~~ September 22, 1981

Messrs. Capriola & Schurley

Hendrickson’s Restaurant

671 Broadway

Bayonne, New Jersey

Dear Sirs

: My brother Clarence and I wish to extend to you our best wishes for your success as the owners of “Hendrickson’s Restaurant”. We also wish to congratulate you on the restoration work you have done to the exterior of the building. It was gratifying to see that you have retained the original design and paint work.

In 1933 when we decided to renovate the building we engaged the service of a Bavarian architect, Mr. F. Gretuer. He did all the work both inside and outside and gave it as much of the European look as he could. The windows were designed and made by a man who specialized in making stained glass windows for churches. In the beginning he made little metal figures and placed them in the corners of the windows, but like everything else, people began to pick them off. The art work inside was done by a German artist, Hans Grau. Clarence was very proud of the man behind the bar. He, like the man on the barrel outside of the building, was painted a golden bronze and was greatly admired by everyone. Clarence was also proud of the ceiling in the bar room. It was made of a special formula which was rather hard to duplicate. The moose head was presented to us by a prominent Bayonne jeweler, Mr. Sam Cooper. We wanted an elk head, but we appreciated Mr. Cooper’s kindness. In the beginning we had some lovely imported beer steins on the Dutch shelf, but they were gradually taken away.

My father, Charles G. Hendrickson, bought the building from a man named Wolf. At that time Broadway was Avenue D and 31st Street was Maple Street. There was a small drugstore across the street and a little church on Avenue C. The rest was dirt roads and fields.

The building was very important at the time. If it could talk, it would tell you that father had a saloon on the main floor, the second floor was the Town Meeting Hall, the Board of Education, and the Police headquarters; in the cellar on the 31st street side was a cell or jail, for whatever prisoners they might have. Later on, as they moved out, the hall became the social hall for all important events and political meetings. The first Swedish Church began its services on the second floor. The top floor housed such groups as the Spanish War Veterans, Labor organizations, the Odd Fellows, and the German Mennechor, a group of singers.

On the first Tuesday in June the workers of Borax Company assembled in front of the building with their band at 8 am. They were all dressed in white, and after the band gave a concert for one half hour, they all marched down to the boat and left for their picnic. This was all very nice, but the nicest thing of all was the respect everyone held for my father and his place. He was a fine, respected gentleman, who would tolerate no nonsense. He, and later my brother, maintained this respect throughout the community.

I hope I have not bored you by all this, but I thought you might be interested in the history of the place you now own.

Very Truly, Florence Hendrickson

ABout

Hendrickson's Corner

The Hendrickson Family owned the restaurant for 80 years. The Czaplicki Family were the proud owners from 1967-1981. In 1981, The Capriola Family took ownership and continued the tradition for another 33 years. In 2014, the O'Neill Family became the proud new owners of Hendrickson's Corner and hope to carry on this legacy for many years to come.

Hendrickson’s Corner has proudly served the Bayonne Community since it was originally established in 1884. Below is a copy of a letter from Florence Hendrickson', the daughter of the founder, Charles G. Hendrickson. Florence offers a bit of history about the building at 671 Broadway and the restaurant proudly owned by the Hendrickson Family for 80 years.