Anderson Street station is an active commuter railroad station in the city of Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey. Located at the junction of the eponymous Anderson Street and Railroad Avenue, the station services trains of NJ Transit's Pascack Valley Line between Spring Valley station in Spring Valley, New York and Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey. Anderson Street is the northern of two stations in Hackensack, the other being Essex Street station several blocks south. The station consists of a low-level side platform and a large station shelter to facilitate coverage for passengers. Anderson Street station has a 50-space parking lot on Railroad Avenue.
Anderson Street station opened on September 7, 1869 when service on the Hackensack and New York Railroad was extended north from the Passaic Street station in Hackensack, which opened in 1866. Railroad service ended at Anderson Street until March 4, 1870, when service was extended to Hillsdale. At the time of opening, the railroad built a wooden-frame station depot on Anderson Street to service customers. The station depot would become the home of the Green Caboose, a thrift shop that opened in May 1966 to fund the Hackensack Hospital School of Nursing. Anderson Street station would be added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
On the morning of January 10, 2009, the station depot caught fire at 5:55 a.m. and the fire reached two nearby propane tanks, resulting in an explosion, which leveled the station depot. The Green Caboose's belongings were destroyed in the fire. After the fire, the Anderson Street station was removed from the National Register on May 18, 2011.
History
Construction and opening (1860–1871)
The construction of a railroad through Hackensack came through the charter of the Hackensack and New York Railroad Company in 1856. This new railroad would connect Hackensack to the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad, which had become part of the Erie Railroad. With the charter, they built a railroad to the current-day Essex Street station, which opened on January 21, 1861. On March 12, 1861, a supplemental addition to the charter allowed for an extension of the railroad to Nanuet, New York, where it would meet with the former Erie Railroad main line. In 1861, the line was extended north to Passaic Street, a block south of Anderson Street and by 1867, the right-of-way was established for an extension to New Bridge.
The final construction contracts were released on February 28, 1869 for extension of the railroad under the charter of the Hackensack and New York Railroad Extension Company. This company would be the one to complete the route to Nanuet. Under the charter, the work would have to be finished to the New York state line by October 1869 with remaining work to be finished by January 1, 1870. Construction was under way by April 1869, construction began on the depot at Anderson Street. Funded on money from the Erie Railroad and local residents, the new station depot was built on the design of the station at Passaic, New Jersey. With dimensions of , the wooden station cost about $6,000 (1869 USD). The Anderson Street station would replace the Passaic Street station when it opened on September 7, 1869. An opening ceremony was held for Anderson Street station that day with Garrett Ackerson of the Erie Railroad, the former president of the Hackensack and New York Railroad and other high-profile attendees, including multiple locals. After the opening ceremony, the party of high-profile guests had a meal and drove around the city of Hackensack.
Anderson Street station would serve as the northern terminus of the line until March 4, 1870, when service was extended to Hillsdale. The line would reach Nanuet on May 27, 1871.
Demands for replacement (1913–1919) The decrepit condition of the Anderson Street station became a public nuisance to Hackensack residents in the autumn of 1913. A petition of 600 signatures would be brought to a meeting to discuss the station's future on September 8, 1913. This petition would be to demand the Erie Railroad build a new station at Anderson Street. The meeting, held at the State Street School House, would be attended by federal and municipal officials. Complaints were plenty at the night meeting. Archibald C. Hart, the 6th congressional district representative in the United States House of Representatives, attended, calling the station unsanitary and filthy. Hart also commended people for standing up for a new station to represent the city and said that the only way to get the railroad to budge was to demand action on their grounds. Hart also added that the new station should not be built at Anderson Street, but a block north at Maple Avenue. A local who visited railroad stations in Southern California added that the railroads helped the communities, claiming the Erie had not done anything with Hackensack. Another added that the station depot was a liability to the railroad rather than a useful asset, despite its design. Colonel Alfred T. Holley, one of ten people assigned to a new committee to determine the future of Anderson Street station, added that a new meeting should be held with Erie Railroad officials present. The petition submitted was read and adopted as an official resolution on a unanimous vote.
The petition stated that they wanted a new railroad station built at Anderson Street of modern design and consistent with artistic structure. The petition added that the new station would be inadequate to accommodating growing railroad passenger traffic in the area and that a fare raise in 1911 should have been enough to get improvements or a new station built at Anderson Street station. Instead, the resolution claims, the Erie Railroad let the station deteriorate in that time span.
The condition of the Anderson Street station became a focal point of the Hackensack Improvement Commission elections in 1913. The Third Ward Progressive candidate, Abram Howard, stated at a rally on September 22 at Clay Street and Railroad Avenue that the Hackensack Improvement Commission should be the ones who focused on action in terms of pressuring the Erie Railroad. The rally, held to drum up support for Edmund B. Osborne on the Progressive ticket for Governor of New Jersey, had Howard speak that the new station would not be tolerated by citizens of Hackensack, and that more trains should stop at the Central Avenue depot, one stop south of Anderson Street. Rumors broke that the Erie Railroad was considering painting and patching the decrepit depot instead of building a new station broke by October 1, 1913. Adolph Winkler, the Progressive nominee for the Commissioner at-large job, stated that the railroad deciding to turn down the request was a bad decision. He added that the Public Utility Commissioners had just forced the Erie Railroad to build a new station at Haskell in Passaic County and felt that it was weird Haskell would get favor and not Hackensack. He added that he would force action to get the railroad to build the new station and maintain it under state codes. In communication in late 1913 to each other, Winkler and Democratic nominee George Collins stated that they were both in agreement about the Anderson Street depot. Collins added that he signed the petition in September 1913 and that he would force action through the Public Utilities Commission.
The railroad responded to a letter sent by E.B. Walden of Hackensack asking about the status of the depot in early November 1913. The railroad's superintendent stated that there plans for new waiting rooms and toilets at the station, along with a new platform and a modern heating system. They would also work on improving the station depot on the outside and inside. The superintendent felt that these plans would be met with approval by government, but stated that the railroad's financial condition would make it impossible to build a new station depot at Anderson Street.
Official designs were brought to W.A. Irwin's store at 126 Anderson Street in January 1914, next to the depot, to be shown to the public. The Erie Railroad's proposal would involve extending the depot , adding a overhang on the front of the station. This new overhang would be supported by new pillars. Tiles would be placed on the roof of the enlarged depot, which would also feature stucco in its side walls. The waiting rooms for men and women would be flipped as well. The proposed modern heating system, fueled by steam, was already installed by that point and other changes to the interior of the depot were under way. These renovations were protested by the Progressive Party, who considered that the railroad was doing nothing that the commuters wanted. At least one member stated that the committee was non-partisan, so it was a mistake to inject partisan politics into the discussion about the Erie Railroad's response.
Despite the railroad's offered improvements, the committee looking into construction of a new station at Anderson Street decided on January 16 that they would take steps to bring their demands to the Public Utility Commission. Based on a conversation with an Erie official, the committee felt that the railroad was doing nothing for the state of New Jersey and just getting higher money from state taxes. The committee was skeptical construction proposed in the designs at Irwin's would even be done. Their resolution stated that a copy would be sent to the Erie Railroad and that they would start Public Utility Commission work as soon as possible. The city counsel for Hackensack, Arthur Van Buskirk, stated in March 1914 that they had begun proceedings to file a complaint with the Public Utility Commission. He took a tour of the Anderson Street depot with the Commissioner's inspector and hinted that the station needed work. The inspector suggested that a shelter be looked at for the eastern side of the tracks. While the inspector stated that there would be no deadline on any construction, he would try to have a report ready for Van Buskirk two weeks after inspection.
The report would be submitted to Van Buskirk on March 2, 1914. McKelvey also submitted the report to the railroad, which responded on March 16, stating that they would not make any improvements beyond what was necessary to keep the station clean and maintained. They felt that the financial revenue at Anderson Street station would not justify the construction of a new station and wanted a deferral on improvements until it was feasible. In January 1915, the Public Utility Commissioners stated that they would continue to press the railroad on their decision making in leaving Anderson Street station in bad shape. They added that if necessary, a hearing would be held to determine the railroad's level of responsibility in upkeep and maintenance. McKelvey returned to the station on January 1 and found the station "clean and sanitary". He added that the case should postponed till May 1 to get the railroad more time to respond. If the railroad would fail to respond, he would ask that the station interior receive a new coat of paint and that the platform be upgraded per his report from March 1914.