Tenafly NJ History - Michael Merzel Bergen County Real Estate, REMAX Properties

TENAFLY'

HISTORY

structure on Serpentine Road which was the architect's home and showcase.

Another Atwood

design along Serpentine Road, which features a "polygonal projecting second story central

bay with high roof," was the home of the first mayor,

Henry B. Palmer.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, feminist, and Richard Morris Hunt, architect, are other national notables associated

with late 19th century Tenafly. Artists Harvey Dunn and George Inness also practiced in Tenafly.

Stanton lived here between 1868-1887 and later wrote: "I laugh...at the memory of all the frolics we had on

the blue hills of Jersey." Hunt, one of the organizers of the American Institute of Architects, was a leading

practitioner of eclecticism. Known for his pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and Breakers in Newport RI,

the Everett-Dunn House in Swiss Chalet style is attributed to Hunt as an early work.

Also boasting distinguished architecture are Tenafly's earlier 20th century schools which incorporate the

finest materials of the day in classic form.

Municipal improvements, which included water main installation in 1899 and the formation of the Volunteer

Fire Association in 1891 continued. In World War I, the northwest corner of the town became part of Camp

Merritt. In World War II, Tenafly's fallen heroes included bandleader Glenn Miller whose plane disappeared

after leaving England for France. Miller had come to the Borough in 1938 maintaining an apartment in

Cotswold.

The Huyler, MacKay, Rockefeller and Johnson families and the Green Acres Program have been major

benefactors of Tenafly's parks and open space.

History in a nutshell

Settled originally by the Dutch, early

references to "

Tiene Fly

" (In Dutch-Ten

Swamps) and "

Tenafly

" (Willow Meadow,

also Little Valley) date back to the 1680’s.

Tenafly evolved from grants of land

David desMarets (Demarest) in 1677,

to Jacobus Van Cortlandt in 1688, and

Roelof Westervelt in 1695. Westervelt

repaid the Native American Indians in

1705

for his portion, establishing thus

harmonious relations with them.

230 years ago in 1776, Tenafly

surrounded

by forests, consisted of

four

homes, a militia

headquarters and a

schoolhouse.

In 1872, Tenafly joined

with six neighboring

villages to form

the

Palisades Township and

on January 24, 1894 it was

incorporated

as an independent

borough

with a

population of 1,532.

During the Revolution, British and American troops
marched through the Village, a militia headquarters
was located on today's Tenafly Road. After the war,
Sir James Jay, a brother of patriot John Jay, moved
here. Farming remained the main activity through
the middle of the 19th century and Dutch Farms
became the choice properties with the coming of
the railroad in 1859.

The mid-1860's set the scene for the arrival in
Tenafly of New York architect Daniel Topping
Atwood, who purchased land from Peter Huyler with
the intention of designing and building homes near
the Northern Railroad. Atwood is best known for the
Borough's architectural icon, the Railroad Station
between 1872-1874. Eventually, at least seven
residences were completed in Atwood's Highwood
Park District, which includes portions of Huyler and
Westervelt Avenues, Serpentine Road, Valley Place,
Linden and Engle Streets. Atwood's Country and
Suburban Homes, 1871, brought the architect a
national reputation. Atwood's "Design One," labeled
"Picturesque Stone Cottage," is a striking gothic