The Palmer House

The intersection at Main Street and Maple Avenue in East Orange was one of the highest elevations between downtown Newark and the foot of "The Mountain" and had been the site of some of the earliest dwellings in the area since the area had been settled by Europeans in the late 17th century. 

The Palmer House, a boarding hotel, was built in the late 1880's at the NW corner of the intersection replacing another large house (it's possible the earlier house may have also been The Palmer House in an earlier version). 

Above: postcard photo with a 1908 postmark

Below: a postcard postmarked 1929 showing the Palmer House as the Hotel Palmer with the front porch enclosed in brick, and the building's central tower shortened

The photo below was taken in 1964 by Dr. Sam Berg as he documented the area shortly before it was bulldozed to make way for I-280. (photo courtesy of the Newark Public Library)

Panzer College

In 1917 the Newark Normal School of Physical Education and Hygiene was founded by Matthias Machery and Randall D. Warden, Directors of Physical Education for the city of Newark. At the close of the school year in 1920, the founders relinquished their interest in the school in favor of Henry Panzer, the Director of the Normal School at that time. The School moved to East Orange in 1925 where the program changed from being a two year course to a three year course. In 1928, a four year course of study leading to the degree of Bachelor of Physical Education was offered. At this time the name of the institution changed to Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene. Following Mr. Panzer's sudden death in 1932, Margaret C. Brown, who had served as teacher, registrar and dean of the College since 1921, was elected by the College Board of Trustees as President and Treasurer. Under her leadership the College made great professional advancements, and its reputation for excellence became nationally and internationally known. Through her efforts, the State authorized the granting of the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education in 1939 and the Bachelor of Physical Education degree was abandoned. 

Below: ad from the 1923 East Orange High yearbook; before Panzer College moved to this location in 1925, the property had been the Le Master Institute

Below: from 1942 Panzer College Olympia yearbook

In fiction, the protagonist of Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize winning novel American Pastoral, Seymour "Swede" Levov, and his wife, Dawn Levov, are graduates of Upsala. The charactor Levov was inspired by the real person "Swede" Masin who attended Panzer College in East Orange.

 Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene merged with Montclair State College in 1958. After the merger, the Archdiocese of Newark bought the Panzer buildings and opened the all-girl East Orange Catholic High School in September, 1958.

Columbian Pharmacy

In the 1950's I went to the Columbian Pharmacy every afternoon to buy a copy of the Newark Evening News so that my father could read it when he got home from work and, if Helen Grober, wife of one of the owners, pharmacist Max Grober, happened to have a prescription that needed to be delivered to one of the neighboring apartment buildings, she'd let me deliver it and the customer would always give me a small tip.

Above: from the 1954 East Orange High School yearbook

The Pharmacy was one of those places that could turn a densely populated neighborhood like ours into a "village" by being a stable, long-term institution with caring people like Max and Helen Grober and Moe Finkelstein helping raise the children of the area.

Every card or gift I bought for my parents during my childhood came from the Pharmacy, boxes of candy for my mother, pipes and tobacco pouches for my father, and Mrs. Grober always helped me decide and would put the item on layaway for me while I saved up my allowance.

In 1927 the commercial building that was the eventual home of the Columbian Pharmacy was built at the  NE corner of William Street and North Grove Street replacing homes that had been there many years. The neighborhood had suddenly become densely populated in the previous ten years with the addition of the Hotel East Orange and apartment buildings along Grove Street between the railroad and Park Avenue and along William Street near Grove. 

 Above: North Grove Street about 1910 looking north from William Street toward Park Avenue. The two houses on the far right were the two closest to the NE corner of William and Grove and were torn down to make way for the commercial building built in 1927.

Below: a map of the corner in 1911

The corner location, 160 North Grove St, was first operated as the Pertz Drug Store by Boris and Jack Pertz, became the S&F Drug Store in 1929, and then finally the Columbian Pharmacy in 1934 operated by pharmacists Max Grober and Morris Finkelstein, who was married to Max's sister Ida.

In 1927 other businesses in the building along Grove were 162 Grove, a meat market operated by Samuel W Sire (in 1934, by  A.J. Roemmele), 166 Grove, a delicatessen run by Minnie Traub (1929, by Fred Schmidt; 1930, by Emory Million), and the Great A&P Tea Company (variously at 164, 166, and 168). In 1934 Martin & Park Confectioners were at 168 Grove.

In 1934, on the William Street side, the businesses were 188 William, Max Dietrich, tailor, 190 William, "F. Then," shoe repair, and 192 William, a beauty parlor.

                       Below: a 2013 Google Street-view of the building looking NE (Grove St on the left, William St to the right)

I urge anyone who has vintage (1927 to 1970) photos of this building or photos of the people involved in the businesses there  to get in touch with me.

East Orange General Hospital

Originally built in 1926 as the new home of the Homeopathic Hospital of Essex County, it became East Orange General Hospital in 1938.

Most sources say America's "Candy Stripers" program originated as a high-school civics class project at East Orange High School in 1944, but the 1960 East Orange High yearbook says the program started at Vernon L Davey Junior High in 1944 and was transferred to East Orange High in 1954. The uniforms were sewn by the girls in the class from material provided by the teacher - a red-and-white-striped fabric known as "candy stripe". The students chose East Orange General Hospital as the home for their class project (from Adele Marie McCain, nee Huck, a student in the class).

East Orange National Bank

Above: Essex County Trust Company (first built as The East Orange National Bank building); view is looking southeast with Main Street to left looking east, Arlington Avenue to right

Above article: 1896

Below: from a 1911 Sanborn insurance map

Drake College

           Drake College was at the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Harrison Street. According to a 1917 educational directory, Drake College had been founded in 1883 by William E Drake. By 1911 the East Orange campus was in the Central Avenue location. There were a number of Drake Secretarial School campuses in the NY/NJ area, so the East Orange campus may not have been added until the early 20th century.

                                           Below: from 1954 East Orange High School yearbook

Above: from a 1911 map

Below: from an 1895 map when the building was still shown as a dwelling.

Commonwealth Building

The Commonwealth Building at the southeast corner of the intersection of the railroad and Main Street (Main Street is on right and view is looking east in photo above); building was designed 1887/88 and served as a city hall before 1899 and was the original home of the East Orange National Bank until the bank moved into its own building (far right in photo below) about 1897.