Vintage New Jersey: 1980s -1990s

[MplsTodd]

Greetings from the Garden State! Here's a collection of photos from New Jersey. Most were taken when I lived there in 1988 through 1992, but a few are from later as I enjoyed return visits.

Before I lived there, my perception of New Jersey was largely exemplified by the two below photos: Industry and ugly highway commercial strips. But I loved living in Jersey, especially the area outside NYC. It's largely a series of commuter rail/streetcar suburbs, one after another, with their own downtown and their own personality. Of course, there's also freeways and highways with their requisite commercial sprawl, but the town centers were generally pretty healthy. Then of course there's western New Jersey around Hunterdon County where we'd bike through the beautiful countryside and quaint villages. Plus the Jersey Shore. Not to mention easy access to the whole eastern seaboard.

NYC from the train, Meadowlands - April 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Back in good old New Jersey! Highway 30, east of Philly -- July 1992 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Downtown Ridgewood, NJ - April 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Homebound Commuters at Ridgewood train station, Ridgewood, NJ — 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Ridgewood from train station: 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Downtown Ridgewood, New Jersey January 1988 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Back of Mayflower Apartments, Ridgewood, NJ Jan 1988 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

East Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ - Jan 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Fire Station, Ridgewood, NJ - Sept 1990 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Radburn, NJ by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Common walkways in backyards of Radburn, Fairlawn, NJ -- November 1988 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Thomas Edison Laboratory National Historic Site, West Orange, NJ May 1988 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Newark from airplane, March 1988 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Princeton Forrestal Village, Princeton, NJ March 1988 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Feb 1988 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Lincoln Tunnel Tollbooths, NJ Side Feb 1988 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Cherry Blossom Time, Branch Brook Park, Newark, NJ - April 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Branch Brook Park, Newark, April 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Broad Street, Westfield, NJ - Sept 1990 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Downtown Westfield, NJ; Feb 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Cranford, New Jersey, Feb 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Main Street, downtown Paterson, NJ - Feb 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

after the Main Street fire, Paterson, NJ - Feb 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Businesses along Valley Road, Upper Montclair district- Montclair, NJ - Apr 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Bellevue Avenue, Upper Montclair, Montclair, NJ - April 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Waverly Place, Madison, NJ - January 1992 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Summit, NJ - January 1992 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Main Street, Chatham, NJ - January 1992 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Maplewood, NJ - Jan 1992 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Looking onto Park Avenue, Rutherford, NJ -- winter 1991-92 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Rahway, New Jersey from Train Platform--February 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Prown's Has Everything, downtown Red Bank, NJ -- July 1998 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

The Jersey Shore, Sea Bright, New Jersey -- August 1996 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

The Jersey Shore at Sea Bright, NJ -- August 1996 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Ocean Avenue, Sea Bright, New Jersey -- August 1996 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

View from our hotel, Ocean Grove, NJ - July 1990 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

View from the Pier, along the Jersey Shore, NJ - July 1990 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Beachfront homes in Cape May, Beach Avenue - late March 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

View from Cape May Light (historic lighthouse), Cape May Point, NJ - late March, 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Atlantic City, NJ - April 1989 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

New Jersey--near Oldwick - June 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Rest Stop near Oldwick, New Jersey for biking - June 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ - Sept 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Spring Street, Newton, NJ - Sept 1990 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Manhattan Skyline from New Jersey - Sept 1990 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

[montréaliste]

Yeah, a lot of nice architecture in NJ towns, big and small. Thanks for sharing!

[DetroitSky]

Love this!

[Crawford]

The real NJ. Great vintage shots!

[Coldrsx]

Arachnophobia!

Beauty can be found in many places.

Loved this set.

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures!

I can see Delaware in one of the pictures! March, 1989!

My favorite picture/location is Bellevnue Avenue in Upper Montclair, with all those half-timber buildings.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

My favorite picture/location is Bellevnue Avenue in Upper Montclair, with all those half-timber buildings.

That's a beautiful area. Charming, walkable, and transit-oriented. If I moved to the burbs, Upper Montclair would be high on my list.

[Murphy de la Sucre]

Were there any eras better than the 80s and 90s? yea sure, before 80&90s, never after.

[kznyc2k]

Yes I love your photography! Great set.

I spent a tiny amount of time in Ridgewood and that really opened my eyes to just how pretty a lot of New Jersey can be.

[kool maudit]

Can't get enough of these sets.

[MplsTodd]

Thanks for your comments everyone! I definitely enjoyed my time out east.
I completely agree about Montclair. After I got married in 1991, we lived in Montclair, closer to the downtown area. Montclair has three different business districts, all centered on train stations: downtown(along Bloomfield Ave); Upper Montclair (Bellevue Ave & Valley Road); and smallest of the bunch is Watchung Avenue (Photos not available)

Downtown Montclair, NJ -- August 1996 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Bloomfield Avenue, Downtown Montclair, NJ -- August 1996 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr


Valley Road, Upper Montclair, NJ -- 1992 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Bellevue Avenue, Upper Montclair, New Jersey -- 1992 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

[mrnyc]

these are so great and wide ranging. i think people tend to sleep on nj’s diversity. glad to see you got cherry blossom time at branch brook park in, that’s a favorite time of year and place. also, what’s interesting in these areas is outside of shops coming and going and the like not much has changed.

[BnaBreaker]

Those beige Inspector Gadget trench coats were all the rage in 1989, apparently.

[JMKeynes]

Idiots from throughout the US who've never been to NJ routinely mock it. What fools.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...0_M58490-25967

[Centropolis]

high tier golden age of city photos section era level photo posts.

[kool maudit]

I want to drive my white CRX down a street of mom-n-pop stores with hand-painted signs.



Time travel revolution
CERN invasion oligarch molotov
all men mad with trenchcoats and Lucky Strikes

[Camelback]

Thanks for sharing these! I love the rail station picture with commuters returning home from a day's work in the city. Wow have things changed in just a couple decades.

[niwell]

*Sopranos theme intensifies*

One of the coolest threads I've seen in a while, and now I've noticed there are more!

[geomorph]

Originally Posted by MplsTodd

Businesses along Valley Road, Upper Montclair district- Montclair, NJ - Apr 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Bellevue Avenue, Upper Montclair, Montclair, NJ - April 1991 by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Montclair looks nice!