The sign above the door (difficult to see) reads: Borough Hall, North Arlington. And this was the borough’s first, sold by the Board of Education to the Borough Council for $2,500 in 1912. Previously, the red-brick building, built in 1872, housed North Arlington’s first public school. According to Merritt Ierley’s book “A Place in History,” the governing body had been using the one-room schoolhouse for its meetings, “but with all the desks and blackboards, this was clearly a makeshift arrangement.” After the sale, the structure was renovated to better accommodate municipal functions and in 1920 it was enlarged. It has been remodeled at least three more times. But Borough Hall still stands on the site the old school had occupied and is also red brick.
– Karen Zautyk
