The second phase of the Country Village development under construction in the early 1960's.
View looking west from the intersection of Bartholdi Avenue and Sullivan Drive.
Courtesy: Jersey City Free Public Library
Original advertisements and architectural renderings of some of the homes planned for Country Village at Roosevelt Park development.
Courtesy: Jersey City Free Public Library
Original advertisements and architectural renderings of some of the homes planned for Country Village at Roosevelt Park development.
Courtesy: Jersey City Free Public Library
Country Village is a residential complex of mixed housing in Greenville developed in the 1960s by builder Alexander Muss & Sons, Inc. The construction included one-family Colonial-style homes, two-family Cape Cod-style homes, and one-family ranch-style homes on tree-lined streets.
The purpose of the new housing was to offer middle-income buyers an opportunity to live in a "suburbia-in-the-city" or offer urban dwellers the experience of living "out of town" without commuting. The streets were appropriately named Sycamore Road, Suburbia Court, Northcroft Road, Suburbia Drive, Oakdale Road, Suburbia Terrace, and Glenn Lane.
The impetus for Country Village came from the goal of the Jersey City Planning Commission in 1959 to rezone the 42-acre industrial wasteland for residential use. The city's census figures revealed a steady decline in the population over several decades. Jersey City's population dropped steadily after reaching a peak of 316,715 in 1930, and by 1960, the downward trend reached 276,101. The city hoped that new residential districts would revive the city's population once again.
The Country Village section of Jersey City offered a large tract of undeveloped property ripe for real estate development to attract new home buyers. The unkempt area with the surrounding industrial plants was long the source of complaints to the city authorities. It had not been developed because of drainage and sewerage problems, discouraging parties interested in the site. In 1960, the builder Alexander Muss took on the task of filling in the lowland area with 400,000 square yards of landfill for over $500,000. The land reclamation of the site finally allowed for home construction.
When completed four years later (1964), all 553 houses that cost from $19,000 to $23,000 were reportedly sold.
"Industrial Wasteland in Jersey Due to Become Housing Colony." New York Times 25 September 1960.
"New Home Enclave Built in Jersey City." New York Times 22 October 1961.
"Housing Replaces Rundown Plants." New York Times 15 November 1964.
