Autumn Years Spring 2024

for public benefit. Before the creation of public parks, a rural cemetery provided a place for the general public to enjoy an outdoor respite among art and sculp ture (something previously reserved for the wealthy). This was mostly seen in urban areas; in the early 1860s, Brook lyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery was draw ing annual crowds second in size only to Niagara Falls. On the cutting edge of the rural cem etery movement was Dumont’s Wood side Cemetery, established in 1846. In Carlstadt, the Berry family cemetery was enlarged in 1853 to become the Berry Lawn Cemetery. Serving the needs of this largely German immigrant community, a number of this cemetery’s tombstones were inscribed in German. In Ridgewood, the Valleau Cem etery was established in 1859 across the street from the Old Paramus Reformed Church. The triangular property was

Original 1860 Englewood Presbyterian Church at Brookside Cemetery (Englewood).

originally laid out in a symmetrical way and incorporated a Gothic pattern. As the cemetery was expanded, winding avenues, akin to the more well-known rural cemeteries, were laid out. New York City churches lacked the real estate to create cemeteries, and such was the case for the True Reformed Dutch Church in Manhattan’s West Village. The congregation looked to its sister church in Hackensack for a place to establish a cemetery. In 1860, what was called the New York Cemetery was established on Hudson Street. As was the tradition with rural cemeteries, it was located some distance from the town center (on the southern border of Hackensack); when the cemetery was expanded, it spilled into Little Ferry

and South Hackensack. The cemetery has a topography that rises and falls in a park-like setting with some large shade trees. The New York church eventually disbanded, and the cemetery was taken over by Bergen County residents. In 1954, it was renamed Maple Grove Park Cemetery. Buried here is John Walter Christie, creator of the first American front-wheel-drive car and the tank de sign that became the famed Soviet T-38 tank. (See Autumn Years , Spring 2021.) The Civil War brought a profound awareness regarding the need for cem eteries. In 1862, three rural cemeteries were created in the county. A small one was established in Alpine. In Westwood, an older cemetery was enlarged with a design to create pleasant surroundings for the visitor. And at Hackensack’s northernmost end, the Hackensack Cemetery was established. Within this

Civil War monument at Hackensack Cemetery.

42 AUTUMN YEARS I SPRING 2024