New Jersey: A Guide to Its Present and Past

HACKENSACK (134 alt., 24,568 pop.) is gaining in importance among the industrial cities encircling New York, because of its strategic position in the network of modern highways traversing northern New Jersey. The old city lies on the west bank of the Hackensack River, halfway between Paterson and the Hudson, and shows on its face the new blood pumped into it by the road development of the past decade.

Hackensack is built on the flatlands of a tidal river and like most such communities its local scene changes as its population growth stretches its boundaries. Most of the older section lies close to the river. The newer sections and many of the better residences are found on the higher ground that gradually rises to the west and north of the old business section. The civic center, where the courthouse and other public buildings are situated, is the focal point of several highways. Main Street, the principal thoroughfare, extends northward from this point.

The crush on Main Street makes unmistakable the suddenness of the city's recent change. The narrow, north-south street is jammed with traffic from all over Bergen County, and its sidewalks are closely packed with blocks of modern, neonized and black-glass store fronts which have already crowded out most of the leisurely older shops. Chain stores, in particular, have been erected so quickly and in such abundance that often their flashing signs are almost larger than their Main Street footage.

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