Exploring Westwood NJ – Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical

Westwood Cemetery

23 Kinderkamack Road

Westwood, NJ 07675

(201) 664-7161

https://westwoodcemetery.org

Open: 24 Hours

My review on TripAdvisor:

The Westwood Cemetery

The History of the Cemetery:

(From the Cemetery website)

Westwood Cemetery was established in 1861 as the Old Hook Cemetery. The earliest burial was in 1791. Westwood Cemetery is a non-sectarian cemetery and continues to offer final resting places that suit individual needs. Whether you are planning for the future or purchasing for an immediate need, we have a variety of options available within the 35 acre park.

The newest part of the Westwood Cemetery where the family burials start around 1840 to Present sits on the Kinderkamack Road side of the cemetery

The back of the cemetery sits on a buff overlooking the pond that is parallel to Old Hook Road

The original family members were buried in this section of the cemetery while their grandchildren and great grandchildren are interned in the front section.

The oldest section of the cemetery which sits next to Old Hook Road is the Hopper Family plot which dates back to before the Revolutionary War

The Blauvelt Family plot sits next to the Hopper Family plot

The oldest section of the cemetery by Old Post Road home to family members of the Post, Blauvelt, Voorhis and Hopper members

The Demarest family plot overlooking the pond from the buff

The Blauvelt and Bogart family plot

The DeBaun family plot by Old Hook Road

One of the original Demarest family plots

The Haring family plot overlooking the pond

The Ackerman family plot

The Eckerson family plot with members of the Hopper and Demarest families

This section of the cemetery contains the oldest tombstones in the cemetery so many have broken or crumbled away. The lawn in this section of the cemetery is also not as well maintained so there are overgrown bushes and trees hiding the tombstones so you really have to look.

Then I worked my way back to the front of the cemetery finding the graves of these people’s children and grandchildren by following the names and dates of these people’s family members.

One branch of the Demarest family is front and center in the front of the cemetery

Next to them are the DeBaun and Vanderbeck families

Another branch of the Demarest family is a few rows behind

The Kipp family have a rather large family plot

The Hopper & Banta families share this large twin family plot

The Bogart family has this large family plot

The Westervelt family is near them with many of their members of the family

The Demarest family had two large family plots in the middle of the cemetery

The family plot of the Demarests and the Harings

The Demarest and Van Bushkirk family plot

The large Blauvelt family plot

The DeWolfe family plot

The Voorhis family plot

The Terhune Bogart family plot

What I found fascinating about this cemetery was to see the progression of each of these families from parent to child to grandchild just by walking through it. The families branch out in all sections intermarrying with similar families and the buried next to them. From back to front here they rest.

Westwood Heritage Society Museum

Westwood Train Station

Broadway & Westwood Avenue

Westwood, NJ 07675

(201) 666-9682

http://www.westwoodheritage.org

https://www.facebook.com/hfwhalen/

Hours: The Second Saturday of every month; 10:00am-2:00 pm

Admission: Free

TripAdvisor Review:

I had visited the Westwood Heritage Society Museum during its one day opening in the month and no one was there to greet me. It seems that they closed at noon. I was able to walk around the train station’s main room and look around at all the old pictures of town, its history and the interesting facts of how the town grew

Westwood NJ Rail Station where the museum is located

The Westwood NJ Train Station is the home for the Westwood Heritage Society Museum

Many prestigious families of Bergen County, NJ have helped shape the town including members of the Demerest, Blauvelt, Wortendyke and Haring families. These early members of Bergen County Society have left their mark on the politics and construction of the current town. These names are part of the founding families of the town.

The sign in Veterans Park

There are displays of family life in town, life on the railroads, the history of how the railroad came to town, the growth of the town, residents of the town and a display on railroad conductor, Mr. Blauvelt himself.

There are many sets of pictures in the display cases and there is an on-going slide show of pictures on the main wall of the terminal showing the past and present of the town.

They let us tour the bomb shelter that is beneath the train station. This is interesting.

I recently toured the museum with my students on the second Saturday in November of 2022 and met with the members of the Westwood Heritage Society. They put all their displays out when the museum was open from 10:00am-12:00pm. There were some interesting things to see. There was the history of the businesses, schools, the fire and police department and town government. They had some interesting artifacts from Veterans of the Wars as well.

Displays of memorabilia at the museum

If you like the history of railroads into the new suburbs or are from Westwood and are interested in its history, this museum is worth coming to for the afternoon. Take time to walk along the tables and view all the artifacts. There are some interesting things to see.

The glassworks of Westwood

Some of the items from the veterans of foreign wars.

Artifacts from the railroad

The main building of the train station is always open during business hours, so you will have plenty of time to look at all the displays. If you get there on the second Saturday of the month, you might get to talk with a member of the Heritage Society. It only takes about an hour to see all the displays.

The history of the town is in all these notebooks

History:

The Westwood Museum, which is housed in the Westwood Train Station building, was established and held its ‘Grand Opening’ on Memorial Day of 2002.

The Museum serves as an exhibit gallery for the numerous artifacts of Westwood’s past and records of its history that have been acquired or compiled by the Society.