09/03/2026
LINDEN...IN OUR OWN BACKYARD
The name of our modest organization is the Linden Society for Historic Preservation. Simply translated, that would imply a group that tries to save important things. Yet ironically, since the day I was born, all I find myself doing is ranting about loss and change. This week, two important local developments have come to light and I'm not happy about either of them. Hold on, I feel a rant coming.
Some of the oldest photos I have of myself, are me being pushed around New York's World's Fair in a stroller. To this day, I lament how a Disney World-esque attraction could have been built and disappear so quickly. I have no direct memories of the grounds, but cherish those photos.
Similarly, I rode the train to Manhattan's Pennsylvania Railroad Station like all travellers fron Linden did in those days, arguably the grandest train station on the planet, and that soon incredulously vanished shortly thereafter, in order to make way for the modern cramped Penn Station that today I traverse regularly thru the crowds, smells, and the unfortunate homeless.
When I was still young, they took down the Singer Tower, once the tallest building in the world, arguably the most beautiful skyscraper ever constructed, and the corporate headquarters of the company that made neighboring Elizabeth a manufacturing giant and provided jobs to so many Linden residents as well. Gone in a flash.
Locally in the immediate area, that trend would never stop. In the early 1970's, it was Walt's 42nd Street, Linden's most popular eatery...gone. Next, the Wood House, arguably Linden's most historic building where George Washington was believed to have visited...gone.
And it continued into my adulthood. In 2008, my beloved General Motors Assembly Plant...scrapped and sold to China. In 2015, our beloved landmark Big Stash's...under the wrecking ball, replaced by a parking lot. And for me personally, the unthinkable in 2020, when Spirito's shuttered its doors for the final time.
Another historic building in Linden would fall in 2022 in the Goethals Park Complex. The familiar double-truss roofed warehouse that so many passed daily on Route 278 on their way to Bayway or Staten Island, built in 1917 as one of the country's largest buildings dedicated solely to the construction of aircraft, razed to make room for the new FedEx Depot. And the kicker was that the historic building's footprint didn't even overlap with the new gigantic structure, as where it once stood is nothing more than part of their new parking lot.
So there's no shortage of loss, change, and lack of historic preservation around here. And now I'll share the latest stories that have me downright livid.
Those who know me, know I'm a big music fan, especially when it comes to the guitar. One of my favorites of all-time, was Les Paul, who spent most of his life as a resident of New Jersey. A personal hero of mine, he is the lone member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He pioneered the solid-body electric guitar and introduced multi-track recording techniques that are a staple of everything we hear today.
Les was almost at the level of friend, certainly a good personal acquaintance of mine, as I often attended his regular Monday evening jam sessions at the Iridium Club in Manhattan. I attended his gala 75th birthday party, hanging out with the likes of the guys in Aerosmith, as we celebrated with a guitar-shaped birthday cake into the wee hours of the morning. I was very bummed to learn of Les' passing in 2015 at the age of 94, mainly because it seemed that Les would go on forever.
Les Paul lived in Mahwah for more than 60 years. His 6,300 square foot residence was more than just a beautifully designed mid-century modern home, it was his studio, his think-tank, his laboratory for a man devoted to music and the guitar. This man-cave sanctuary of sorts was where he raised his children, where he broadcast live radio and television events accompanied by his wife Mary Ford, where he entertained A-list guests ranging from Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eddie Van Halen.
Being that he outlived both of his wives, when Les passed, his estate, which included his New Jersey home, was bequeathed to the Les Paul Foundation that was established to continue his work and efforts. The rumor was that his residence would one day become a museum to honor the man's legacy, much in the same way that Thomas Edison's labs have been preserved in West Orange.
Instead, the house and seven acres was left to decay and remained unoccupied since his death. In July, unbeknownst to even Les' surviving son Gene Paul, who is now 82-years old and has no say as to the functioning of the Les Paul Foundation, the house and property were quietly sold for a million dollars. Last week, the new owners had it bulldozed to make room for their own new Bergen County McMansion. So much for New Jersey's newest museum, there's not even a sign or plaque left behind. How typically New Jersey of the entire situation.
Those who know me, realize that another of my fervant interests is Paleontology and the study of dinosaurs, another hobby going back to the earliest days of my youth. So, if the loss of Les Paul's home didn't rile me up enough, yesterday I received word that the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia, the nation's oldest natural history museum that has been open two years shy of two centuries, the museum that was the first in the world to display a reassembled dinosaur skeleton that was found in New Jersey mind you, and is our official State Fossil, Hadrosaurus foulkii, the museum that has been my personal favorite since my father took me there as a young lad...will be closing its doors forever at the end of this month! Are you kidding me? Am I dreaming? What is going on in our culture? Is there any hope? Thoughts? Thanks for letting me vent.
