| "The
return of World War II veterans had a profound effect
upon all towns in outlying areas, which had formerly
been farm communities sprinkled here and there with
the summer homes of the well-to-do. Franklin Lakes was no exception. Where
there had been little industrial or commercial activity
aside from mills run by waterwheels, there was an
influx of young men eager to start businesses of
a different kind. Commerce Street, with its access to the
Crystal Lake Station of the Susquehanna Railroad,
was the first Franklin Lakes answer to the question
of where to locate.
It
was evident that a voice was needed for this new
activity, and it was found in the organization of
the Chamber of Commerce. The concept that mutual
cooperation between commerce and government could
benefit the citizenry as well as the businessmen
was recognized as a valid one. Early meetings were
held at the Crystal Lake Inn, which was a tavern
on the first floor of an old hotel known back as
far as 1876 as the Van Iderstine Hotel adjacent
to the Crystal Lake Train Station on High Mountain
Road. In the 1940’s and 50’s it was locally known
as “Gus Hilbig’s” and many organizations, including
the Mayor and Council, would reconvene at Gus’s
after adjourning the main meeting someplace else.
From
small beginnings there are now hundreds of business
enterprises in Franklin Lakes, many of which are
active members of the Chamber, anxious to be regarded
as “Business Citizens” of their community and interested
in its well being. In the ensuing years Franklin
Lakes has added other business areas including Susquehanna
Avenue, the former IBM tract off Old Mill Road,
the Becton Dickinson complex on Route 208 and has
expanded existing commercial areas on Franklin Avenue
and Franklin Lake Road, while in those same years,
both Gus Hilbig’s and the Crystal Lake Station have
become fading memories.
New
Members continue to join the Chamber as the technological
world widens the scope of business being conducted
in Franklin Lakes, but the original concept of mutual
cooperation between government and commerce remains
central to the organization’s reason for being.
Submitted
by.
A.
Edward Hook
(Hook,
Smith & Meyer)
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