When I was 2 weeks old (1957), my family moved from 45 Broad St. to
420 Summer Ave, on the NW corner of Summer & Arlington Ave. Although
Arlington Avenue was just 3 very short blocks, it was busy to say the least.
On the left hand side of Arlington Ave., at the Broadway/Lincoln Ave. end, was
the Rutgers School of Pharmacy (it is now a North District NPD precinct).
As a kid, I remember one week each year where they'd open up the school to the
locals and show us some of the things they were teaching. I must say I'd
never seen so many white mice as I'd seen there.
Further up the block was Arlington
Avenue School. Although most of the fun I associate with Arlington Ave.
has to do with the playground, which was entered on Wakeman Avenue, I can tell
you a bit about the Arlington Ave. side. It was the local polling place
and I remember hanging outside there all day when there were major elections -
it was the thing to do. As a school, Arlington was a school for, as my mom
referred to them, 'slower learners'. There was also one tragedy when in
July of 1969, a drunk drive jumped the curb and ran down my 11 year old
neighbor. Janet was out with her friend Susan, who was walking her dog.
The dog may have saved Susan's life by pulling her clear of the car, but Janet
was killed.
On the other side of Arlington Ave.
(still on the first block) was the Broadway Boys Club. I've said it many
times that so much of what I know in life I learned here. Games such as
checkers, chess, ping pong, billiards, card games. Friday night was movies
for kids and bingo for the grown ups. I learned to swim, play basketball,
softball during the summer in the parking lot. There was also arts and
crafts and woodworking as well. (Some of you older folks may not remember
the Boys Club there - it was probably founded around 1960 or so.)
After crossing Wakeman Ave., there
was a grass field where the Rutgers kids played intramural sports. Don't know if
the field had a name; we just called it Rutgers Field. On the other side
of the street was a little grass park, which, in about 1966 or so had 3 houses
built on it. We were very impressed by these 3 houses, since it had
probably been a real long time since any new homes had gone up in the area.
As I got older, I realized these houses were pretty ugly - all exactly the same
and pretty cheaply made. A little white house stood between the 3 new
homes and a corner apartment building that was 5 stories high. There was a
little store built into the apartment building. It was a candy store and
then a corner grocery. In the late 60's and early 70's, the store was owned by
an old Italian gentleman, Louie, but nobody knew him by that name. He was
known affectionately as 'Guinea Ghoul'.
Crossing Summer Avenue on Arlington
you were headed up to the famed 77 steps. Some said there were only 76,
but if you counted the bottom landing and the step down from the curb, there
were 77. This portion of Arlington had all homes, but had a great hill for
sledding (after the trip through the woods next to the steps). Also, we
played touch football, kick the can, tag or ringo here. Of course there
was also the woods at the top of Arlington Ave, and that was great for playing
army or just hiding out from parents or younger siblings.
It's amazing how much of my early
years revolved around a 3 block long street in the heart of the North Ward.
* * *
