David P. Patterson

{{about|the New Jersey railroad executive and land developer|other spellings and people of the same name|David Patterson (disambiguation)}}

File:patersonhouse.jpgDavid P. Patterson (c.1840 – July 15, 1879){{cite web|title=David P Patterson ( - 1879) - Find A Grave Photos|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=74886321&PIpi=46869385|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=31 January 2013}} was president of the Hackensack and New York Extension Railroad (later the New Jersey and New York Railroad) in the late 19th century, and an instrumental figure in the development of Hillsdale, New Jersey, 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.{{Citation

| last = Historic Sites Advisory Board, County of Bergen

| author-link =

| title = Bergen County Historic Sites Survey: Hillsdale

| place = Hillsdale, New Jersey

| publisher = Board of Chosen Freeholders, County of Bergen

| year = 1983

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| page = 13

| url=http://hillsdale.bccls.org/localhistory/Hillsdale_Historic_Sites_1982.PDF

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An 1876 map of the hamlet (then a part the Township of Washington) lists Patterson as the owner of most plots in its center,{{cite map

|publisher = A. H. Walker

|title = "Hillsdale, Washington Township" in Atlas of Bergen County

|url = http://hillsdale.bccls.org/localhistory/1876WalkerAtlasPlateHillsdale.pdf

|edition =

|section = 110

|accessdate = 2008-12-15}} though ultimately the development was not as successful as hoped.{{Citation

| last = Historic Sites Advisory Board, County of Bergen

| author-link =

| title = Bergen County Historic Sites Survey: Hillsdale

| place = Hillsdale, New Jersey

| publisher = Board of Chosen Freeholders, County of Bergen

| year = 1983

| volume =

| edition =

| page = 20

| url=http://hillsdale.bccls.org/localhistory/Hillsdale_Historic_Sites_1982.PDF

| doi =

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In addition to arranging the sale of hundreds of parcels in the vicinity of the train station,{{Citation

|last=Hillsdale Public Library Reference Department

|author-link=

|title=Hillsdale Scrapbook

|place=Hillsdale, New Jersey

|publisher=

|year=1985

|volume=

|edition=

|page=28

|url=https://hillsdale.bccls.org/localhistory/HillsdaleScrapbookTranscribed.pdf

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}}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Patterson is said to have donated the land for Veteran's Memorial Park, the town's central common (1871),{{Citation

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| first2 =

| title = WANTS A WRIT OF OUSTER; Lena Patterson After Property Given Away by Her Late Husband.

| newspaper = The New York Times

| page = 16

| date = December 19, 1895

| url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1895/12/19/105984227.pdf

| postscript =

}}

and the original location of the Hillsdale United Methodist Church (1876).{{Citation

| last = Van Valen

| first = James M.

| author-link =

| title = History of Bergen County, New Jersey

| place = New York

| publisher = New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Co.

| year = 1900

| volume =

| edition =

| page = 301

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9KwPofkJTHYC&dq=patterson+hillsdale+bergen&pg=PA301

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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 and Patterson Street, were the showplace of Hillsdale in their day.Historic Sites Advisory Board, County of Bergen (1983), p. 14 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.{{cite web

| title = Hillsdale, New Jersey (NJ) Detailed Profile

| publisher = Advameg, Inc.

| url = http://www.city-data.com/city/Hillsdale-New-Jersey.html

| accessdate = 2008-12-15}}

Commerce Bank established at this location 1999-04-17.