The Sunday News from Ridgewood, New Jersey • 2

2 Sunday NewsSunday Post January 10, 1993 MeBgMboirlliiood Mews els sUfflimis Hlhiiroiigllii paeaflnis aiai 'ptete of a six-foot time capsule buried during the towns anniversary celebration. It is to be removed, at the of the towns 150th anniversary. 'Former Glen Rock Mayor Charles A. Lagos was once quoted as saying, If anything ever happened to the Rock, we would have to roll in another big rock. The late Mabel Hubschmitt spoke of it as having magnetic strength.

It has become our symbol. May it serve for centuries to come as our sign. The shady chestnut tree next to the Rock provided a boost to the top for a picnic. Today, life-long resident Lilly Hubschmitt recalls that blackberry bushes provided refreshment for passersby. Six rural mailboxes bundled together on the dirt rpad in front of the Rock.

A bronze plaque has since been embedded in the grey granite honoring those who ser-ved in the World War, 1914-1918. Another marker on the sidewalk behind the Rock commemorates the placement the surveying team on the highest point of the rock, is still there. The Alexander and Morris Survey of 1763 used the Rock as the southern border mark for the 50-square-mile Ramapo Tract which extends to the northern boundary of New Jersey. The monolith appears on subsequent Revolutionary War maps, or some there are fond childhood memories associated with the Rock. Before the 1910 regrading of Rock Road, only 12 feet of the Rock were exposed.

attempt failed. A heated discussion between the parties ended in a deadlock. Councilman J. Oscar Bunce strode from the room with the remark, All right; destroy it. But dont disturb a damned inch of the part on Rock Road." This was the clincher.

On Aug. 26, 1912, a deed was executed. The site of the Rock was transferred from the South Ridgewood Improvement Company to the borough of Glen Rock. Pammackapuka, large rock which fell from heaven," was actually deposited here about 15,000 years ago via a glacier at the end of the Ice Age. It is said to -have originated in the Hudson Bay of northeastern Canada during the Triassic Period and took millennia to get here.

Many generations have imagined Lenni Lenape leaders using the Rock as an oratory platform and, perhaps, signal fires were made on of it. Settlers noted that The Rock Road was an Indian trail, with the Rock being the halfway point from Pompton and Ramapo to Areola and Hackensack. All early deeds of this locale are tied into this landmark. The Great Rock was one of the natural phenomena used to indicate the southern boundary of the Ramapo Tract when the land was purchased from the Indians. It is also a division point in a deed of 1709 made by proprietors of East New Jersey for the transfer of 42,500 acres of land to a group of enterprising French Huguenots.

This was called the Ramapo Patent. A copper pin, placed by By KAXCY R. PECK 'i Former Mayor William V. Benken (1972-79) had two theories about the origin of the landmark rock of Glen Rock. One is that it was dropped off by is that some homeowner dug it out of his garden, put it on the curb and is still waiting for the DPW to come pick it up.

Personally, Ive found the glacier story implausible. We neednt worry about the DPW carting the 596-ton mass away. The only time the Rock has been in danger of being moved was in the summer of 1912. Although the recently incorporated town had named itself after the Rock, a land development company threatened to destroy it. Heres the story: It would be nice to extend Doremus Avenue but theres this big rock in the way.

Well have to blast it. That was the opinion of the development company that owned the land. However, 18 inches of the Rock lay (m borough-owned Rock Road. To save it for future generations, the council tried to obtain title to the rest of, the Rock from the developer. Its I I i.

-c 1 i 4 i it "vt (rUff in the 1920s. (Photos courtesy Spitz, Publisher Bkk Kenteabanm Advertising Director Robert J. Relby Advertising Manager Mna Rvakat Classified Manager Richard Knox Circulation Director Production Director left: a dedication ceremony at the Bock Sherwood L. LwcuOvf Lditoc News Editor Sports Editor Society Editor John Mdhnlnid Jean Shepherd Mary Noone Jin Jones Athena Salmon 1 Peter Leddy tockwd J. Vena, -whemmoupewow Wot PtedSentAVwioe The Beck is it locked circa 1900.

At of Glen Bock Historical Society) O.L Qrctitation department 791-8400 Advertfetog department 368-0100 Classified department. 1-80CM72-C 152 Editorial Departments Society 612-5215 Sports 612-5216 ntwta Jnrrwrrf 2-5217 Obituaries Letters to the Editor ,61 2-521 1 Features 612-5211 Photo Assignments 612-521 1 To Fax Information 612-0723 The offices of The Ridgewood News are located In the Old Sithenj BuCcflng at 75 North Maple Avenue. Ridgewood, J. 07450. 1 rrMkVnCOirf bvruavt OfSoe 1 tlrtted Ittrtin Hi In Tim J-" Bawtettr Dowd Vice Prejki mcOasdfad 7 usenrow oriwe.

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