Pulaski Park
Fourth Street, Passaic City, Passaic County, New Jersey
13 acres
Directions:
Rt. 3 to 21 north turn right on Passaic St., left on 4th.
From Rt. 46, Exit on Randolph, bear right at fork onto Park Ave., go past hospital, turn left on Monroe and right on 4th.
History:
between 1679 and 1684-85 -- deeds and patents were acquired between the original settlers and the Native Americans, the Lenni-Lenapi, that secured for the original settlers the land including and surrounding modern day Passaic.
1768 (April 4) -- a Dutch settler and trader, Hartman MICHIELSEN (later VREELAND), purchased a "great island in the river of Pasaick near by Aquickanucke by the Indians called Menehenicke (translation of the Dutch from the original deed)."
The island came to be known as Dundee Island and today that area is known as Pulaski Park and Dundee Island Park.
1940s -- "Who remembers Pulaski Park in the 40s? The wading pool, the lodge where we could borrow checker games, the walls along the park to use for stick-ball; those were the days. Later they put up a basketball area. Then there was the bridge across the tracks that led to the Passaic River." Joe Behrent, October, 2003. Wonderful Passaic. http://www.wonderful-passaic.com/message.htm
Facilities:
Most heavily used recreational park in Passaic with 300 visitors per day.
In a pinch, the city set aside baseball fields at Pulaski Park for soccer.
Pulask has had a history of poor upkeep, including broken glass littering the ground. Green Acres funding, which was used to help restore Dundee Island, is also going to refurbish Pulaski's ballfields.
Before baseball can return to Pulaski Park, an environmental company will investigate the possibility of contamination at the Roberto Clemente Little League Field. http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2004/gs041025.php
Sources:
Mark S. Auerbach, Passaic City Historian THE CITY OF PASSAIC from "The Castle Genie," Newsletter of The Passaic County Historical Society Genealogy Club Vol. 8, No. 4. http://www.rootsweb.com/~njpchsgc/pce/passaic_cityof.htm
Erik Ortiz. May 6, 2005. Herald News. "New soccer field is a kick."