Lakeview is one of Paterson’s southernmost neighborhoods, a section whose history is closely connected with the Passaic River, Dundee Lake, transportation, cemeteries, suburban development, and the continuing growth of the City of Paterson. Although today Lakeview is primarily a residential neighborhood, its origins reach back to the nineteenth century, when this part of the Passaic Valley was still a semi-rural landscape of farms, waterways, and scattered homes.
The Land Before Lakeview
Before the development of the neighborhood, the area that became Lakeview consisted largely of farmland and open countryside on the southeastern edge of Paterson. The Passaic River formed the eastern boundary, while Dundee Lake and the surrounding wetlands were important features of the landscape.
The name Lakeview appears to have been associated with the area’s location overlooking the lake and the Passaic Valley. Historical sources describe the community as being near Dundee Lake, which became an important recreational and scenic attraction. By the late nineteenth century, Lakeview was being promoted as an attractive suburban community for people who wanted to live outside the crowded industrial center of Paterson while remaining close to the city and its employment opportunities.
Cedar Lawn Cemetery and the Birth of the Neighborhood
One of the most important events in the development of Lakeview was the establishment of Cedar Lawn Cemetery.
In 1865, a group of Paterson citizens organized a company to establish a large rural cemetery outside the increasingly crowded city. The land selected consisted of approximately 250 acres from three farms owned by Hartman Van Riper, Garret Demarest, and David Demarest. The property extended from Dundee Lake westward toward the Erie Railroad.
The cemetery was dedicated in September 1867. Because the cemetery company was permitted to retain only part of the original property, the land that was not needed for the cemetery was sold for development. That property became the site of the village of Lakeview. Thus, the creation of Cedar Lawn Cemetery and the beginnings of Lakeview’s residential development were directly connected.
Cedar Lawn eventually became one of the most prominent landmarks in southeastern Paterson. It was designed as a Victorian rural cemetery, with landscaped grounds, trees, roads, and carefully planned burial sections. Its location between Lakeview Avenue, Crooks Avenue, the Passaic River, and Dundee Lake helped preserve a large open area as the surrounding neighborhood developed.
Paterson’s Expansion Reaches Lakeview
Lakeview was originally outside the central developed portion of Paterson. That changed rapidly during the second half of the nineteenth century.
In 1869, Paterson annexed a large surrounding territory, bringing Cedar Lawn Cemetery and the developing Lakeview area within the city limits. The following year, Paterson adopted an extensive city plan laying out streets and avenues. Lakeview Avenue and Crooks Avenue were established as major streets surrounding the cemetery and helping define the neighborhood.
This expansion reflected a major change in Paterson. The city’s famous textile and silk industries were attracting thousands of workers, while the growing population created demand for new residential areas. Lakeview offered something different from the densely built neighborhoods closer to the mills: relatively spacious homes, streets, open land, and access to the countryside.
A Suburban Community
By the 1870s and 1880s, Lakeview was being advertised as a desirable suburban location.
Real-estate advertisements promoted lots along Lakeview Avenue and Dundee Avenue, emphasizing the area’s elevation and views. Developers marketed the neighborhood to people looking for attractive private residences within easy reach of Paterson. Transportation was a major selling point. Horse railroad service connected the area with Paterson, while the railroad provided access to Passaic and New York.
An Erie Railroad publication described Lake View as a quiet and attractive suburb of Paterson situated on high ground overlooking the Passaic Valley. The community had a hotel, post office, stores, a Presbyterian church, a public school, and access to boating and fishing at Dundee Lake.
Lakeview therefore developed with two identities: it was a neighborhood of Paterson, but it also possessed many characteristics of a suburban village.
The Railroad Era
Transportation played a particularly important role in Lakeview’s growth.
The Erie Railroad’s Lake View station was established in the nineteenth century near Railway Avenue and Crooks Avenue. The station provided residents with direct rail service toward Paterson and New York. The station remained in service for decades, serving commuters and residents until passenger service ended in 1963. The old station building survived until 1967, when it was demolished.
The railroad helped transform Lakeview from a rural fringe into a genuine residential community. Workers could live in Lakeview while commuting to jobs in Paterson, Passaic, and eventually New York City.
The transportation connections also encouraged businesses and services to develop along the neighborhood’s principal streets.
Schools, Churches, and Community Life
As Lakeview grew, institutions followed the residents.
The neighborhood developed churches, schools, stores, and other community facilities. By the late nineteenth century, Lakeview was no longer simply a collection of new houses surrounding a cemetery. It had become a recognizable community with its own identity.
The Library of Congress has noted that Paterson’s neighborhoods historically developed strong identities based on the relationship between residential life, work, and social connections. Lakeview was one of the sections recognized by Paterson residents as a distinct neighborhood.
Lakeview in the Twentieth Century
During the twentieth century, Lakeview gradually became more densely developed.
The neighborhood’s location near the Passaic River, transportation routes, and the Clifton border made it attractive for continued residential construction. Single-family houses remained an important part of the neighborhood, while two-family homes and apartment development gradually increased.
A 1960 New Jersey planning study provides an especially useful snapshot of Lakeview. At that time the neighborhood had 4,373 residents. Its boundaries were identified as the Route 80 right-of-way on the north, the Passaic River on the east, Crooks Avenue and the Clifton boundary on the south, and Wabash Avenue on the west. The study described Lakeview as primarily a one-family residential neighborhood, although two-family houses were becoming more common. Garden apartments had also appeared along the Clifton border.
Perhaps most strikingly, approximately two-fifths of the neighborhood’s land area was occupied by Calvary and Cedar Lawn cemeteries. The cemeteries therefore remained a defining physical characteristic of Lakeview long after the surrounding farmland had disappeared.
Route 80 and a Changing Neighborhood
One of the greatest changes to Lakeview came with the construction of the Bergen-Passaic Expressway, now Interstate 80.
The highway became a major transportation artery through the region and created a physical separation between Lakeview and other parts of Paterson. By the second half of the twentieth century, Route 80 had become one of the defining boundaries of the neighborhood.
At the same time, Paterson itself was experiencing major economic and demographic changes. The decline of the city’s traditional manufacturing industries affected employment and neighborhood life. As older immigrant communities changed and new groups arrived, Lakeview became increasingly diverse.
The Growth of South Paterson
Lakeview’s location also places it next to the section commonly known as South Paterson.
During the twentieth century, South Paterson became an important center of Arab, Turkish, Palestinian, Hispanic, and other immigrant communities. Commercial activity expanded along Main Street and surrounding streets, while restaurants, grocery stores, markets, and other businesses gave this part of the city a distinctive cultural character.
The broader Lakeview area consequently became increasingly diverse, reflecting the continuing story of Paterson as a city shaped by immigration and successive generations of newcomers.
Lakeview Today
Today, Lakeview remains primarily a residential neighborhood in Paterson’s Sixth Ward. The City of Paterson describes it as a middle-class section in the southern part of the city, with Interstate 80 to the north and the Clifton boundary to the south. The neighborhood contains a mixture of single-family homes, two-family residences, apartments, businesses, and major cemetery grounds.
One of the neighborhood’s most visible attractions is the Paterson Farmers Market, which draws customers from throughout North Jersey. The market represents a modern continuation of Lakeview’s long association with food, agriculture, transportation, and commerce.
The neighborhood’s population has also changed dramatically since the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Lakeview is now home to Hispanic and African-American residents as well as people of European, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Filipino backgrounds. This diversity is part of the larger story of Paterson’s transformation from an industrial immigrant city into one of New Jersey’s most culturally diverse communities.
A Neighborhood Built Around a Lake, a Cemetery, and Transportation
Lakeview’s history is unusual because several seemingly separate features helped create the neighborhood.
The Passaic River and Dundee Lake provided the natural setting.
Cedar Lawn Cemetery helped initiate development of the area.
The Erie Railroad connected residents with Paterson and New York.
Lakeview Avenue and Crooks Avenue established important transportation corridors.
Later, Interstate 80 reshaped the neighborhood’s relationship with the rest of Paterson.
What began as farmland and a rural landscape gradually became a suburban village and then a fully developed Paterson neighborhood.
Today, the houses, streets, cemeteries, businesses, and transportation routes of Lakeview preserve pieces of each stage of that history. The neighborhood is a reminder that Paterson’s history extends far beyond the Great Falls and the famous silk mills. Lakeview tells another story—the story of the city’s expansion into its surrounding countryside and the transformation of that countryside into a diverse residential community.