Items

• 1940s Weehawken Mug Shots

  A collection of Weehawken Police Department mug shots from the 1940s. We don't have any information on who these people were or what they were accused of doing.
• Weehawken Fire Engine

  Colored photo of the American La France fire engine, which was an antique when it was photographed in 1953 on Park Avenue.
• Weehawken Police Department Manual

  This manual was issued to all members of the WPD during the tenure of Mayor Charles Leech (around 1924). It provided the Weehawken policeman with rules, regulations, ordinances and more.
• Lincoln Tunnel - Emergency Jeep and Emergency Tractor

  Photograph from Lincoln Tunnel Third Tube Project, prepared in June, 1958 by the Project and Planning Division of the Tunnel and Bridges Department of the Port of New York Authority.  
• Lincoln Tunnel - New York Emergency Garage

  Photograph from Lincoln Tunnel Third Tube Project, prepared in June, 1958 by the Project and Planning Division of the Tunnel and Bridges Department of the Port of New York Authority.
• Fire Engine No. 4

  This black and white photo postcard shows Engine 4 from the Highwood Hose Company (1900-1960s).
• Keeping Police Batteries Charged in a Hilly Square Mile

  This article, written by Weehawken Police Chief Edward Kirk, appeared in the November, 1946 issue of The American City magazine, in the ever popular Traffic Control and Facilitation section. It describes how the problems caused by those new fangled police car radios were solved by the addition of new, stronger batteries. The article includes a photo of the Chief along with a police mechanic in front of a 1946 WPD squad car.   From:The American CityNovember, 1946   Traffic Control and Facilitation: Keeping Police Batteries Charged In a Hilly Square Mile   New batteries and generators solve Weehawken's police radio problem. By EDWARD KIRKChief of PoliceWeehawken. N. J. In 1943 we installed our first radio communication system: FM Motorola equipment in three Ford patrol cars, a detective squad car, an ambulance, and an emergency truck. At that time we had only thirty-five men,and our work had tripled. We found the new communication system most timely. Following the installation of radio,however, we had a persistent headache, caused not by the radio equipment but by the fact that the car batteries and generators were unable to carry the e1ectrical load. The generator would not, or could not, give the battery sufficient amperage at idling speed. Instead of the prescribed thirty,they were giving five to ten with the motor idling. Weehawken, with a population of 15,000, is only a mile square, with short streets that vary in elevation from 2 to 200 feet above the Hudson River. The town is all uphill and downhill and has no long lazy runs for battery charging. With motors running twenty-four hours a day,the batteries still ran down, a car was out of service every other day, and a generator burned out in two months' time. Our battery service man told us about William H. Hand, Director ofThe Hand Laboratory, Nyack. N. Y.,and we discussed the problem with Police Commissioner John H. Schuster, who has sparked the department for six years. Mr. Hand put his 65ampere-per-hour heavy-duty storage batteries in our cars and recommended the installation of alternating current generators made by The Leece-Neville Company of Cleveland. These, in combination with rectifiers and voltage regulators of the same make, are designed for 6-volt or 12-volt systems with an output of 60 amperes. These installations solved our problem in August 1946 with tremendous savings in motor wear, oil, and gasoline. The patrol cars are on duty at school crossings 3V, hours a day. Their motors used to be kept running. With the Hand battery and the Leece-Neville alternator, the car motor is turned off and the radio left on. Even with the motor at slow idle, the alternator feeds the battery 30 amperes when the battery is not fully charged. To facilitate car repairs, formerly done at a private garage, we employed a mechanic and built him an up-to-date shop at Commissioner Schuster's suggestion. A service for the citizen which the commissioner has sponsored is free transportation in our police ambulance if a resident must be rushed to the hospital. Also. he has installed a modern records system which includes an up-to-date card file of every person living in Weehawken. The department furnishes photostats of discharge papers free of charge to returned veterans. Commissioner Schuster's philosophy of public service has become the action of the Weehawken Police Department.He said to us: "When anybody comes to the Police Department for information, never say you don't know. If you don't know, find out. Make it your business to sell your services to all citizens in a polite, pleasant, and efficient manner."  
• Photograph: Weehawken Fire Engine

  Black and white photo of an early fire engine marked "Weehawken F.D." According to retired NHRFR Captain Willie Demontreux: The photo shows the engine from Jane street of the Palisades Hose Company 2 or just the Weehawken Fire Department after 1926. The rig is on Hackensack Plank Road behind the Blickman Co, (now Gregory Commons Condominium.) The large hose in the street is either a feed for a working fire, or laid down for hose test, hose testing was done on that road because the hose was drained easily thanks to gravity. Visible on the rig are the following: 2 hard suction hoses for drafting from river hose reel, usually one inch extinguisher straight nozzle 2 1/2 inch hose adapters 2 gates for water discharge on driver side bell Flood light mounted by windshield Rolled hose on back step (again from a job or hose testing) The rear wheel shows the chain drive, and a big no no, the wheels were not chocked, and the front wheels were not curbed.... The back of this photo is stamped "B.J. Stevens - 164 Seaview Ave., Jersey City 5, NJ."
• 1937 Drug Co Fire Newsreel Stills

  On September 15, 1937, an electrical accident at the S.B. Penick and Company mixing plant sparked a major fire, visible for miles around. More than 100 employees were evacuated with 20 injuries reported and 600 students at PS 1 (the Lincoln School) were evacuated as well. These images are from a contemporary Universal Newsreel. The description of the story reads: BLAST, FIRE TRAP 100 GIRLS, WEEHAWKEN, N.J. -- A terrific explosion, followed by flames which engulf a drug manufacturing plant, menaces the lives of 100 girls at work in the building. Frantic rescue efforts save all of the girls, but 20 of them are seriously hurt.
• Clifton Bluff showing Clifton Hose Co.'s Headquarters, Weehawken, NJ

  Hand colored photo postcard of the Clifton Hose Company headquarters perched atop the Palisades at the site of today's Old Glory Park. Postmarked August 8, 1908 from Jersey City.
• Weehawken Police Department Patch

  This is a vintage Weehawken Police Department patch. Any information as to what years this patch was in use would be appreciated.
• Weehawken PBA Patch

  Sew on emblem of the Weehawken chapter of the Police Benevolent Association (local 15).
• Weehawken Fire Department Patch

  Insignia of the Weehawken Fire Department before it was absorbed into the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue in 1999.
• Police Hall of Fame - Chief Edward J. Kirk

  This two page profile from the October 1949 issue of True Crime Stories focuses on Weehawken Police Chief Edward Kirk. It begins: When Edward J. Kirk was twelve years old, he played the part of a policeman in a grade school play. From that day forward, he decided he wanted to grow up and join the police force. Thirty five years later, Edward J Kirk was appointed Chief of Police in Weehawken, New Jersey, fulfilling his life long dream.  
• Weehawken Police Department Badge

  This badge, from the collection of Lt. Jeff Fulcher of the Weehawken Police Department, was issued to one of Weehawken's Finest around the turn of the twentieth century.
• Weehawken Volunteer First Aid Squad Patch

  1976 - 1990 patch of Weehawken's volunteer emergency medical services organization. Thanks to Lt. Jeff Fulcher of the Weehawken PD for this image! Some additional information from WVFAS VP, Tom Cheplic: According to Life Member Bill Applegate, the designer of the NYC skyline patch was former squad member Ray Diaz. The change from the original Indian Head logo occurred somewhere around 1976 or 1977 as Ray had left the squad to go away to school by the end of the decade. This patch remained in place through the 1980s. By 1990, Life Member Bob Schwartz was designing the new patch which was just a more current version of the original. While Bob was as proud of the view as the next person, he felt that the skyline patch really didn't represent the squad well so he went back to basics. Thanks, Tom!
• Weehawken Signal Bureau Patch

  Patch from the Weehawken Signal Bureau - Police and Fire. Thanks to Tom Cheplic and Jeff Welz for solving this mystery - this patch is from the 1970s and was issued to the folks who ran emergency communications and traffic signals.
• Constitution and Bylaws of Baldwin Hose Company # 1

  The rule book of a Weehawken volunteer fire company from 1905. This is an unmarked small black book, 24 pages long.
• Gold Cross: Birth of a First Aid Squad

  May 1970 cover story from Gold Cross - the official magazine of the New Jersey State First Aid Council describing the formation and very first call of the Weehawken Volunteer First Aid Squad. Includes a very cool picture of the squad and its ambulance. Thanks to Craig Stewart for sending in this item!
• Highwood Fire Co's Headquarters, Highwood Park, Weehawken, NJ

  Hand colored photo postcard of the Headquarters of the Highwood Fire Company No. 4 at 52 Duer Place. Postmarked April 9, 1910 from Hoboken.
• West Hoboken Fireman Badge

  Silver badge (number 51) from the West Hoboken, NJ Fire Department.
• Weehawken NJ Exempt Fireman Badge

  Small metal and enamel badge from the Weehawken Fire Department.
• OpSail EMS Commemorative Patch

  Special patch issued to all of the Emergency Medical Units that participated in OpSail 2000 - including the Weehawken Volunteer First Aid Squad.
• North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue Patch

  Patch of the insignia of the merged North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, which absorbed the Weehawken Fire Department in 1999.
• Weehawken Police Department Patch

  Patch with insignia of Weehawken Police, gold on a dark blue background of an encircled New Jersey State seal with lightening bolts.