National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Maplewood Commercial Historic District

Hickey, Margaret; Newberry, Susan

A National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Maplewood Commercial Historic District. Narrative Description Summary Paragraph: "The commercial center of Maplewood Township runs from Durand Road to the northeast along Maplewood Avenue several blocks to the south to Lenox Place. Maplewood Avenue generally runs parallel to the historic Lackawanna Railroad (currently, the Morris and Essex rail line of New Jersey Transit), which is located to its southeast. The district reflects a typical small-scale business center supporting the local community that developed in the early-20th century as a result of the expansion of passenger rail transportation in the late-19th century. Passenger rail service helped to create and expand suburban development in New Jersey's northeastern towns. In Maplewood, as suburban development grew, the commercial center grew along with it albeit at a slow pace in the first few years i=of the 1900s but more increasingly in the 1920s and 1930s. The commercial center retains its historic scale and character from the early-to-mid-20th century and reflects Maplewood's period of suburban development and the need for commercial enterprises to support local residences. There are 46 properties within the district, 39 of which are contributing resource, five are contributing with the distinction of being key as they could potentially be individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places help to define, and seven are non-contributing resources, two of which are associated with surface parking lots." Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph: "The Maplewood Commercial Historic District is locally significant under Criterion A for its representation of the historic commercial growth and development of Maplewood Township, which grew as a result of passenger rail service to the region beginning in 1860 and growing significantly after the rail line was elevated and a more substantial station was constructed in 1902. The Township grew as a railroad suburb to New York City and the commercial district grew in response to this residential development by providing civic institutions, mixed residential and commercial buildings, and mom-and-pop type shops catering to the everyday needs of a growing community. The district is also locally significant under Criterion C for the architectural significance of the civic and commercial buildings with numerous examples constructed using the popular architectural vocabulary of the early-20th century articulated in a built form reflective of use. The railroad was integral in the suburban growth of Maplewood in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and the commercial center along Maplewood Avenue developed in direct relation to increased population to the region by upper- and middle-class families. While limited commercial development began along Maplewood Avenue after the first railroad station was constructed in 1860, the commercial center did not develop until after the tracks were elevated and the current station was constructed in 1902, with the greatest changes to the commercial district occurring between 1920 and 1930. The period of significance for this district is from 1902, when the railroad tracks were elevated and the current station built, to 1961 when a few of the remaining empty lots were developed in the last years of 1950s, this new construction took on a decidedly more modern appearance with the King's Market, in their renovations, creating a distinctive bookend to the evolution of the treatment of commercial storefronts in the district." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office administered by the State, Tribal, Local Plans and Grants division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior (grant number P18AF00117).

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Maplewood Commercial Historic District

Collections