Garden State Plaza
Paramus, New Jersey - circa 1963
Early '60s Garden State Plaza aerial view. If you click on the aerial link below in this post (and all previous and future ones, for that matter), be sure to always check out the "Bird's Eye imagery" feature as well, when available. You'll see some really great, low-level images with this!
Mall history: 1957 - present
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1
posted by Keith @ 5/10/2006
4 Comments:
This mall is honestly the most unusual layout I've ever seen. JC Penney is in the middle of the mall. What's the history with this place?
Scott
I'm sort of embarassed to know this, but the mall was originally open-air. Once it was enclosed, JCPenney was actually on one side of the mall.
Much more recently (a decade ago?) a huge new wing was added, circling around the back of JCPenney and trapping it in the center.
I happened to come across the news coverage for this mall in some research I am doing on Paterson, NJ in the late 1950s, and the Mall was conceived in 1954 and completed and opened 10:00 AM on May 1st, 1957. The original Garden State Plaza dominated by Bambergers (of the Macy Co.). The original parking accommodations were for 5,500 cars (phase I) and then to 8,500 total spaces (phase II); a third phase, probably shown in the photograph, expanded parking up to 11,000 total spots.
As of 1957, the Mall had the capacity for 60 stores and 1.5 millions square feet.
If anyone else has history (documents) on the Garden State Plaza, I'd love to hear from you, as I am still researching this topic.
What was the name of the music store at the plaza...Sam Ash or Sam Goody...
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