Thanks to Skip Borsos we have a shot of the construction of the infernal Route 280, which ruined our neighborhood. As the caption notes, we are looking east from the Roseville Avenue overpass. To the extreme left is the police stable on N. 6th Street, and above it the towers of Sacred Heart. Next to that is the intersection of N. 5th Street; I can spot the old Phil & Charles tavern and the relocated Hopp's drug store.

I still think they could have put this damned thing somewhere else.

Hmmm. I'm surprised no one has a comment on I-280.

If not somewhere else they could have moved it 20 feet south of where they did? Our house was the last house on our block (Humboldt St) to be destroyed. Those dirty rats!!!

I remember coming back to the old neighborhood in the late seventies and seeing the houses gone. It was weird becuase my memories and the realty of Newark were no longer in harmony anymore. It was like the earth had spun out of it orbit or somebody had erased a bunch of memories from my brain. I loved that old house. Oh well! I"m getting maudlin now. But the main idea still holds. They were a bunch of ^?>&%%%) who came up with that %$@!! idea!!

Was there every an accounting of how many homes,apartments,churches and place of business were destroyed to make way for progress? When was the highway started and when was it finished?

Gene

I lived in Harrison when the Rt. 280 destruction began and had to move because of it. Our house too was the last one to be taken, the house next to us still stands today. That was a great little neighborhood....lots of kids, lots of things to do, and a lot of fun.

I agree it was a shame for all those homes and businesses to be bulldozed. But before we lay the blame for the demise of the neighborhodd at the Rte 280 exit ramp, let's remember that the area had a lot of other problems going on. There were race riots in the streets and City Hall was infested with mobsters, just to name two. Does anyone really believe the place would still be intact, had it not been for the highway? Methinks the downward spiral was well underway, and that it would have become the ghetto we all know and love, with or without the new road.

You have a point, Marty. The highway and the riots (excuse me -- "civil disturbances") were a one-two punch to the neighborhood. But I think 280 pushed us beyond any point from which we could recover. When the businesses leave, there is no hope.

How many of you remember when this gutting began? What year
did your family have to sell and move out to make way for
"progress"?

My last year in Sussex Ave Grammer School, they let us break the windows in the houses they were knocking down. They would set up a rope and we were able to stand behind it and throw rocks at the houses. By June of 1968 the holes were dug for the road.