More century-old records from North Bergen have been uncovered.
Previously, the Hudson Reporter helped reunite a 100-year-old naturalization certificate of a North Bergen man with living relatives.
This time, 115-year-old municipal records were discovered by a North Bergen man in his attic. Dentist Vincent Picone found the documents in his attic.
Picone has been practicing dentistry in the area for 45 years and has been in North Bergen since 1981. At age 71, he’s retiring, and moving which prompted him to go through the attic of his home.
According to Picone, behind a pile of wood he found a book containing handwritten and typed entries which turned out to document the participants, dues, and activities of North Bergen’s Second District Democratic Club, beginning in 1905.
Minutes of club meetings from 1905 to 1910 were meticulously entered in the hard-bound journal. Apparently pages were removed with a razor, entries marked on the pages, and then they were carefully re-glued into the journal.
Gift to the township
Picone was pleased to donate the book to the township to join its historical archive at the Feb. 26 Board of Commissioners meeting.
Mayor Nicholas Sacco gratefully accepted the gift on behalf of the township at the meeting and leafed through its weathered pages with great interest.
The journal will be added to the artifacts in the North Bergen Free Public Library at 8411 Bergenline Ave., including numerous items on display in glass cases and on the walls in the history room on the mezzanine level.
The township of North Bergen has been collecting artifacts at the North Bergen Free Public Library.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to North Bergen’s growing archive of historical items and artifacts is encouraged to call the library at 201-869-4715 or email [email protected].
Items can be contributed to the archive, or the library will scan and return them.
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Dan Israel can be reached at [email protected].