How did the Ivy Hill name and section of
Newark evolve? I often thought about that question over the years.
I never read or found anything that gave me an explanation. I often
thought it may have been related to the of the name of a 1920's
housing development but it never appeared on any old maps.
Vailsburg was a independent borough from 1895 -1905. Rightly so
it was called Vailsburg. In 1905 it was annexed by the City of Newark.
Neither the name nor the section Ivy Hill existed at that time.
So where did it come from?
I took advantage of a few key points that came from an article
that a Frank J. Prail wrote 40 years ago. The following is my contention
on how section was acquired and named.
A portion of the present day Ivy Hill Section of Newark was purchased
by the City of Newark from South Orange Township in 1890. The original
plan called for a reservoir. This is the highest portion of Newark
and it was probably going to be a holding reservoir not unlike the
old reservoir on South Orange Avenue. I'm sure most of us remember
that one being across the street from Saint Antoninus Church. That
type of reservoir was similar to our present day above ground water
tanks rather than Wanaque or Round Valley Reservoirs.
The construction of the reservoir never materialized and on it's
proposed site the new Alms House was built. It was designed by J.
O'Rourke and engineered by George Knight in circa 1914.
In 1926 another 110 acres were purchased from the Maplewood Township
Committee. These two large tracks of land were attached to the southwestern
side of the Vailsburg section of Newark.
The southwestern portion of the Vailsburg section of Newark was
developed in the late 1920's. Lincoln School was built in 1910 and
was the only public school in that area. Lincoln School's facilities
eventually became inadequate and a new addition was added in 1932.
 Lincoln
School
87 Richelieu Terrace
Ivy Street School was built in 1931 to educate the large influx
of new students. Ivy Street School not surprisingly was built on
Ivy Street.
 Ivy
Street School
(present day Vailsburg Middle School)
Ivy Street runs from Sandford Avenue to Tuxedo Parkway which adjoins
Ivy Hill Park.
 Ivy
Hill Park
Both are on top of a hill that may have hosted ivy at one time;
therefore, the name "Ivy Hill".
I think Varsity Road and Underwood Avenue were the northern boundary
of the Ivy Street School District. If that was so it would have
also made the imaginary demarcation line between Vailsburg and Ivy
Hill sections of Newark.
That's my contention.
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