If you were an automotive enthusiast, hot rodder, or racer of various types and lived anywhere in the metropolitan NY area between 1931 through the heyday of Muscle Cars, you either heard about or frequented a row of buildings in Paterson, NJ on East 29th Street between 17th and 18th Avenues, known as Gasoline Alley.
READING AN ARTICLE ABOUT NYC's HIDDEN "AUTO ALLEY"
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Credit-Gabriel Milori |
Gasoline Alley - 1938 |
IS THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO GASOLINE ALLEY?
Before the importance of Gasoline Alley can be truly appreciated, we need to take a step back in time.
The year is 1791. America's priority was creating the infrastructure necessary to build an industrial city. Alexander Hamilton in particular was concerned about developing a manufacturing sector important to Americans for the production of their own goods, jobs for the growing workforce, and significantly less reliance upon European nations for finished products.
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Hamilton's handwritten promotion of the S.U.M. |
While no specific site was mentioned, Hamilton viewed New Jersey as the logical place for the venture due to its proximity to financial interests in New York and Philadelphia, an available labor force and abundant water power. The name of the new manufacturing town, decided upon before the site was selected, was to be “Paterson” after William Paterson, New Jersey’s governor.
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The Great Falls - Credit-The History Girl |
FAST FORWARD
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Patent Arms Factory -1836 - 1842 |
BACK TO AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY

THE BIRTH OF GASOLINE ALLEY
To race at the new stadium and with many racetracks nearby, teams needed places to park their cars and maintain them. They quickly focused in on the row of garages on East 29th Street. Visiting drivers from all over the U.S. would set up shop in rented quarters while they raced in the Bronx, at Nutley, Woodbridge or HoHoKus, NJ.
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Gasoline Alley in 1938 |
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