1907: Although mailed after Anderson Park opened in 1905, this photo shows it before its landscape design had been carried out.
1906: “There are some of the prettiest places here that one can imagine. Postals do not do justice.” (F.W. Poecker, Stationer)
Back
Front“Just going for a walk in this park.”
1922 postmark
(S.K. Simon, via John Colando Collection)
Circa 1907: “Montclair is a very pretty place, very thick with trees.” (F.W. Poecker, Stationer)
1906: Looking toward Bellevue Avenue from the western path. (David Lowden Collection)
Back
Front“It is almost like summer today and how beautiful the country is getting! The park which this card shows is unknown to me. I must find out whether it is real or imaginary.”
1913 postmark
(F.W. Poecker)
1907 postmark: “This park is near the station at Upper Montclair.”
Circa 1920s: The flagpole used to stand in the northern end of Anderson Park. (A. Tucoulat)
Back
Front“Would it be nice when we can have a picnic in this park?”
1947 postmark
(Star Stationery)
1912 postmark: Looking west toward First Mountain. (Interstate Publishing Co.)
1907 postmark: A mid-size white oak in the background is now the largest and oldest tree in the park, at about 150 years.
Back
Front“This is a beautiful peaceful spot. Am enjoying it to the full.”
1908 postmark
(Mount Clair News Company)
Circa 1920s: Electric lights were installed in the park in 1922. They “cast a soft, diffusing light which is pleasing and efficient,” the Essex County Park Commission reported. (A. Tucoulat)
1911 postmark: Looking southeast toward the Upper Montclair business district. (F.G. Temme Co.)
Back
Front“This is the park thru which we walk to the village, trains, etc. From end to end, about five minutes walk. Wish you were here to walk it with me!”
c. 1915
(New Jersey Postcard Co., via Montclair Public Library)
Circa 1909: Bellevue Avenue looking west, with Anderson Park to the left. (F.W. Poecker, via David Lowden Collection)
Circa 1910: Looking west across the park from the Osborne Marsellis coal and lumberyard on the other side of the train tracks Toneys Brook. (Montclair History Center)
Back
Front“This whole place looks like a beautiful park.”
1915 postmark
(Brooklyn Postcard Co.)
1928 postmark: Essex County required all its parks to fly a large American flag near playgrounds and fields. “An endeavor is made to instill into the mind of the rising generation lessons of patriotism, and make the boys and girls not only healthy men and women, but also better citizens,” an Essex County Park Commission report explained in 1912. (Brooklyn Postcard Co.)
1912 postmark: The Olmsted design called for poplars to be planted along the park’s eastern side as a visual buffer from the train tracks. (F.W. Poecker, via Montclair History Center)
Circa 1923: In 1909 Anderson Park was the first Essex County Park to install an “automatic bubbling drinking fountain.” (Lempert & Levine/S.K. Simon, via Philip Edward Jaeger Collection)
Circa 1940s: The park’s expansive field has been used for cricket, lacrosse, soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, kite-flying and more. (Dexter Press)