On a all too rare cleaning expedition of old files I ran across
this Blog posted in 2008 as part of a series on the city’s past.
Once upon a time Plainfield was a split personality town. A
significant portion was “white collar”. It was a New York City Bedroom
Community. The four local train stations
were crowded during the commuting hours. Railroad and Wall Street executives
lived here. The Netherwood station in the 1890s up to WW I was the specific designation
for New York celebrities coming to spend time at the resort Netherwood Hotel.
The locomotives used on CRNJ were called " Camelbacks" because the engineer's cab was mounted over the middle side of the boiler. That was because of the hard coal used the boilers were oversized. The commute by train ended at the river in Jersey City and the the ferry either to Cortland St. an d a one block walk to the subway, or a ferry to 23rd St.*
Likewise, the 1st and 4th Wards were
the dwelling place for Plainfield’s large Irish, Italian and Polish “blue
collar” working class. There was also a significant Afro-American population
that lived mostly between Plainfield Ave and Grant Ave on West 2nd
and 3rd Streets, among the other working population.
The Queen City area was the location of the country’s three major
printing press manufacturers. Plainfield boasted Wood’s along the railroad
tracks from Grant Ave east. Next to the tracks on South Ave. was the Scott’s
plant which is still standing but used by other industries.
In Middlesex, bordering Dunellen was the Hoe’s printing
press works. All had a foundry as part of the assembly plant. After World War II, these plants became
outdated due to changes in the technology of printing the factories that
produce the printing presses closed down.
In the West End law between Grant Ave., and Clinton, The
Mack truck factory occupied both sides of the railroad. During WWI this plant was the leading
supplier for heavy duty trucks. Interestingly the rear wheels were chain driven
and of course the trucks were not speedy. By the end of WWII this plant which
had grown like topsy became inefficient to operate. Mack trucks in a move to
escape a strong union in an outdated plant transferred some of its operations
to Allentown Pennsylvania.
Truck
production was relocated to a new modern facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. Since this was rural farm country, labor costs
were much lower than here.
Thereafter, Plainfield had no heavy industry to produce a
major source of personal and taxable income.
Between Roosevelt and
Berkman north of the tracks was a railroad engine house with a turntable and
storage tracks plus a still standing warehouse.
Further east of Berkman on the north side of the tracks, was the large
electrical motor manufacturing factory, Howell. There was also the large
Samoset Laundry building which was destroyed by fire long after it had been
abandoned.
Because of the availability of excellent road networks, the
railroads no longer were an absolute necessity for the manufacturing and
transportation of goods.
The Pennsylvania coal mines lost importance for several
reasons. Anthracite (hard) coal was more difficult to use than the soft
bituminous coals from West Virginia and the western states. Pipelines made oil
and natural gas cheaper and cleaner sources of energy.
In the east all the
railroads were no longer financial viable industries.
Other industries that closed within a little over a decade
after World War II included the Bronston’s Hats\. This manufacture of men’s
hats was a victim of the change in fashion.
Another casualty, although not manufacturing, was the large
manufactured gas storage tank by the railroad tracks off Watching Ave. A
parking lot now occupies that spot.
In South Plainfield the buildings of the sprawling Spicer
plant along the Lehigh tracks at Hamilton Ave became an Industrial Park. Today its
revitalization is complicated by the grossly contaminated soil.
Harris Steel was once one of the major structural steel
plants in the East. There are other smaller companies occupying the plant
space.
Dunellen’s Art Color plant, once one of the largest
producers of magazines and catalogs in the country, became a victim of the newer
technologies and closed.
Plainfield was no
longer a major manufacturing town. The
loss of revenue from those factories would never be recovered. Unlike the other
towns which had available land for commercial development Plainfield and
Dunellen suffered from the shifts in economic enterprises.
Plainfield was also the major
shopping center in Central Jersey west of the Newark/Elizabeth area and north
of the Rt. 1/Turnpike axis.
There were three major
department stores after the war. Two had survived the depression; Tepper’s
which was upscale; Rosebaum Brother’s which appealed to a slightly less
affluent cliental and shortly after the war Bamberger’s later Macy's added to
the mix. Downtown was also the mecca of various regional and national specialty
shops including at least four shoe stores plus many local owner shops.
The advent of the highway mall
started the decline which accelerated after the 68 riots.
Plainfield had been noted for its
excellent education system which was one of the best in the state.
However, in
the 50s I believe Plainfield became one of the first school districts in the
country to have mandated ethnic integration resulting in school bussing and the
destruction of the neighborhood school system.
This resulted in the first white
migration out of the city. Parents objected more to having their grade school
kids bussed across town when there was a nearby walking distances school. Some
of the objection was of course bigotry; but the major objection was the irrational
disruption by the bussing. *
*(Added for this posting).
