Pohlmann's Hall

This portion of Jersey City, west of Hoboken and a narrow strip of Jersey City lowlands, is called The Heights; it became Hudson City in 1855. The area was home to a large population of German immigrants. Hudson City became part of Jersey City in 1869. The Pohlmann building was not shown on a local map drawn in 1873 when the lot - on the edge of the escarpment overlooking Hoboken and New York beyond - was still part of a local brewery, located below the escarpment. The 1874 city directory lists Daniel Pohlmann as offering lager on the corner of Ogden Avenue and Ferry Street. The following year's directory described Pohlmann's business as a hotel, restaurant, and lagerbier.

Diedrich Pohlmann described his hotel in a newspaper ad in 1880, calling it a "perfect pleasure resort" with a "new and pretty dancing platform," concert hall, ballroom, billiard room, and bowling alleys; the resort was the "most delightful place for picnics, balls, concerts, and social gatherings." The hotel cost $50,000 to build and used over a million bricks for its 22-inch thick walls, set on bedrock. The hotel was next to a steam-powered elevator on Ogden Avenue in 1874, next to the trolley stop, that could transport people and carriages from The Heights down to Hoboken. For those who liked the exercise, there was a set of outdoor steps nicknamed "100 steps." The elevator upgraded to electric power in 1892.

Diedrich Pohlmann died around 1887 and his widow, Minetta, carried on the family business; he supposedly asked on his deathbed that she never close the business. The establishment made the news in March 1889 when laws forbidding the sale of beer on Sundays in New Jersey were enforced by raiding Pohlmann's and arresting the widow, six waiters, and the orchestra; the patrons were allowed to leave. After paying $500 bail, Mrs. Pohlmann was quoted as saying "That's the end of it. No Grand Jury will indict anyone for selling Sunday beer." It was rumored that Mrs. Pohlmann had once served as the chief cook in the royal household of the King of Hanover (future part of Germany). As she continued in her late husband's footsteps, their music resort was said to be a favorite of wealthy Germans who could appreciate good music. There was "nothing cheap nor common to be seen about the premises; even the walls of the barroom" and other rooms were "painted in oils."

Pohlmann's was the scene of merrymaking of dozens of organizations in the 1890s; one of the last picnics of the season was usually held in late September for employees of Pohlmann's. A week-long trade show attracted 32,000 visitors to Pohlmann's in 1898, featuring booths with local businesses. The Hudson City Business Men's Association repeated the industrial show in early 1899, with nightly orchestra concerts from the music stand on the pavilion. William P. Kastenhuber was the manager of Pohlmann's at the time. In 1899, the owner of Pohlmann's Pavilion, Mina Pohlmann of Westchester County, New York, leased the building to Harry Brown and Phil Heck, a tenor singer. The pair paid $10,000 for a ten-year lease on the popular resort. The previous lessees were William Mutschler and Robert Klesewetter.

Pohlmann's Hall closed in 1915 and was vacant until purchased by L.O. Koven & Brother in 1917. The company moved its offices from New York City to the building after renovations. The main change was the addition of a third floor in the two-story gymnasium/ hall space and the removal of the two-story arched windows that lit the space. The firm had manufactured iron stoves, boilers, and furnaces in its plant below the escarpment since the 1880s. Engineers from the nearby firm of Keuffel and Esser leased the basement of the building, which was built on bedrock, to test motion detection devices they were developing. Historical photos revealed that the building used to have the words "POHLMANN'S HALL" painted on the top story of the east wall. A three-story addition to the rear replaced the wooden dancing platform/biergarden pavillion, with a stone foundation, brick second story, and timber third story; windows afforded a view of the water beyond Hoboken.

In the early years of the building's adaptive reuse into condominium residences (mid-1980s), the loft units, at 500 to nearly 2,000 square feet, rented for $700 per month and up. Don't expect to see anything close to those prices today! A recent ad for a two-bedroom unit was asking $3,600 a month, offering Manhattan views from a private deck.

Anonymous. "Local Picnic Grounds." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) May 17th 1889. Last ed, 1-1.

Anonymous. "Big Show Coming." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) January 26th 1899. Last ed, 4-4.

Anonymous. "Pohlmann's New Lessors." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) September 2nd 1899. Last ed, 1-1.

Anonymous. "Pohlmann's New Lessors." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) September 2nd 1899. Last ed, 1-1.

Anonymous. "No Sunday Beer in Jersey." The Evening World (New York, NY) March 25th 1889. Extra ed, 1-1.

Bienvenue, Lauren. Let's Explore: The Heights, Lynn Hazan. November 9th 2015. Accessed March 2nd 2021. https://lynnhazan.com/jersey-city/neighborhoods/lets-explore-heights/.

Charles Wyatt Associates. NRHP nomination of Pohlmann's Hall, Jersey City. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1984.

Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. Pohlmann's Hall, The Heights. Accessed March 2nd 2021. https://jclandmarks.org/map/theheights/.

Pohlmann, D. "Pohlmann's New Hotel." Evening Journal (Jersey City, NJ) May 29th 1880. 1-1.

Pohlmann's Hall. Living Lofts - For Sale or Rent, Pohlmann's Hall. New York Magazine. February 17th 1986. Vol 19(7), 165 - 165.

Rentberry, Inc.. Two Bedroom Apartment Jersey City Hudson County $3,600, Rentberry. Accessed March 5th 2021. https://rentberry.com/apartments/6348391-two-br-pohlmann-s-hall-154-ogden-avenue-jersey-city-nj-07307-usa.