09/17/2025
Did you know that the town of Wallington is named after one of Bergen’s oldest families, Walling Van Winkle? Did you know his direct descendants live in Jersey City?
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What’s old, is it new, or is it old again? Here are three views of the same area in Wallington along the east side of Main Avenue south of the old railroad underpass and the Lodi town line. The first view is a circa 1920 view of the Van Bussom Farm. Then we have a 2012 image from when the Farmland Dairy was there. And then finally there is the September 2024 view. We go from a farm to the industrial side of farming, back to property that could be a farm again – but I doubt it!
The Van Bussom Farm according to the added caption to the old photo was noted to be “all of Main Avenue, where Farmland Dairy stands.” The Van Bussom family is first found in the newspapers associated with Wallington in 1897 when James Van Bussom was running for mayor. Wallington, named in honor of the ancient Walling Van Winkle, had only been incorporated in 1894.
Mayor Van Bussom almost met his end in 1899. While coming home from the market after delivering his produce. As he was passing through the meadows – his farm wagon was struck by a speeding trolley car. Although severely injured, he recovered. Of note James Van Bussom’s barn became Wallington’s first firehouse. This was not planned, it was just that the fledgling town got a two-wheeled hose carriage, and there was no other place to keep it.
In 1968, Farmland Daries of Fair Lawn began its move to Wallington, and by 1970 the milk production plant was in full operation. The company began in Fair Lawn in 1914 with a herd of 30 cows but eventually increased property values caused the actual grazing and milking of cows to relocate to western New Jersey. The raw milk was then brought to Bergen County where it was processed and packaged close to market. The Wallington plant at its peak employed 325 employees. The plant closed in 2014.
In 2016 the plant stood shuttered, and by 2019 many of the iconic milk silos had been sold and were removed. And by September 2024 the site had been cleared, and vegetation began to grow. In 2024 a redevelopment plan by the Borough of Wallington was in the works for the site. The uses include warehouses, truck terminals, cold storage, and some manufacturing. Not on the list was farming, and I think old Mayor James Van Bussom would have advocated for otherwise! – Tim Adriance
