson also owned a large are in the Liberty-Hutchinson-E. Franklin Street area, and before long there was a new community in Hamilton Township. (Search for other graphics on this website using the key words: Hutchinson School, Friendship School, Homedell School.)

1897: NEIGHBORHOODS: CADWALADER PLACE

A number of years ago, I was one of the tour guides for the Trenton Contemporary Club's annual "Four Views of Trenton." One of the tour stops was a visit to a home in Cadwalader Place. That visit left a lasting impression on me as I realized that Trenton has managed to retain some of the most beautiful neighborhoods. The residents have managed to maintain their classic beauty and bucolic settings. Cadwalader Place, along with the Berkeley-Carteret, Glen Afton, and Hiltonia neighborhoods, allows one to savor the essence of life as it was lived in the Trenton of yesteryear before the mid 20th century urban blight and urban flight occurred.

1909: NEIGHBORHOODS: LALOR PARK TRACT

Still another digital file from the "NEIGHBORHOODS -NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" folder.

1909: NEIGHBORHOODS: BROMLEY PLACE

From the "NEIGHBORHOODS - NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" digital folder, this real estate ad from Mr. Charles G. Teunon, a prominent developer who was responsible for the Glen Afton development and also Lakeside Park.

1880: NEIGHBORHOODS: DE COU'S BUILDING LOTS

My "NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" folder has many interesting real estate ads for various areas in Mercer County. Above is a Hamilton Township ad for De Cou's Building Lots, which I presume is somewhere within the Google earth map adjacent to the ad. The ad states the location as being in the Clinton, Broad and Chambers Street area.

1926: TRENTON'S GLEN AFTON

Mr. Teunon was a very active real estate developer during the early 20th century. His developments include Glen Afton as seen above, and earlier the development of Hamilton Township's Lakeside Park in 1912-13.

1886: WHEN EAST TRENTON WAS KNOWN AS MILLHAM

Millham, or as we know it today, East Trenton, has a very interesting history. The real estate ad above is for the area that evolved into a predominently Polish neighborhood. However, the area around Mulberry Street, St. Joes, Bruenig, and enviorns were peopled by immigrants from Great Britain who came from their home country to work the many potteries in Trenton. The row homes constructed were built to emulate the construction of their English row homes.

1912: BROMLEY IS GROWING

Newspaper real estate ads began appearing in 1910 as Trenton's population expanded eastward. Bromley took its name from the Bromley in Great Britain. It is said that Charles Fulkert, the first Bromley Inn proprietor suggested the name. Bromley Place and Bromley Manor were early settlements. In this article the Park Lane area is building. Apparently it was known as Bromley Park.