Nothing like a Sunday at the farmers market - we l Nothing like a Sunday at the farmers market - we love the farm flower bouquets. 😍
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New interactive Guide on issuu.com…click through New interactive Guide on issuu.com…click through to view!
Today our friends at Inspiration Roll are celebrat Today our friends at Inspiration Roll are celebrating their one year anniversary! 🥳 If you haven’t visited them yet, be sure to stop in and check them out … delicious make-your-own sushi bowls, burritos, fries with pork belly and so much more!
The newest business to open in town, welcome DuJou The newest business to open in town, welcome DuJour Cafe to downtown Denville! A nice selection of assorted coffee, pastries and European-inspired sandwiches, they’re a great and unique addition to our community. Stop in and welcome them, and grab a bite to eat. Be sure to follow them for updates at @dujour.cafe. ✨
The Fall Guides have hit the streets and look who The Fall Guides have hit the streets and look who is on the cover!  Go say hi to Sergio and tag us when you get your new Guide 😊
It was a hot one but that didn’t stop the commun It was a hot one but that didn’t stop the community from coming out for National Night Out! It was a fun night for kids … the bounce house, dunking our police officers, snagging a free bicycle helmet, watching a movie on Broadway and more. ✨
Our newest issue is here! 🥳 The Fall issues wil Our newest issue is here! 🥳 The Fall issues will be making their way to various distribution points all around town later this week - tag us when you grab a copy! ✨
Looking for some family friendly fun? Come downtow Looking for some family friendly fun? Come downtown tomorrow for National Night Out! Police, fire and EMS units will be there, along with a K9 demo, a dunk tank, free bicycle helmets from NJ Safe Kids, music from The Gup, a bounce house and a movie at dusk. See you there!
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Things to do · January 15, 2022

Lights over Broadway: A Brief History of Denville’s Downtown

By Peter Zablocki

Downtown Denville Denville, NJ - denvilleguide.com
Broadway in Denville

The Denville downtown that we love so much today began to take shape in the early 1930s. The buildup and population growth were consistent with the Great Depression. Many people started converting their summer bungalows into full-year homes because they could no longer afford to live in the big city apartments. The result was a growth of Denville’s population, which went from a mere 610 people twenty years before to nearly 6,000 by 1931. In its early days, Denville contained only a few stores, and those that existed primarily sold food. There was the Dickerson’s store on Diamond Spring Road, a small shop kept by Mrs. Vanderhoof in the basement of a house on Main Street, and the Peer’s General Store on the Morris Canal. Apart from a small business that manufactured vanilla extract on Diamond Spring Road, there were no industries in the town prior to the 1920s. With the growing population of year-round citizens, the need for a dedicated Denville Chamber of Commerce to organize and coordinate business efforts in downtown Denville became a forgone conclusion. 

By the time the expansion efforts began in the early 1930s, Denville’s “downtown” was defined by four buildings. One was the United States Post Office building on Main Street, today occupied by the shoe repair shop. Further down Main Street, where it intersected with Bloomfield Avenue, stood Denville’s biggest attraction, the Wayside Inn Hotel and Restaurant. Opposite of the Post Office, where the Denville clock tower now stands, was the Hinchman home, and directly across it, where Starbucks currently stands, was the Dickerson home—these were two of the biggest and wealthiest homes in Denville. Apart from its first business, the Cornell Tea Room—the restaurant side of the Denville Seafood building today—Broadway was still mostly empty in the late 1920s. Its newest addition was the United Smoke Shop in the building now occupied by the Denville Diner. C.E. Lysaght’s Meat and Poultry Shop—with an eventual liquor store department—was the only other recently added store on Main Street where the Second Half currently operates. 

The real expansion began with the inauguration of the Denville Chamber of Commerce, which signed its charter in late August 1931. The new organization wasted no time and quickly set out to plan and organize the business blueprint for downtown Denville. In September of that year, the agenda for its first meeting called for giving Denville a bank, a theatre, manufacturing enterprises, a municipal building, and new storefronts in and around Broadway. Seeing the business potential of the ever-growing population, spurred on by the city-folk making Denville their year-round residence, local business owners and builders took the Chamber’s invitation to expand the downtown area. 

Downtown Denville Denville, NJ - denvilleguide.com


With the newfound confidence in the future success of a downtown business center, the rush for getting a space in and around Broadway and Main Street was on. First came the row of five stores down Main Street expanded by the Lysaght family of the Lysaght’s Market—today’s building that houses the Denville Eye Care, The Second Half, etc. Then came the Arthur Crane Company of Indian Lake fame, which built two additional three-storefront buildings for rent on Broadway. The Denville Holding Company constructed more storefronts next to the famed Wayside Inn Hotel and directly across from today’s Mara’s Cafe. William Green, a pharmacist from Summit, built two additional stores on Broadway and the B.A. Stanley Realty Company began construction on a couple of storefronts and a movie theatre in 1936, which would become the central fulcrum of the new downtown area. 

By 1940, those away from Denville for five or so years would never have recognized the new and bustling downtown. The triangular block arrangement with wide streets and plenty of parking to access the many new stores encouraged customers to visit often and merchants to open even more stores. A 1942 advertisement by the Denville Chamber of Commerce proclaimed Denville to be a progressive town where “the quality of its community is reflected in the size and character of its business district, where progressive and attractive shops are an asset to the community and reflect its taste.” 

By early 1940s, where once stood a few buildings with a handful of stores was now a proper Denville business district. On Broadway, there was the Gardner’s Gift Shop, Armbruster’s Department Store for women and men’s wear, Flormann’s Home Furnishings and Hardware Store, Fads and Fashions women’s shop, WM. Gerard Drug Co. pharmacy, Denville Camera Shop, Fred Crane Realtor, Anna’s Hairdressing, United Cigar Store, Bush’s Farm Market, Denville’s 5 & 10 Store, Starlight Delicatessen, and the famed Fireside Tavern. It seemed like a new business sprung up each month – which was perhaps not an exaggeration. Main Street housed R. O’Neill’s Greeting Cards, Brennan Shoes, C.E. Lysaght’s Meats, Poultry, and Liquors, Orchid Beauty Salon, the National Food Store, and the Denville Garage. All while Diamond Spring Road was home to the Denville Herald newspaper building and Powell’s Food Market. 

Downtown Denville Denville, NJ - denvilleguide.comDowntown Denville Denville, NJ - denvilleguide.com
Photos courtesy of the Denville Historical Society

From the 1950s and beyond, storefronts would change, but a proper downtown business center was already set up for success. “Buy Local” was the message in 1942, and “Buy Local” remains the message in 2022. As stated by the representative of the newly created Denville Chamber of Commerce in the early 1930s, “your money stays at home when it’s spent in Denville. It keeps turning up in local pay envelopes, in local taxes paid, and in the contribution funds of local causes and charities.” Some things never change, “Denville Strong” then, and “Denville Strong” now. 

Peter Zablocki - denvilleguide.com

Peter Zablocki is a local historian, author, and educator. He can be reached at peterzablocki.com.

In: Things to do

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Nothing like a Sunday at the farmers market - we l Nothing like a Sunday at the farmers market - we love the farm flower bouquets. 😍
We love these reusable insulated water bottle opti We love these reusable insulated water bottle options from @sweetexpressionsbygeri_! Which one are you grabbing?
New interactive Guide on issuu.com…click through New interactive Guide on issuu.com…click through to view!
Today our friends at Inspiration Roll are celebrat Today our friends at Inspiration Roll are celebrating their one year anniversary! 🥳 If you haven’t visited them yet, be sure to stop in and check them out … delicious make-your-own sushi bowls, burritos, fries with pork belly and so much more!
The newest business to open in town, welcome DuJou The newest business to open in town, welcome DuJour Cafe to downtown Denville! A nice selection of assorted coffee, pastries and European-inspired sandwiches, they’re a great and unique addition to our community. Stop in and welcome them, and grab a bite to eat. Be sure to follow them for updates at @dujour.cafe. ✨
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