David P. Patterson (c.1840 – July 15, 1879) was president of the Hackensack and New York Extension Railroad (later the

New Jersey and New York Railroad The New Jersey and New York Railroad (NJ&NY) was a railroad company that operated north from Rutherford, New Jersey, to Haverstraw, New York beginning in the mid-to-late 19th century.Please see the 1891 maps of West Haverstraw and Haverstraw v ...

) in the late 19th century, and an instrumental figure in the development of Hillsdale,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, the terminus of the railroad when it reached there in 1870. In 1860, a decade before the railroad began operating, Patterson purchased "a Demarest farm and 56 acres of land" in the area where it would pass through present-day Hillsdale. An 1876 map of the hamlet (then a part the Township of Washington) lists Patterson as the owner of most plots in its center, though ultimately the development was not as successful as hoped. In addition to arranging the sale of hundreds of parcels in the vicinity of the train station, Patterson is said to have donated the land for Veteran's Memorial Park, the town's central common (1871), and the original location of the Hillsdale United Methodist Church (1876). Patterson's lavish home (named "Brook Side Pines" by later owner John Riley) and its surrounding landscaped grounds, located on the north side of Hillsdale Avenue between

Pascack Brook Pascack Brook is a tributary of the Hackensack River in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. History At least one late 18th-century map calls the brook "Great Pascack River." Its tributary Musquapsink Brook is shown as "Little Pascack River. ...

and Patterson Street, were the showplace of Hillsdale in their day. The home eventually became the convent for St. John the Baptist Church, and was destroyed in the early 2000s to make way for expansion of the St. John school. Commerce Bank established at this location 1999-04-17.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, David P. Real estate and property developers People from Hillsdale, New Jersey Year of birth uncertain 1879 deaths