Walking Tours of Teaneck

Teaneck, New Jersey, is a place with deep roots that stretch back to its Native American and Dutch origins, and successive generations have left indelible marks on its soil. Now, with the help of this engaging, easy-to-read guide by a man with a wry and passionate feeling for its story, you can follow those roots in four mapped walks, see period photographs, and read recollections of how the town has fared through the decades. Larry Robertson moved to Teaneck in 1948 and has lived in town all his life since, except for time out for military service. His interest in Teaneck's history was whetted in his childhood, when he saw maps on Teaneck in the 1920s and '30s. He spent twenty-five years on the Teaneck Fire Department, forty in the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and currently serves as Teaneck's Emergency Management Coordinator. Growing up, he conversed with 1920s firefighters, World War I vets, long-time Teaneck farmers, railroaders, and neighbors who had lived in town for decades. Searching out primary sources, he has tried to tie the eclectic, seemingly unconnected stories he heard into a logical whole. He and his wife, and their cat, live in the house where he grew up, in the heart of Teaneck.