Hudson Reporter Archive

Growing up in Secaucus A friend with a 12-gauge shotgun, a field for stickball, and me

As far as I know, there is only one place in the world named Secaucus. If you are reading this, it is likely that you are fortunate enough to have found it.

I never had opportunity or necessity to find it. I was just one of many Secaucus’ boys who were given the opportunity early on to be a part of a wonderful small town.

I can say with certainty that smalltown children have it best. They are able to grow in a place where freedom is more than “nothing left to lose.” Freedom is truly a small town. It is a place where teachers care, and so do neighbors.

I would imagine that in Secaucus’ schools now, lessons have changed. I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have checked my homework at a computer terminal.

My “Spell Check” was looking it up in the dictionary.

I hope that one thing the children are taught now is something about the history of Secaucus. Open space might be surrounded by urban growth, but memories should never disappear into the mist of tomorrow.

There was, at one time, a different building with the name Clarendon School. It stood proudly, a sentinel to time, a landmark on the corner of Fifth Street between Centre Avenue and Front Street. It was a tall red brick edifice, more of a darker red as memory serves, and it had served the children of Secaucus since 1904. The addition was built in 1916. Yes, the building was already old when I attended it.Where ‘The Elms’ came from

In the playground stood a sturdy Dutch elm which served both for shade and a marker for a home run in a stickball game. The director of the Secaucus Department of Public Works hit more than his fair share of balls beyond that tree. The Senior Citizen building that stands there today derived the name “The Elms” from that old Dutch elm.

But what was it like where the new Clarendon School stands? That was a field where dreams were born. It was a place to fly kites on a sunny day. It was a place to ice skate on a beautiful winter day. When you walk down the sidewalk beyond the flagpole into the main entrance of Clarendon School, you are walking on the sacred ground where young children once rode a sled as far as they could go. We made snowmen and had snowball fights on the spot which you now use as a gymnasium.

The school building took the place of a baseball field where many young children learned the rules of the game and perhaps more importantly, teamwork. It was a place where town residents came on a Saturday afternoon to watch the Babe Ruth League play in competition and purchase a bag of Mr. Cook’s popcorn.

It was a place where firemen gathered to play fast-pitch softball in the firemen’s league.

With so many people moving about in our mobile society, it is difficult to find a place that matches the storybook town. But for some, Secaucus remains that sort of town. It is a place where generations have grown up and remained. Changing and staying the same

For those of you who have stayed, I am sure that you have your own stories of Secaucus to share with your children and grandchildren. Perhaps those of you who are new to this wonderful town called Secaucus will allow me to entertain you with some memories of growing up here.

Today some people refer to it as a city, which sometimes nearly breaks my heart, not because cities are bad things.

It is just that the unique quality of life in Secaucus was that it was not a city. Isolated to a degree by geography, the town managed to avoid the congestion and noise that was never far off. It had places for children to wander far beyond the confines of a gated park.

In view of one of the greatest cities just a few short miles away, I recall the brother of a friend walking down the street with 12-gage shotgun slung over his shoulder – off to the meadows to hunt duck or pheasant. Today that hunting ground is covered with the Hartz Mountain development.

Children played on the Hackensack River Bay where a parking garage now stands on Meadowlands Parkway. At the foot of Centre Avenue, a dirt road continued all the way to the river. On a hot summer day, that was the best destination, Snipes Beach. Today that path is gone to condos, Meadowlands Parkway, and a television station.

Secaucus is a very different place today. It has grown up and taken on a new face. For the young and the new residents, if you decide to stay, you will have memories someday of the Secaucus you came to know. They will likely be wonderful memories of a special place.

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