Intrigued by incredible photos and stories of the early 20th century life and adventures of Montclair resident and elected official Arthur P. Heyer that his grandson, Charles E. Heyer, posted to a local Facebook page, the Montclair History Center invited Charles to share more of his grandfather’s story with us here on the blog – enjoy!
Arthur Provost Heyer was a man whose life was entwined in the history of Montclair throughout the first half of the 20th century. He was born in Marlboro, NJ in 1876, an era known as the second American Industrial Revolution. He married a lady from Brooklyn in 1896, and lived there for a short time, before moving to Bloomfield, NJ. Arthur was naturally mechanically inclined and was able to create with his hands anything he could think with his mind.
A young Arthur P. Heyer
Around 1900 he could see the future popularity and use of the automobile. He took the opportunity to design and build an automobile for a local gentleman. A photo of which appeared in the Montclair Times.
Heyer (left) at controls of automobile he designed and built, circa 1900
Seeing the potential for a growing business opportunity he proceeded to open Heyer’s Auto Service Co. at 34 Valley Road in Montclair and expanded with A.P. Heyer’s Welding in the rear of the building with an address of 39 Orange Rd. This auto service was one of the very first stations in north Jersey. He wisely located the business at the foot of the Bloomfield Avenue hill where early cars often had accidents. They had mechanical brakes, instead of the later hydraulic brakes, and those brakes sometimes gave out resulting in wrecks of various severity at the bottom of the hill. He was there to serve them with any repairs necessary. He also created the first 24 hour help line for motorists in trouble-- much like today’s AAA.
Advertisement announcing upcoming arrival of Heyer Auto Station to 34 Valley Road in Montclair, early 1900s
Heyer Auto Supply Co., 34 Valley Road
Advertisement, Heyer Auto Supply, “Broken Metal Parts Made as Good as New”
Advertisement, Heyer Auto Supply, “Storage Battery Service”
A.P. Heyer Welding/Repair Shop, 39 Orange Road
View from across Orange Road, looking west at the Heyer Welding/Repair Shop, 39 Orange Road. This is the present location of a parking garage.
In 1911, a Scotsman named Mr. Frank Gray began a loose group of camping Boy Scouts in the north Jersey area. The first Scouts were all from Montclair. By 1914 there were 60 Montclair boys in the Scouts. This also is the year Arthur Heyer entered scouting, traveling with the boys to camp sites—first on bicycles and then via the Erie to Midvale railroad.
By 1915, Arthur had been told of a wrecked Roget-Schneider bus in a ditch in Pennsylvania. He set about rescuing the bus and had it brought to his shop on Orange Road. He restored it and retro-fitted it to hold the scouts and their equipment. The Scouts respectfully called it “The Ark.” Very soon even the bus was too small and Arthur further modified it to pull a trailer. Now the Boy Scouts could travel to their camp sites in relative comfort.
“The Ark,” a bus that Heyer rescued and restored for use by the Boy Scouts on camping trips
In the year 1916, Arthur and Mr. F.K. Vreeland set out to locate a proper site for the scouts of the Montclair Council to have a permanent camp in New Jersey. After hiking throughout the northern parts of the state they found a large pond in Mahwah. They recommended the site to the Council. This site was found to be ideal with rolling hills of forest as well as the pond. On May 19, 1917 it was officially founded and named Camp Glen Gray, after the founder of the Boy Scouts in America.
A brick dedicated to Heyer on the 100th Anniversary of Camp Glen Gray, 2017
Mr. Heyer was involved with the Camp and the Montclair Boy Scouts for many years. He became well known for his delicious chicken dinners that he cooked many times to raise money toward the building the dam that has created the large lake at the camp. (Lake Vreeland)
As stated in the book “Thirty Years of Scout Camping” by Luther E. Price, published in 1941, “No real Glen Gray history can be written without Arthur P. Heyer being in the picture…..”
Heyer was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Camp Glen Gray, 2019
Arthur Heyer was an avid outdoorsman and traveler all his life. During these first 20 years of the 20th century, travel and camping began to be a popular leisure activity and Arthur would join right in. He decided to take the summer of 1921 and see the country with his wife and family of four boys. After months of planning, head scratching and acquiring maps and brochures on the national parks, the trip was all set. Over the winter of 1920-1921 he designed and built a pop-out camping trailer. He also bought a seven passenger 1915 Hudson 6-40 touring car—a car with a very stout reputation and able to pull the 1100-pound trailer through streams and over mountains—even though it had only 25 HP.
Building the camping trailer for cross country trip, 1921
They would leave their home at 45 North Fullerton Ave. on June 19, 1921. Many friends turned out for the event as well as a reporter for the NY Times.
The family prepares to depart their Montclair home for their cross-country trip, June 19, 1921
The family’s cross-country adventure merited a mention in the New York Times
Their trip across the country and back would span an entire four months, arriving home in mid-October. During that time, they had many adventures that Arthur wrote down in a journal that paralleled a photo album, both of which were copied and handed down to the children and now grand-children and still exist about 100 years later.
Much of their trip was on the Lincoln Highway, which in places was no more than muddy ruts. Out in Jackson Hole, WY they ran into a Mr. Chesney—also from Montclair! A day later at Yellowstone National Park that met a young fellow named Dave Harris—again from Montclair! As I said travel in the US had become a popular activity.
After a rather harrowing ride over the mountains into Jackson Hole, WY, having to cool the brakes several times in streams, Arthur proclaimed in his trip diary:
“SUCH IS THE CONFIDENCE IN THE MODERN MOTOR CAR.”
They arrived back in Montclair safe and sound on October 10, 1921 with the car and trailer intact and stories to tell.
The 1915 Hudson 6-40 touring car and the pop-out camping trailer designed and built by Heyer served the family well on their four-month cross country adventure
Being civic minded and with a love for his town, Arthur ran for a council seat in the Montclair government and won his first four-year term.
Campaign literature for Heyer’s successful council run
He always had a keen interest in the rather new area of aviation. In the 1920’s barnstorming was popular all over the country with daring young pilots putting on acrobatic shows and selling tickets for short flights around towns where they could land their planes.
This was before the days of flight instruments, and Arthur knew he had a way he could help those pilots navigate the skies. He had the Department of Public Works crew go up on the roof of the town garage on North Fullerton Ave. and paint a compass and the word “Montclair, N J” This graphic served to aid the pilots in finding their location and direction as they flew over the town on their way to the next show.
Heyer was instrumental in the establishment of an Essex County airport in aviation’s early days
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris, France. This monumental event lit a fire in Arthur. In 1928 he proposed to the Council that he saw air travel as the future, and since there were a goodly number of wealthy folks in the Montclair area who could afford an airplane, there should be a municipally operated airport built in the Montclair area. There was agreement and a committee formed to research the subject and find a proper location. The 150 acre level tract of land purchased is what we know today as Essex County Airport. Originally, it was named Marvin Airport after a Mr. Marvin who headed the fund raising effort for its purchase. During WWII we knew it as Curtiss-Wright Airport. Arthur also served as chairman of the Essex Flyer’s Club.
On October 26, 1930 the new air field opened with much fanfare and to much acclaim.
Opening day at Caldwell Airfield (originally Marvin Airport, now known as Essex County Airport), October 26, 1930
Arthur Heyer was elected to a second term on the Montclair council and served until 1932.
Heyer served two terms on the Montclair Council
Arthur was active in several businesses as well, both in NJ and New York. He was also a principal in his son Benjamin’s Belleville business, Heyer Products, which made early electronic equipment such as automobile analyzers and battery chargers. The business also had many Army contracts during WWII.
He died suddenly in February 1943 in Belleville, leaving his wife, Louise and five grown sons who followed his lead, having businesses of their own in New Jersey, Vermont and Mexico.
Arthur P. Heyer left an impressive legacy in the town in which he lived and served for forty-two years---Montclair, New Jersey.
Arthur Provost Heyer, early 1940s
This historical information has been presented to the Montclair History Center
by Arthur P. Heyer’s grandson, Charles E. Heyer (June 2020)