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Linden Society for Historic Preservation, 301 N Wood Avenue, Linden, NJ (2026)

08/28/2026

LINDEN...THEN AND NOW

So, I happened across an antique shop recently where the proprietor specialized in historic maps. I perused through some of his offerings and became fixated on a hand-colored map that was published shortly after the Civil War. I immediately knew it was just that because Union County is shown and was the final County established in the state in 1857, and Linden is shown in its original entirety shortly after its 1861 establishment. He allowed me to take a few photographs of the map thru its protective plastic cover and they are clear enough to share here.

Linden is rather indistinct, being bisected by one railroad line, Pennsylvania Railroad's line that is today's most heavily used Northeast Corridor, and bordered by another, the Jersey Central's line that is today NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line serving Cranford.(you can see where the two railroad lines cross in downtown Elizabeth, at the engineering marvel of the day, the brownstone arches on Broad Street.)

Of course at the time of this map's publishing, Cranford and Roselle had yet to exist, although the villages of Craneville and Milford are shown on the map and would become the hub of each of those eventual towns. Linden's primary marked village is Wheatsheaf, sitting on the primary road thru Linden, today's St. George Avenue.

Linden extends all the way north to the raulroad tracks encompassing all of what is today's Roselle. Linden also extends to the Rahway River, so everything that is east of the Rahway River in today's Cranford, once was part of Linden, including the Colonial era Droescher Mill.

It's always interesting to study old maps, as they often lend some insight into how things became the way they currently are. Does anyone reading this own a very old map showing the Linden area?

08/20/2026

LINDEN...THEN AND NOW

Photos of the many great Linden diners are still hard to come by. (If you know of any, please share them in the comments.) I stumbled across this photo of The Linden House Diner taken from the first floor window of Linden High School across the street. It was taken in 1974, ten years after the Linden House was built and first opened.

Growing up in Sunnyside, the Linden House Diner was my go-to eatery. My entire family had countless meals there, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner; my sister and I always fighting to choose that third song after putting a quarter in the tabletop jukebox.

As I got older, especially after earning my driver's license, the always-open 24-hour schedule began to come more into play and my buddies and I were regulars. I miss those days a lot, prepared quality late-night food in Linden, or anywhere for that matter, is hard to come by in these post-covid days.

Recreating that same perspective of the photo isn't really possible some 56 years later. A now old tree obscures the same view, although the high school's flagpole still stands in the same place. Moving a few steps to the left gives the view of today's eatery...Kitchen 27.

I'm a fan of Kitchen 27 and glad that they are keeping the restaurant tradition going on the same corner, but it will never feel quite the same as the old days when you knew The Linden House was always open and always an option. What are your favorite diner memories in Linden?

08/14/2026

LINDEN...THEN AND NOW

One of the biggest changes on North Wood Avenue is the loss of the Plaza Theater. Taken from the corner of Knopf Street back in the spring of 1975, this photo shows a typical crowded evening at the theater, a long line to see Tommy, the movie based on the album recorded by the band, The Who. While the marquee is a bit too blurry to readily view, it can be deciphered to read the all-star cast's names...Ann Margaret, Elton John, and Roger Daltrey.

The theater is long gone now, replaced by the Raymond Wood Bauer Promenade, an outdoor amphitheater and small park area where the theater used to be. Lots of changes thru the half century between photos, just the experience of going to the movies is so vastly different. Today, Linden still has the luxury of having its own movie theaters, the massive AMC Aviation Plaza Complex that offers far more choices, but in far less intimacy of an old theater like the Plaza.

Our culture and Social Media in particular, provides the modern venue for endless debate about the way Linden used to be, versus the way it is today. And of course, it's not just Linden, the identical debate rages about our State and how it has changed, let alone our Nation, and how it has changed as well, and even the world for that matter. Time and memory will always provide the basis for such a debate. Pertaining to this one little plot of land located on North Wood Avenue, what are your thoughts on the result of 51 years of change?

08/06/2026

LINDEN...THEN AND NOW

Recently coming across an old letterhead for Stonewall Savings, it harkened back to my youth when the branch located at 701 North Wood Avenue at West Curtis Street was still a relatively new building. Built at some point in the 1960's, it seemed to be a transitional design for a bank, as rather than being enclosed in a fortress of granite or brick-and-mortar, it was a bank that embraced full-wall glass windows and natural light.

As the oldest financial institution in Linden, the Stonewall Savings and Loan Association of Linden was formed in 1921, pre-dating the 1925 consolidation of the City of Linden. I was always of the opinion that Stonewall Savings had a really good ring to it, a most fitting name for a bank. It became a cornerstone of the City of Linden community for more than six decades, eventually being acquired by Columbia Savings in 1981 and shortly thereafter changing its name forever, relegating the name Stonewall Savings to our past history.

Columbia Bank, as it is known today, continues to thrive on the same corner. A renovation a couple of years ago has preserved the basic modern design of the bank as the branch surpasses another six decades located on the same corner. It was recently announced that Columbia Bank had acquired Northfield Bank, who operates a local branch just two blocks away on North Wood Avenue at West Elm Street. Linden will probably see more change in the near future as that branch consolidates into Columbia's building.

What are your memories of Stonewall Savings?

07/31/2026

LINDEN...THEN AND NOW

The Linden Vocational School was constructed on West St. George Avenue across the street from Linden High School in 1971. Over the years, the facility has changed, physically enlarging and evolving into today's Linden Academy of Science and Technology.

The first photo taken more than a half century ago, shows the modest main entrance facing West St. George Avenue. A student is seen exiting, a cigarette dangling from his lower lip. A newly planted tree is surrounded by guide poles to ensure its proper growth. The stained glass of Anshe Chesed synagogue can barely be seen peeking from beyond the edge of the new building.

The second photo shows the identical perspective today, quite unchanged, with the tree having survived the ensuing fifty years despite its urban setting. The busy entrance is quiet these days during the summer recess. And thankfully, the prevalence of ci******es with students, at least during school hours, is no longer as visible.

Additional photos are necessary to see the overall difference with the most recent expansion of the building. Do you have memories of this Linden landmark? Who can remember back to the days before the construction of the school building?

07/22/2026

LINDEN...YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP

A significant vote took place less than two months ago that seems to have flown under the radar of most. The shareholders of ExxonMobil voted to redomicile the company from New Jersey to Texas, which in less fancy terms basically means that after 144 years of calling New Jersey home, ExxonMobil moved their legal address to Texas.

The company founded in New Jersey in 1882 as Standard Oil of New Jersey by John D. Rockefeller has long been associated with not only our state, but most especially with our City of Linden, as it was here that the site was chosen in 1908 to build the world's largest refinery, and which still remains the largest refinery on the East Coast.

Many of us can still remember back to when the company was known as Esso, the phonetic pronunciation of the Standard Oil initials. When I was a kid, it was my family's choice for fuel on road trips, I think because my father felt like he was supporting Linden with every fill-up. It was my favorite because they offered free maps, by far the best detailed maps of those offered by any of the major fuel companies. I still treasure my old paper folded Esso maps from back in the day.

It took a bit to get used to when that familiar name changed to Exxon in 1972, but thru it all, there was no bigger employer than the Bayway Refinery that was considered the backbone of Linden. Through the years, lots of changes were to follow, from the sale of the Bayway Refinery, to the rebranding of Exxon's Technology Center, which became Infinium, a joint venture between ExxonMobil and Shell. But thru it all, ExxonMobil's corporate home was always New Jersey...until two months ago.

This change seems to be relatively insignificant to most of our daily existences, but it is symbolic of some of the failings of our blue state on a political level. If you are interested, here's a video that delves a little deeper into the logic of the change and what it means for our state going forward, and sadly, it doesn't sound like good news to me. Should we all have opinions on this change, what are your thoughts?

Check out this video, "wake up nj exxon leaving new jersey"

07/17/2026

LINDEN...THEN AND NOW

It seems that Sport Shop is a phrase that doesn't get much use anymore. Fifty years ago, when the first photo was taken, Linden was home to Budson's Sport Shop, located at 640 North Wood Avenue, adjacent to the popular House of Flowers on the corner of Curtis Street. Today, the retail space is occupied by a Farmers Insurance office, dum-dedum-dum dum-dum-dum. (In today's advertising-gone-mad world, every insurance company needs an ear-worm melody, catchphrase, or comedy routine commercials, and I can't even type Farmer's without hearing their musical motif in my head.)

It seemed that back in the day, every small town had its own Sport Shop serving the sporting-related needs of the community. Linden was home to a few such shops over the years, I can also recall Star Sports on West St. George Avenue that lasted much longer. (Miss you, Marv. Kind of.)

Over time, these small mom-and-pop style businesses were replaced by the big boys, larger mall-based stores that could offer far more options. Many came and went, such as Herman's, Modell's, Sports Authority, and while even the big retailers like Walmart joined the effort, the internet would soon become the dominant retail force of today. A few hardy brick-and-mortar stores survive, Dick's Sporting Goods coming to mind.

What other sport shops served the Linden Community? What was your favorite go-to sports shop? Do you miss the small town shops of yesterday, or prefer the mega-stores, or is online the way to go today?

Addendum: Just drove past and saw the Coming Soon sign in the long-shuttered House of Flowers window, looks like Linden will have a new Mexican deli coming soon.

07/10/2026

LINDEN...THEN AND NOW

It might be fifty years ago, and it might have been on the Roselle side of St. George Avenue, but it was still a serious part of my youth for a short window of time. Located at 209 East St. George Avenue in Roselle, they sported perhaps one of the most simplistic, yet memorable, corporate logos of all time as well. My recollection is fading though, perhaps some readers can help me recall. I remember the burgers were flame-grilled, correct? And didn't they offer a frozen dessert very similar to Wendy's Frosty? Did they start somewhere else prior to this location? What other details do you remember?

07/02/2026

LINDEN...THEN AND NOW

Well, Independence Day is about to arrive, as our nation celebrates its semiquincentennial. While recently perusing eBay, I came across a collection of vintage slides being offered for sale that came from an estate sale and featured numerous images of Linden's Bicentennial Parade held fifty years ago.

The person selling the slides, who goes by the eBay user name of Score More Vintage, was gracious enough after hearing about our modest webpage, to scan all of the Linden parade images at no cost so they could be shared here. (for anyone interested, the link to the slides being offered is: https://ebay.io/m/Wui2mu ) A big shout out of thanks to them for their efforts.

The photos were taken by Owen Kanzler, a professional photographer who specializes in aerial photography and is based out of Linden. I hope to contact him for more information about the images.

It appears that quite a lot of effort was put forth in Linden to celebrate the Bicentennial back in 1976, as there were large bands performing, numerous marchers, and rather elaborate floats were constructed. A true community spirit can be felt thru the images. I'm not so sure we've come close to matching that enthusiasm this time around for the Semiquincentennial.

The parade appears to have passed a length of Curtis Street where Mr. Kanzler captured his images, then I suppose the parade followed North Wood Avenue. I don't recall if I was in attendance for this parade or not, but perhaps you'll recognize friends, relatives, or politicians. Maybe, if you look closely enough, you'll even see yourself.

06/25/2026

LINDEN...SAY IT ISN'T SO

For more than the last half year, Linden has held the unique distinction of being home to the oldest man in the United States. Shortly after his 111th birthday back in December, we featured a post on Mr. Luis Cano after he was officially certified as the oldest living man in the country.

Mr. Cano was born in Columbia back in 1914, and came to the United States over thirty-five years ago, earning his citizenship in 2004. He has resided in Linden for more than the last two decades.

It is with great sadness that I must report that Mr. Cano passed on June 15th. Mr. Edward Martin of Florida, also aged 111 years, now takes over as the nation's oldest man. While it was an unfortunately brief reign, Mr. Cano nonetheless brought some positive notoriety to Linden, certainly not a location one would associate with extreme longevity, and will forever be remembered in our City's proud history.

Linden Society for Historic Preservation

08/28/2026

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