David P. Patterson 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

Hillsdale, New Jersey

Hillsdale is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 10,219.The populated area today known as Hillsdale took form in the mid-to-late 19th century as land speculators, led by David P. Patterson, developed subdivisons to profit from the...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, 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.
An 1876 map of the hamlet (then a part the Township of Washington) lists Patterson as the owner of most plots in its center, though ultimately the development was not as successful as hoped.

In addition to arranging the sale of hundreds of parcels in the vicinity of the train station,
Patterson is said to have donated the land for Veteran's Memorial Park, the town's central common (1871), and the original location of the Hillsdale United Methodist Church (1876).

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

Pascack Brook

The Pascack Brook is a tributary of the Hackensack River in Bergen County, New Jersey in the United States. It forms a region known as the Pascack Valley. The brook is dammed to form the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir in the town of Woodcliff Lake...

and Patterson Street, were the showplace of Hillsdale in their day. The home eventually became the convent for St. John the Baptist Church, and was destroyed in 1999 to make way for a bank.