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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
OAKLAND, 8 miles (280 alt., 735 pop.), one of the oldest communities
in Bergen County, is a cluster of frame buildings. It was known successively as Yawpaw (Ind., wild plum), The Ponds, Scrub Oaks, Bushville,
and now Oakland. Its public edifices include a one-story brick borough
hall and a brilliant red POST OFFICE (L), set in a two-story yellow frame
building.
Hanging from a bracket in the public square is a SIGN announcing
"Oakland, Bergen County, N. J. Established 1869." The legend is topped
by a portrait of one Chief Iaopogh and the words, "Once There Was Indians All Over This Place." The sign was the donation of Robert T.
Sheldon, a resident of Valley Rd.; Oakland people assert that the ungrammatical construction was insisted upon by Mr. Sheldon, who, they recall,
said it was "a quotation from some author."
A SILK LABEL PLANT is the borough's sole factory. Its principal point
of interest is the white stucco and stone BOROUGH HALL (R), constructed
by WPA as a reproduction of the Church of the Ponds, built at Oakland
in 1829. The hall, a Georgian edifice, is adjacent to the present brown-shingled DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH (R), whose congregation celebrated
its 225th anniversary in November 1935. A former pastor of the church,
the Rev. Ilsley Boone, became the center of a local controversy some years
back when he espoused nudism, of which he is today one of America's
leading exponents.
South of Oakland, following the Ramapo River, US 202 swings R. at
9 miles through a district of bathing beaches (R), tourist camps, and hot dog stands.
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