How was Perth Amboy like when it was largely Polish? (Elizabeth: real estate, condos)

[homenj]

I keep hearing that Perth Amboy was very Polish way back when. What exactly time period was this? Also how was it like back then when they were a large population in the city? Did they assimilate? Did they retain their culture since they were so many? Perth Amboy is mostly Hispanic so you see many Hispanic groceries. Were there many Polish groceries back then? Or did they come at a time when it was hard to import products from other countries? Did they create their own subculture while in Perth Amboy? Did they face discrimination?

I know that they were mostly concentrated in Chickentown, State Street, Hall Avenue, and the Southwestern section.

[desertsun41]

Way back when? I grew up next door and I don't ever remember anything but Puerto Ricans in Perth Amboy. But you got me curious so I looked it up. In the mid 1800s many European immigrants landed in Perth Amboy to work at the thriving factories. But Polish did not dominate the numbers. I really dont even know of a Polish section.

Perth Amboy was a dump as far back as I can remember and I go back to the mid 60s in that area. I do hear much of the waterfront has been revived quite nicely.

[D3000]

That's not entirely true. Perth Amboy used to be beautiful and was once a resort town with beaches that were actually in use and high end department stores and movie theaters. Overtime they had a large influx of immigration but, unfortunately the immigration growth occurred at a time when factories were being demolished and plants were being closed down; thus Perth Amboy became part of the rust belt….(Elizabeth, South Amboy, Rahway). Once a resort town, Perth Amboy’s beaches are no longer in use for swimming because of the polluted waters. Competition from malls outside the city and in New York forced the big chain and higher end stores out of Perth Amboy’s downtown. There are no movie theaters or major department stores remaining in Perth Amboy. Perth Amboy has changed a lot recently. There has been a lot of revitalization. Old abandoned factories have been torn down to make way for new condos and buildings. The waterfront is really nice now too. Although they should have taken a page from South Amboy’s book and built big single family homes in harbor town instead of the condos. They are not selling as well as they hoped due to the economy. The nicest part of Perth Amboy that many people think is Woodbridge is called Spa Springs, which is next to Warren Park which mostly single family homes with one to two car garages.

[RUBIES77]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

Way back when? I grew up next door and I don't ever remember anything but Puerto Ricans in Perth Amboy. But you got me curious so I looked it up. In the mid 1800s many European immigrants landed in Perth Amboy to work at the thriving factories. But Polish did not dominate the numbers. I really dont even know of a Polish section.

Perth Amboy was a dump as far back as I can remember and I go back to the mid 60s in that area. I do hear much of the waterfront has been revived quite nicely.

As I understand, after a multitude of riots, and a Mayor that sold out the city, a woman has become the Mayor......................AND SHE IS DOING WONDERS WITH IT.......................

[homenj]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

Way back when? I grew up next door and I don't ever remember anything but Puerto Ricans in Perth Amboy. But you got me curious so I looked it up. In the mid 1800s many European immigrants landed in Perth Amboy to work at the thriving factories. But Polish did not dominate the numbers. I really dont even know of a Polish section.

Perth Amboy was a dump as far back as I can remember and I go back to the mid 60s in that area. I do hear much of the waterfront has been revived quite nicely.

Maybe it was Puerto Rican then but nowadays the Puerto Ricans are leaving Perth Amboy and being replaced largely by Dominicans (and to a lesser extent Mexicans). I believe many of these Puerto Ricans are moving up the socioeconomic ladder and moving out to the suburbs. Others have moved to Florida.

I remember ten years ago, when I went to school here, usually 50% of the kids in my classes were of Puerto Rican descent. By the time I went to high school it was about half that number. I can only imagine how it is now.

There are still some pockets of Puerto Ricans left but nothing compared to 10 or 20 years ago.

[E-TOWN-R.I.P.]

A lot of Puerto Ricans from Perth Amboy have moved to Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. Same thing has happened in Elizabeth. Funny thing is the Puerto Ricans that are moving out of Elizabeth are being replaced by a growing Dominican population.

[Kracer]

In the late 60s and before, the PR section was centered around upper Hall Ave.
Polish were scattered all through the town. St Stephen's church was a Polish center. Early part of the century to the 60s had a large Polish population which spilled over to South Amboy. Sadowski prkwy, along the waterfront, was named for a WWII hero of Polish decent. Parish priest would come to each home and bless the food for Easter.

The brick works in Keasbey also drew a lot of unskilled Poles , Hungarians and eastern european folks. Plenty of work in the Raritan Arsenal, AS&R, refineries, Hatco, Hayden and Grace Chemical companies, the shirt and handkercheif factories as well as Whalen and Davit and the Vaseline works.

Things began to change in the early 70s to where the town and main street stores became hispanic.

Used to have a main line bus run down New Brunswick ave to PA which was locally known as 'downtown'. It contained all the stores until the malls like Menlo began to be built. Five corner building is where we went to register for the draft when we hit 18. Smith street was the main road through town and was store front to store front from the train station and Market street to High st. The corner of Market street and Smith st contained an open air farmers market at least on weekends as I recall.

Lot of folks raised chickens. There was a dairy/Puritan dairy? and a soda bottling plant just off rt 35 north and east of Smith st.

William Franklin, son of Ben, was an early NJ governor who lived in the Proprietary House which still stands. Even Thoreau visited PA. First black to vote was from PA. Ferry ran from PA to Staten Island.

[Riverlily2901]

I lived down the street from Puritan Dairy, late 1940's until 1961. And my next door neighbors were a group of Puerto Rican men who shared half a rented home. The City was diverse back then. Lots of Polish people. A significant Jewish population in one neighborhood. And a growing Puerto Rican population. (Very few African Americans, however). The water was already polluted, and swimming in the river was prohibited, but some still did. And there were a few expensive boutique type stores in town.

[homenj]

Originally Posted by Riverlily2901

I lived down the street from Puritan Dairy, late 1940's until 1961. And my next door neighbors were a group of Puerto Rican men who shared half a rented home. The City was diverse back then. Lots of Polish people. A significant Jewish population in one neighborhood. And a growing Puerto Rican population. (Very few African Americans, however). The water was already polluted, and swimming in the river was prohibited, but some still did. And there were a few expensive boutique type stores in town.

Thanks so much for the reply.

I know there used to be a lot of factories in Perth Amboy. Where exactly was Puritan Dairy. Was that where the new "Tropical" Cheese factory is?

I also know that before the malls, everyone used to go Downtown. There used to be six movie theatres I hear.

So was it really the malls, the exodus of city residents to the suburbs, the flight of industry that was responsible for the city's decline? Or was there more?

Was Perth Amboy mostly working class when you were still living there? Was the middle class in the city more stable?

Were the people back then in Perth Amboy "rough" like they are now? You know like were there people that walked around with a chip on their shoulder? I hear it was kind of rough even back then.

Was there any crime?

I was also reading that the first Puerto Ricans were very discriminated against. They were forced to live in Hall Avenue because the real estate agents wouldn't let them live anywhere else and they couldn't even go to some stores downtown. I also read there was a riot in the late 1960s on Hall Avenue in response to the police always harassing the Puerto Ricans for sitting on their porches. Is this true? I hear from the older generation of Puerto Ricans that the whites were "very nasty" to them when they first came. But then again all immigrants faced discrimination (even the Irish) in this country. Although I don't know if the Jews, Poles, Hungarians, or Italians were discriminated against in Perth Amboy when they first came here. It seems to me that these aforementioned ethnics (with the exception of the Puerto Ricans) all united and there was really no division between them.

Was the Jewish neighborhood where I think it is by the waterfront near High Street? Also was the Italian neighborhood near Amboy Avenue?
Sorry for all these questions I'm just curious to know about my hometown.

[todd72173]

The only reason I visited Perth Amboy in the 80's and 90's was for the Movie Cineplex theater and Razz-Ma-Tazz. Both have been gone for a long time.