Old school bar in Oradell NJ gone today
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DublinTrader
Well-Known Member
I was visiting San Francisco once and found a bar called the House of Shields. My wife and I hit it every day while we were there. The building owner would not renew their lease and they were forced to close so they could open an Italian Restaurant.. They had been open over 100 years and it was the perfect example of an old time bar with lots of wood and black and white tile floor. A real shame. Allegedly Warren G. Harding died there during prohibition and they moved him across the street to the Palace Hotel via underground tunnel so it wouldn't be discovered he was drinking.
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Bogframe
Super Member
They knocked it down today. Was built in 1922. :tears:
A few years ago Wallgreens wanted to build a drugstore here. Felecie was running the place, then eminent domain made them move to a new site. So the place sat empty for a few years.
That's a damn shame, I drank there more than a few times in the 80s.
turnitup
No, the stereo won’t break the crystal...Oh CRAP!
It looks like it was originally a small community church. Was that the case? Love the old dive bars with a pool table, shuffle board, darts, good juke box, liars dice, peanuts in the shell (and on the floor to catch the spilled beer), etc. None anywhere around me, the real estate is too valuable. They'd have to charge $10 for a beer, and that wouldn't fly at a dive bar. Sorry you lost a good hangout, hard to come by, and getting rarer by the day...
MaxxVolume
Lunatic Member
Sorry to see that old place meet it`s demise....back in the `70s, I dated a girl from Montclair, we would hit that place for a few drinks once in a while, as well as Tierny`s on Valley Road.
Another favorite place from the same timeframe was a run-down joint called Downey O`Sullivan`s, in Elizabeth, way down Bayway Ave. near the entrance to the Goethal`s Bridge. That was a real Irish drinking man`s bar, with 28 beers on tap, served in proper pint glasses. 4 or 5 of us would meet there "for lunch", only to stagger out of there 7 or 8 hours later. Thank Christ Jesse lived right up the street, we were always too faced to drive.
Downey`s was torn down in the early `80s to make room for a parking lot....
Another favorite place from the same timeframe was a run-down joint called Downey O`Sullivan`s, in Elizabeth, way down Bayway Ave. near the entrance to the Goethal`s Bridge. That was a real Irish drinking man`s bar, with 28 beers on tap, served in proper pint glasses. 4 or 5 of us would meet there "for lunch", only to stagger out of there 7 or 8 hours later. Thank Christ Jesse lived right up the street, we were always too faced to drive.
Downey`s was torn down in the early `80s to make room for a parking lot....
loose ends
Well-Known Member
I think that place used to be a diner. I lived in New Milford in the '70's and early 80's. I used to eat there a few times a week.
Falstaff
Super Member
Back in the early 90's, I was a meter reader for PSE&G. That building was on my Oradell route. Always liked Oradell. That and Closter. Seemed like a nice family friendly town and was very quaint. Unfortunately, a lot of the small businesses along Kinderkamack have closed. Nice area still though. Westwood was another good one...actually all of northern Bergen county north of route 4.
