A Brief History of the Former Hackensack Water Company Site

Timeline

1902 flood at New Milford PlantVan Buskirk Island, a man made island, lies at the heart of the valuable Hackensack River resource. The island did not exist until 1802, and was created by the dams for the mills, The Southern End was known as the old Dock, Upper Landing or Old Landing and was the official Head of Navigation on the1906 Postcard Hackensack River (the highest point of navigable water on the river). Schooners plied the river regularly between Old Dock and New York. The land was also an industrial center from Pre-Revolutionary War times with several types of mills: saw mills, bark mills and finally a grist mill.

1882 Drawing of Hackensack Water Enginehouse
Sailboats plied the Hackensack River as far as Van Buskirk's Mill at New Milford. Prior to the coming of the railroad, river shipping was very profitable. Typical of the ships used are these two tied up at a dock in River Edge just south of the bridge. Photo: From Frank Vierling's Centennial History of Delford/Oradell, page 26.
 This is the pennant flown on Jacob and Henry Van Buskirk's boat, the "Kate Lawrence," that carried grain from Van Buskirk's mill on Van Buskirk Island to New York City via the Hackensack River in the mid to late 1800's. The Van Buskirk Mill's other sloop was named the "General Grant." The southern end of Van Buskirk Island was known as "Old Dock" or "Upper Landing" and was an active center of commerce beginning in the 1600's.