The Avenue: A History of Washington Street

August 1, 2021 - December 23, 2022

There’s an old Hoboken saying: “If you can’t find it on Washington Street, you’re not looking hard enough.” The Museum’s curatorial team has taken up the challenge with its latest exhibition: “The Avenue: A History of Washington Street.”

Visit the Digital/Virtual Exhibit “The Avenue!”

Tracing almost two centuries of vibrant community and commercial life along Hoboken’s main artery, the exhibit packs in hundreds of artifacts and photographs from scores of beloved and largely family-owned establishments that have drawn people to The Avenue for generations.  

Visitors can figuratively stroll the length of “The Avenue,” teleporting back and forth in time, as they search for artifacts from their favorite businesses and discover the wide variety of businesses that catered to earlier residents of the Mile Square City. Stretching nearly the full length of the Museum’s north wall, an enlarged, detailed reproduction of the 1951 Sanborn fire map (from the Jersey City Library’s Hudson County History collection) shows every building block-by-block from Observer Highway to 14th Street.

Above and below the map are displays from the Museum’s collections of both physical artifacts and interactive photo screens, near the corresponding addresses on the property maps. Vintage signs from long-time Washington Street stalwarts such as Schnackenberg’s and Kelly’s Pub are on view, along with an 1899 silk banner from the United Decorating store and a clock customized by Mayor Tom Vezzetti that reads, “Welcome to Your City Hall.”

Over the Museum’s 35 years of collecting, many families of former business proprietors have donated cherished items from their parents’ and grandparents’ businesses to the Museum. For example, the Museum has a rich collection of items from Schnackenberg’s luncheonette (1110 Washington), Schoning’s City Hall Bake Shop (95 Washington) and United Decorating (421 Washington) that illustrate the history of Hoboken’s enterprising immigrant populations.  

Also on display are film clips and images from many parades, especially the 1955 celebration of Hoboken’s centennial, with floats from major manufacturers Maxwell House and Tootsie Roll, along with high-stepping baton-twirlers and marching bands. This celebration was immortalized in the Swiss photographer Robert Frank’s black-and-white images, “City Fathers” and “Parade, Hoboken, NJ,” published in ‘The Americans,” a photo essay on mid-century America.

The bunting, flags and costumes that decorated the floats and festooned the buildings along the route were mostly supplied by the Kirchgessner family’s United Decorating. The exhibit includes a bust of The Avenue’s namesake, George Washington, which once stood proudly in United Decorating’s window.

Mile-Wide Photo Project

For reference, graphic designer McKevin Shaughnessy has stitched together a hyper-detailed, continuous panoramic photo of contemporary Washington Street, so visitors can compare the current streetscape to The Avenue of years past. For even deeper context, the exhibit also includes early renderings of Washington Street in 1851, when it was a sleepy little town, by lithographer John Bornet, from the collections of the New-York Historical Society.

Among the more curious artifacts is a set of vintage bowling pins salvaged by woodworker Anton David from a Washington Street property. They were donated to the Museum collections, and executive director Bob Foster says the building had been home — at different times — to both the local Democratic and Republican committees, each of which applied for bowling operator licenses in the 1920s-1940s. 

Accompanying the exhibition will be a full range of educational programs, including a lecture series and walking tours. For school children of different ages, we offer exhibit-related programs — contact the Museum director at info@hobokenmuseum.org or call 201-656-2240 for details. The Museum welcomes visits from almost every grade and every school in Hoboken – public, charter and private.

THE AVENUE was produced by Melissa Abernathy, Bill Curran, Robert Foster, Frank Hanavan, Rand Hoppe, Holly Metz, and McKevin Shaughnessy.