Historian and author Walter E. Boright, Ed.D.
This old building, erected about 1898, served as the chapel for Upsala College when the college was first located from 1898 to 1899 in an old farmhouse close to the corner of the Boulevard and N. 20th St. when Kenilworth was still part of New Orange. The chapel stood along the east side of the college building at about where Jimmy Buff’s restaurant is now located. In 1899 the college move to new quarters at the top of N. 21st St. The former chapel then became the public school for lower elementary grades until the old McKinley School on the Boulevard near N. 18th St. opened in 1902. Before long the little building was moved around the corner to the east side of N. 20th St. in what nowadays is the parking lot at the rear of the Backyard Grill Restaurant. From about 1906 to 1910 it was used as Kenilworth’s second post office by then postmaster John T. Kanane. After the post office moved in 1910 to the Kanane building that once stood on Washington Ave., the tiny building served other purposes. One was being utilized as the local jail. The structure was demolished in the 1940s. Standing at the doorway when it served as the post office is an unidentified woman and a collie dog.
Research and photo provided by Walter E. Boright, Ed. D., historian, and Historic Signs, Inc. Persons with inquiries about this or other aspects of Kenilworth history may contact Dr. Boright at drbori@aol.com or 908-256-5200
