PEARL RIVER, NY

Pearl River is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is east of Chestnut Ridge, south of Nanuet, west of Blauvelt, New York, and north of Montvale and Old Tappan, New Jersey. The population was 15,876 at the 2010 census.

Pearl River is north of midtown Manhattan and just north of the New Jersey border. It is the first (traveling north) of three New York stops on New Jersey Transit's Pascack Valley Line.

History

In 1696, Pearl River was part of a larger piece of land known as the Kakiat Patent that was granted to Daniel Honan and Michael Hawdon. In 1713, the land was split into north and south plots. After the Revolutionary War, the land was further divided and sold. Pearl River was a piece of land made up of woods and swamps originally called Muddy Creek.

In the early 1870s, the town was divided into five different parts: Middletown, Sickletown, Pascack, Muddy Brook, and Naurashaun.

There are conflicting accounts on how Muddy Creek came to be named Pearl River. According to some historians, a town resident named Ves Bogert found small pearls in mussels that thrived in Muddy Brook and, upon hearing this, the wife of John Demarest, the president of the New Jersey and New York Railroad, suggested the name "Pearl River" to him.

Another account is that the name change was made to make the station sound more appealing on railroad schedules. A third account is that Julius E. Braunsdorf wanted to enhance the hamlet's business image by renaming it Pearl River. In any event, there is no body of water near the hamlet called Pearl River; the most significant stream is Muddy Brook.

Braunsdorf, an industrialist and German immigrant, purchased Muddy Creek in 1870. He donated a long strip of land through the center of his property to the New Jersey and New York Railroad to enable it to bring an extension of the line from Hillsdale, New Jersey north to Nanuet.

Braunsdorf was the "Father of Pearl River" and established Aetna Sewing Machine Company to produce his patented home sewing machine in 1872. Later that year the first post office was established in the hamlet and from then on it was known as Pearl River.

Braunsdorf invented and manufactured the carbon-arc light bulb in 1873, six years before Thomas Edison's carbonized filament version. It was installed and used on ships in New York harbor for loading and unloading operations. He also designed generators, one of which powered the first incandescent electric lights, which he also invented, in the nation's capital.

When Braunsdorf designed the street layout, the only existing streets were Pearl Street and Washington Avenue. He drew a wide main street through the middle of town and called it Central Avenue. Parallel to Central Avenue he drew Franklin, after his hero, Benjamin Franklin. To connect Washington, Central, and Franklin he drew three streets and named them William, John and Henry, after his sons.

Braunsdorf built:

In 1894, Talbot C. Dexter moved his Dexter Folder Company to Pearl River. On August 25, 1885, Dexter filed a patent for an automatic folding machine that changed the way newspapers, books, and magazines were folded and assembled. Between 1885 and 1913, Dexter filed many patents, some still in use today.

Ernest Lederle established the Lederle Antitoxin Laboratories in 1906. In 1930, it became Lederle Laboratories, a division of American Cyanamid, and during World War II, Lederle was a major supplier of blood plasma.

In 1931, Gottfried (Fred) Schmidt invented the automatic pinsetter. Brunswick was not interested in an automatic machine at the time. In 1937, AMF acquired the patent rights to this early machine—The “Sch-Bec-Roy”, which stood for Schmidt (inventor), Beckerle (bowling alley proprietor) and McElroy (blueprint designer).

In 1955, Pearl River was the setting for Norby, an NBC situation comedy that aired from January to April of that year and was one of the first regular television series filmed in color. It starred David Wayne as a small-town banker who lived and worked in Pearl River, where the 13 episodes of the series were filmed.

In 2011, CNNMoney.com ranked Pearl River 78th on its annual "100 Best Places to Live" list.

Geography

Pearl River is located at (41.0591,-74.02025). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of , of which is land and , or 4.87%, is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 21,042 people, 5,539 households, and 4,209 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,273.2 per square mile (877.9/km²). There were 5,636 housing units at an average density of 823.8/sq mi (318.1/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 72.37% White, 6.39% African American, 0.05% Native American, 7.16% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.57% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.44% of the population.

There were 5,539 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.4% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.0% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $76,692, and the median income for a family was $91,618. Males had a median income of $58,966 versus $39,452 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $31,417. About 2.2% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

Pearl River has a large Irish community and, under the auspices of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, hosts New York State's second-largest Saint Patrick's Day parade, typically on the Sunday after St. Patrick's Day. This large Irish-American population also supports the nation's largest youth Gaelic Athletic Football team.

Commerce

Pearl River is the site of [http://bluehillplaza.com/ Blue Hill Plaza], Rockland County's first commercial skyscraper, with 21 stories of office space. Companies with offices in Blue Hill Plaza include Syncsort and Hunter Douglas.

In 1906, Ernest Lederle, the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, founded Lederle Laboratories (which became Wyeth and is now Pfizer) on a farm that now encompasses , 40 buildings, and until recently employed around 3,200 workers. The number of employees has dwindled to the hundreds Pfizer took over.

Roads and pond at complex named after scientists and inventors

Education

The community is served by the Pearl River School District. Pearl River High School is at 275 East Central Avenue and serves students in grades 8 through 12. It enrolls about 1,000 students. 96% of the class of 2009 continued on to college, university, or technical school.

Emergency services

Fire departments

Excelsior Fire Engine Company #1 of Pearl River is on the three-way intersection of Michael Kernan Drive, Hillside Avenue, and Route 304. Pearl River Hook & Ladder Company #1 is on Central Avenue, next to Central Avenue Field.

Medical services

Pearl River has an alumni-founded ambulance corps that has a station at 15 N. Pearl Street (Route 304).

Police service

The Orangetown Police Department provides police service for Pearl River.

Sports

Josephine Pucci, a member of USA Hockey's Women's National Team, is from Pearl River.

The Pearl River High School Pirates have athletic programs such as baseball, basketball, football, swimming, softball, ice hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, field hockey, bowling, soccer, track, wrestling, and chess club.

The 2010 Pearl River High School girls' softball team won the New York State Championship.

Tourism

Historical markers

Landmarks and places of interest

Notable people