track which once flourished are now long gone, but nevertheless, a precedent was set for Demarest as a town for people and not for industry. The residential character of Demarest has survived into the present century & Demarest remains a community whose residents still prefer its quiet treed streets and varied terrain to the flat monotony of the city. Buildings such as the railroad & fire station & a number of beautifully restored homes recall Demarest's past.
to this country in 1663. The earliest settlers in the area, now known as Demarest, were the Westervelts, whose homestead still stands as the northern wing at 277 County Road. The year was 1723, and other Dutch settlers from New Amsterdam soon followed, having obtained land grants from the British owners of New Jersey.
1808), great great grandson of David, whose mill just south of the intersection of Anderson Ave. and County Road, supplied flour to Washington's troops when they were stationed at Tappan, and Captain John Huyler, a militia leader who had bought the Westervelt home. Others included Mattias Bogert (whose home, near Closter on "Old" County Road, is now owned by the O.T. Clarke family), Roelf Demarest, son of Samuel, (whose home is near Cresskill), and the Cole family whose homestead is generally thought to be a part of the home on the corner of County Road and Hardenburgh Avenue. These families bore the brunt of a devastating Tory raid on May 9, 1779. Most of the homes were burned and severely damaged and several of the men, including Samuel Demarest, were taken prisoner to NYC. Samuel's son, Cornelius, was killed, as was a ninety year old farmer named Douwe Tallman, who lies buried in the Revolutionary cemetery on Everett Road.
and Roelf. Roelf's two sons, Samuel R. and John operated a brewery and a woolen mill, respectively, in the nineteenth century. Business was good and in 1816, Samuel R. Demarest built the beautiful sandstone colonial home that still stands on County Road across from the Duck Pond.
reach Demarest. One of the men responsible for the line was the great-grandson of the patriot miller, Ralph S. Demarest, who was at the time State Senator from Bergen County. The community that was his home was named 'Demarest Station' in his honor, and became a well-known resort in the Victorian era, complete with a fine hotel built on the site of the present United Methodist Church and a race track on the site of the Northern Valley Regional High School. The Demarest Railroad Station, designed by J. Cleveland Cady, architect for the Metropolitan Opera House and the Museum of Natural History, was built in 1874 of stone quarried from the slopes of the Palisades. It stands today as a monument to the achievement of the Demarest family.
became the first Catholic Church, and is now a private residence. The Baptist Church, the community's first, was built in 1874. This building now houses the Old Church Cultural center. John Demarest's woolen mill became an optical company and later a piano factory. A saw mill was operated east of Anderson Avenue, and on what is now Park Street, there was a wheelwright, blacksmith, livery stable and coal yard the later in operation as late as the 1930's. Records show that in 1876, Demarest had thirty-six homes and several farms. There are two Victorian homes on Van Horn Street that are lovely reminders of that period. They stand, side-by-side, complete with several stained glass windows.
congregation, the Methodists, who originally met in the old bowling alley of the resort hotel, which had burned down in 1896. There was also a new school, a three classroom granite structure on Piermont Road. This building, with several additions over the years, still houses our Middle School.
Valley Regional High School now stands). A beautiful old home that still stands on Woodland Road, became a hostess house for eighteen secretaries employed at the camp, at the insistence of the United States government. It became a center of many social activities for the soldiers.
Many land development companies had tried unsuccessfully to develop the town after the opening of the railroad, but the new bridge to NYC proved to be the catalyst for success. |
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