Eagle Rock

Short history of Eagle Rock

Historic photos of Eagle Rock

Above: a modern view of Midtown Manhattan from Eagle Rock

Our Lady of All Souls Grammar School

The Church of Our Lady of All Souls School was founded in the Ampere section in 1914 and the Rev. John J. Murphy established the school in 1928 at the intersection of N Grove St and 4th Avenue.

Our Lady of All Souls Alumni website

Clifford J Scott High School

The city’s second high school was largely the creation of the man whose name it bears,
Clifford J. Scott. Dr. Scott was superintendent of schools from 1921 until his death in
1936. Construction plans for the new school were approved on July 6, 1936 and the school opened in 1937. The location chosen was a site on the corner of Renshaw Avenue and North Clinton Street and the style is colonial.

Leonard Nelson Hooper

                                          Above: From 1963 Clifford J Scott yearbook, 
                                     Mr Hooper's first year there as an English teacher             

Mr. Leonard Hooper was a teacher in the upper grades at Stockton School from the early 1950's to 1962. He was advisor to the audio/video club (the club ran the projectors and sound equipment around the school and in the auditorium) and he was probably best known for his singing ability, especially his annual performance of "Oh, Holy Night."  Mr. Hooper taught at Clifford Scott High School from about 1962 to 1975 when he moved back to his home state of Maine and taught in Machias Memorial High School till his death in 2008 at age 80.

                                                 Below: 1972 Clifford J Scott yearbook

Above: 1971 Clifford Scott yearbook

From the Bangor Daily News, 6/6/2010: 

"The Machias Historical Society agrees with me, having asked longtime English teacher Leonard Hooper to write a book about Machias’ role in the American Revolution.  Hooper turned over the manuscript to MHS and, sadly, died about a month later in early 2008. But the book is a reality, a wonderful piece of Hooper’s legacy.
Hooper’s “Machias Patriots and the Margaretta,” illustrated by Patricia Sharp of Milbridge, will be available for purchase at the Machias Historical Society booth on the mall on June 12. The cost is $12 plus 60 cents sales tax."

From the National Writing Project 2003: "This past year, we had several young teachers like Ryan Mahan sharing passion, positive energy, and idealism. But we also had many experienced teachers, including Leonard Hooper, who will be entering his forty-eighth year of teaching this fall. Leonard shared that "I tried to retire three times, and I can't do it. I intend to live to be a hundred and to teach the whole way." Inspiring? Yes."

From the Bangor Daily News ,April,2003:

 "Leonard Hooper has something to say to the thousands of Maine teachers who are expected to leave the profession over the next five years. "You might think retirement is attractive, but once you get into it, it's pretty boring," Hooper said during a recent interview in his English classroom at Machias Memorial High School.

 Hooper, who is 75, has taught for close to half a century. He tried retiring in 1992. He wasn't any more successful than he'd been in 1976 when he left teaching to pursue another  of his passions. That was the year he returned to Machias after 25 years of teaching in suburban and inner-city New Jersey schools and opened a florist shop with his sister. After just one year, he returned to the classroom at Machias Memorial High School, the school from which he had graduated in 1944. He retired again in 1992, but that retirement didn't stick either, and in 1999 he returned to the high school where he continued to teach until his death.

 On the high school Web site, he recently reported that he had completed requirements that would certify him to teach until 2012.

"It's in my blood," Hooper told a reporter in 2003. "I can't stay away from it."

ROQUE BLUFFS – Leonard Nelson Hooper, 80, passed away Feb. 5, 2008, at his home. He was born July 18, 1927, in Machias, the son of Myra (Clark) and Percy L. Hooper. Leonard graduated from old Machias High School in 1944. He served in the U.S. Navy and was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. Leonard received his undergraduate degree in education from the University of Southern Maine and received a Masters in Arts from Columbia University, New York City. Leonard taught high school English for more than 50 years, starting in a one-room schoolhouse in Perry, before moving to East Orange, N.J., where he taught for 25 years before retiring. Leonard returned to his beloved Roque Bluffs home, where he enjoyed gardening and caring for his family. Not one to be idle, Leonard accepted a teaching position at Machias Memorial High School in 1976, where he taught, until the day he left us. Leonard was born to teach and was a lifelong student. At age 75, he attended the Maine Writers Project, a summer fellowship to foster the teaching of writing in Maine classrooms.

R.I.P. Mr Hooper Facebook page with tributes and a photo

Another tribute from a former Machias student

A former student of Mr Hooper is Jeff Zugale who has a webcomic  called  "Just a Bit Off" http://www.jeffzugale.com/justabitoff/archive_page.php?comicID=100

Jeff honored Mr Hooper with a comic on 2/7/2008 and wrote the following: 

"You'll want to be sure your homework is done. Mr. Hooper was just one of the best. Nobody who had classes with him will ever forget him; that resonant voice rings in my head now and then, usually right when I need some guidance. The one thing he always said was a Shakespeare quote:

"This above all, to thine own self be true."

I'm still finding new shades of meaning in that loaded phrase - just as he hinted that we all would.

The world needs more people like him, and is a bit poorer without him."

Below: Machias Memorial High School

In 2003 Mr Hooper delivered the following commencement address honoring Machias WW2 veterans:

"I went to high school in 1941 while war clouds gathered, threatening our bucolic way of life. Every morning of my life (because I lived on Bruce Street, quite near Machias High School) I looked out my bedroom window to spy the edifice which I knew sooner or later held the key to my success or failure. A twelve-year-old about to enter into a paradise only dreamed about before, with poiunding heart approached the school house door and climbed the six steps to that wide gaping door which I felt held all the answers to the mysteryof life.  But my mother said that college was beyond my expectations, to educate myself for life and hope for the best. The Great Depression barely over, times were hard. I remember those early years of high school when we made one pair of shoes carry us through the summer and fall and winter and into spring. By the time of spring thaw, I was forming insoles of cardboard to keep the slush and water away from the holes worn in my socks to my bare feet. And the coat made of reverse side of fabric of a hand-me-down and sown on the old Singer sewing machine with the foot pedal was threadbare to say the least. So what she said was true: college cost money and it seemed beyond my expectations.

Don't feel sorry for me. I was not alone. Many classmates started out on this new experience knowing that maybe some dreams needed to be deferred, because it was a time when deferred dreams were commonplace.  But just because things sat on the back burner did not mean that the pot would never come to a boil. I didn't know then of the great promise of the GI Bill of Rights which would impact my future. So we plugged along, refusing to admit that success would not be ours.

On December 8, 1941, I was home and in bed in an upstairs bedroom with a case of German measles.  Suddenly, the radio was carrying an address of President Franklin D. Rossevelt to the Congress of the United States asking that it declare war on Japan because of a dastardly attack on our country at Pearl Harbor.  Who had time now to worry about a home in the sole of a shoe?

The war took many young men from our town, some forever. And we were ever mindful of their sacrifices. Every morning the student body of our high school gathered around the flagpole while a chosen student raised the colors and words of remembrance recalled the friends and relatives gone off to fight in far away lands. We saved our dimes and bought War Stamps every Friday afternoon in the library, and by the time the Pearl Harbor anniversary rolled around in 1943 we'd enough money to buy two jeeps. In addition, the town divided itself up into districts, each with an Air Raid Team, and every boy was expected to serve in some capacity usually to deliver messages from one area to another. And afternoons at the end of the school day, boys stood duty at Air Raid Stations, scanning the sky for enemy planes, while girls manned the telephones at the Command Center in the Country Courthouse. It was a time of sacrifice and devotion to our country.

But life went on. Emma Means opened the Colonial Theater on Main Street where every night and sometimes at matinees for a quarter (or was it ten cents?) the latest flicks flashed on the screen.  Barbara Stanwick in Stella Dallas; Bette Davis in Jezebel; and Gene Autry, Tom Mix, and Roy Rogers every Saturday afternoon. Not a seat was empty in the theater as Butterfly McQueen told Vivien Leigh, "Lawsy, Miss Scarlett, I don' know how to birth no baby!"

And there were dances every Saturday night at the Community Hall in Marshfield, never mind that you had to walk home four miles after it was all over.  The jitterbugging, the slow dancing, and the contras were worth the wear and tear on shank's mare. And partners were never a problem, for young and old alike never passed up a chance for a dance to the music of Diddy Hall.

I was sixteen when I graduated from Machias High School. Knowing that college was not in the cards, I asked my parents for permission to enlist in the service of my country. My dad was quite proud, and my mother did not cry. During April vacation of 1944, I boarded the train at the Maine Central Railway Station and headed to Portland to enlist in the service branch of my choice the U.S. Navy. Of course, I passed physical; I was as healthy as a hog. And they said to go back home and wait until I reached the age of seventeen before I could go. I was off to war.

But I was not the ony one. I can proudly say that every young man in that graduating class of 1944 served his country in WWII, just as ten of the eleven young men from the class of 1943 the year before donned uniforms and served in far off lands. Three of them gave their lives for their country in that war, Cecil Day, Hobart MacLaughlan, and George Williams.

I will never forget the day that George Williams and Cecil Day entered the ranks of HERO when on June 6, 1944, they both gave their lives in the Allied Invasion of Europe at Normandy Beach so that all of us might enjoy the great freedoms we have today. I walked the streets of Machias that day, pondering the meaning of it all. I often wonder still where they rest, and do we remember them every year on that day of sacrifice with a pilgrimmage to that spot. Shouldn't we?

So is it any wonder that these men we honor today proudly went off to serve this country in time of war--never being concerned at that moment but that the decision they made was right and good. A few short years before heros were made on beaches at Normandy and on battlefields in Europe and the ROLL CALL OF HONORED DEAD urged them onto duty in the Armed Forces of the United States of America."

Franklin School

The original Doddtown School above was built in 1825 at a total cost of $233.91

The original brick Doddtown School built in 1874, known as Franklin School by this time, had four classrooms and a small recitation room. Its entrance was a rather narrow lane leading up from Dodd Street.  In 1880, it was enlarged by the addition of two small classrooms and an auditorium in the rear (top photo, lower right). This auditorium was later converted in classrooms. That complex now constituted the rear wing and core of the school as it was in the 1960's (top part of top photo and photo below). 

Washington School

The crowding of Nassau and Elmwood Schools caused the need for another school and Washington School opened near Sanford Street and Kenwood Place in February, 1912. 

East Orange Public Schools: 1790's to 1937

Ashland School  (late 18th century on Prospect St behind where Brick Church now stands, then, 1804, corner of Prospect and William) 

Franklin School 1825 (Dodd St and Girard Ave)

Eastern School 1835 (south side of Main St at S. Maple Ave.)

Elmwood School 1870 ("South Ashland" in the former Elmwood Presbyterian Chapel on Central Avenue)

East Orange High School 1890

Columbian School 1892

Nassau School 1899

Stockton School 1905

Lincoln School 1908

Washington School 1912

Vernon L Davey Junior High School 1930

Clifford J Scott High School 1937

History of the schools from the Centennial History of East Orange (pages 36 -43)

Below: 1945 layout of East Orange Schools

The Word From G

I left East Orange in 1959 at the age of 12 so the Stockton School blog makes no attempt to comment on what life was like there starting in the 1960's with changes like the bulldozing of historic neighborhoods to make way for I-280 or the rapid change in demographics starting in the late 1950's.

Fortunately, as my time in East Orange was ending, another person who is interested in some of the same subjects was just beginning his time in the city. Blogger Keith Gatling was born in 1956 at Orange Memorial Hospital (the same year and hospital as my brother) and graduated from East Orange High School in 1974. He was a second generation resident as his father also grew up there, both of them attending Ashland School.

Unlike the Stockton School blog, Keith's blog, The Word From G,  is not dedicated to East Orange, but he does occasionally write about growing up there and writes of changes in the city during his time there and since then.

For example, he has written about the EO school name changes, East Orange as a "small town," gentrification and blockbusting, and apartment buildings and their effect on NJ cities.

The Word From G needs to be added to the reading list of those interested in the ongoing history of East Orange, but, more importantly, of anyone interested in life observations from a non-stereotypical point of view.

Morrow Brothers: Ampere

About 1893 the Crocker-Wheeler Electric Company Works was built at the intersection of Springdale Avenue and the Montclair branch of the Lackawanna Railroad in what would soon be called Ampere. A train station had been built there in 1890 anticipating the influx of workers and residents. There were few businesses or houses in the area in 1895 (4th Avenue didn't even exist yet) but development was rapid between 1895 and 1905.

One of the earliest businesses was Morrow's Market and these photos and brief history of the family business are courtesy of Jane Morrow Israel:

"Morrow's Market originated in approximately 1905 by three brothers: William, Christopher and Thomas Sr.  They had come over from Ireland and settled in East Orange after a short stay in Boston and NYC.  The corner of Fourth Ave. and N. 19th St. became known as the "Morrow Colony" and included a dry goods store, a bakery and a meats and grocery store. 

William, the oldest brother and boss of the grocery had built a barn with 12 horses and rigs for the purpose of delivering orders.  Thomas, who worked as merchant of the dry goods store, eventually took over the grocery when William died in 1929.  Several customers of the store could no longer pay for their groceries on time because of the stock market crash.  Thomas tried to help them by extending credit.  Ultimately, the family farm of 32 acres in Livingston would have to be sold as a result of the Great Depression.  

After Thomas died in 1934 the running of the store fell to Thomas' sons Foster and William (my father).  William passed away in 1959 but by that time Foster had left the store to open a butcher shop in Upper Montclair.  The Fourth Avenue Market continued operation by a renter until it was sold by the Morrow family in 1967."

                                   Below: (L to R) Foster, Thomas Sr., William and Christopher.

                                      

      Below: from a 1911 insurance map of the Ampere area showing the Morrow businesses on the left along 4th Avenue.

The factory in the 1897 photo below was built after the original 1893 factory was destroyed by fire in 1895.

Below: 1895 Sanborn insurance map

Ashland School

Ashland School, to which the name “The White School House” clung for over half a century, stood originally on a plot in the rear of Brick Presbyterian Church on Prospect Street. In 1870, the school was moved to a piece of land on North Clinton Street, where the new building seen below was dedicated on September 5, 1871. With 10 classrooms and an auditorium, it cost $50,000. 

   In 1885, four rooms were added, but still the growth of population led to plans for a larger building. 

                                          Below: from a 1906 issue of School Journal

The old school was sold to the Archdiocese in 1906 to become a parochial school, Saint Mary's. 

  

            

On January 7, 1907, a new building (shown in the four photos below) opened on the north side of Park Avenue, near Clinton Street. 

In 1921, another addition to the school was opened, comprising a gym, a locker room, eight classrooms, a faculty room and a medical office. A second addition was opened in September 1957, facing on Lincoln Street, with 10 classrooms, small office and a faculty lounge. In addition, the East Orange Public Library opened a branch right in the old school building, facing on Park Avenue.  

  

Vernon L Davey Junior High School

Vernon L Davey Junior High School opened in 1930 with William Hemans Smith as its first principal. Mr Smith had been Stockton School's first principal from 1905 to 1908.

"In 1928, Dr. Clifford J. Scott, then Superintendent of Schools, cited the need for a junior
high school in the southern section of the city because of the overcrowding at the
grammar schools in that area, plus the crowded conditions at East Orange High. In May,
1929, the Board of Education agreed with him and authorized the construction of a
school for the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.

The building, the first new school building in the city since the erection of Washington
School in 1912, was built on a lot bound by Elmwood Avenue, Burnet Street, Rhode
Island Avenue and Eppirt Street. Classes began in September, 1930. It was named for
Vernon L. Davey, former supt. of schools.

In 1954, the school transferred its 9th grade students to elementary schools Elmwood, Nassau, Washington and Lincoln."*

The school was named for Vernon Llewellyn Davey, first superintendent of East Orange schools.

Singer Dionne Warwick was a student at the school in the mid-1950's and singer Janis Ian was a student there from 1962 to 1964.

*From the 1963 Centennial History of East Orange.

Elmwood School

"Elmwood School began as South Ashland, a part of the original three school districts. It

was housed in the old Elmwood Presbyterian Chapel, serving all the children south of

"Central Avenue. In 1887, a lot was bought on the east side of Clinton Street, near

Elmwood Avenue and a two-story brick building was erected. It contained four

classrooms and served 40 pupils."*

In 1890, eight additional classrooms were added and in 1902, six more and a third floor

auditorium were built. This old building stood until 1955. By 1917, population on the

south side had climbed to the point where a new building had to be added to old

Elmwood to accommodate the children. This was a three-story brick building with 16

classrooms, a gym, a general shop unit and a household unit."

"W. Hemans Smith was Elmwood’s able principal during these years. In 1953, the Board
of Education gave the green light to plan a new Elmwood School. Two wings were to be
added to the 1917 building, which was to be renovated. A new gym and a new auditorium
were also to be built. The 1902 building was to be razed. The new classrooms were of a
revolutionary hexagonal design, studied and copied by school systems all over the nation.
The new auditorium was dedicated in the name of Mrs. Elsie MacDonald Starr, who had
been president of the Board of Education during the school system’s greatest period of
expansion. The auditorium also serves the city as the site of the East Orange Little
Theatre, one of the best small theatres in appearance and equipment in the state."*

William Hemans Smith was Stockton School's first principal from 1905 to 1908, then was principal of Elmwood Elementary School until 1930 when he became principal of the new Vernon L Davey Junior High School until his retirement in 1940.


*From the 1963 Centennial History of East Orange.