Ficken's Warehouse

John H. Ficken emigrated from his native Germany to New York City in 1857; he moved across the bay to Jersey City six years later at age 22. Ficken worked as a Pullman ticket agent at the Erie Railroad Station. In 1880 he and George H. Bunnell partnered as undertakers in the firm Ficken & Bunnell (on Henderson St. and Communipaw Ave.); Ficken had been an undertaker since 1873. Ficken and Bunnell parted ways, and Ficken was a livery stable owner by the early 1890s. One evening in 1893, Ficken was sweeping dirt (likely combined with horse droppings) from the street in front of his stables on Arlington Avenue and placed the dirt pile in front of a house owned by George J. Taylor at Arlington and Communipaw Avenues. Taylor was not pleased and began shoveling the dirt "back where it came from." Ficken objected and warned Taylor to stop of he would horsewhip him. When Taylor did not stop, Ficken horsewhipped Taylor "in a very energetic manner"; Ficken was held for trial at the local criminal court under $500 bond.

Ficken was building a new, three-story brick building on Harmon Street by April 1894; the local newspaper estimated the building's cost to be $4,600. The 1896 Sanborn map shows the John H. Ficken Livery & Boarding Stable complex of three brick buildings, on the north side of Harmon St./west side of Arlington Ave., with no buildings at the future location of this entry (on the south side of Harmon St./west side of Arlington Ave.). The new building appears to have been the three-story building at 60-62 Harmon Street, to the rear of Ficken's two-story brick building (58 Harmon St.); the two-story building was attached to the rear of Ficken's building that fronted Arlington Avenue (413-415 Arlington). The complex has been demolished, and stood on the north side of Harmon Street, across the street from the building in this entry (this entry is on the south side of Harmon street, at 411 Arlington Avenue, in the older street address numbering system).

In May 1897, Ficken petitioned the Jersey City Board of Street and Water Commissioners for permission to pave one half the width of the carriageway of Harmon Street from Arlington Avenue to the rear of his property, at his own expense. A public auction was held in January 1906 at John H. Ficken's combination warehouse and stable at Arlington Avenue and Harmon Street; items seized from a raid of a gambling establishment in Hoboken, New Jersey were up for auction. A number of items were bought by Mr. Ficken, including a silver-plated ice water cooler for which he paid $9.50. Ficken bought the vacant lot across Harmon street in 1906; ground was broken in the summer of 1910 for the new building along Arlington, Grand, and Harmon.

Ficken and his family lived at the complex on the north side of Harmon in 1910, while he was having the building built on the the south side of Harmon; a1910 ad for Ficken's storage warehouses guarantees to keep stored items safe and mentions that the proprietor lives on the premises (see image attached). The 1910 census lists the family's address as 413 Arlington. John H., Sr. was the 69-year-old proprietor of a storage house; his third wife, Lena (age 53) was a New York native. The couple had been married for 36 years and had four children. Two of the Ficken children lived with their parents: Grace (25) and John H., Jr. (30). John H. Jr. worked as a foreman in the storage house and lived with his wife of two years, Essie. John Sr. and Lena's address was 415 Arlington in the 1918 city directory, and John Jr. resided at 44 Harmon. John Sr. is reported to have died in 1917; in 1925, his widow still lived at 415 Arlington, and Jonn Jr. was not listed in the city directory.

The building remained in the family's ownership for decades, leasing out the ground floor to the postal service until 1960; the post office first agreed to lease space in the future building in 1909. The son-in-law of John St. and Lena Ficken, Edwin Geils, then used the building for storage once again, up to 1975. The dilapidated, abandoned building went into foreclosure and became the property of Jersey City, The building was owned by Arlington Associates by 1983, with the aim to create housing. The current incarnation of the three-story building, the Arlington Arms Apartments, contains 35 rental units in the renovated spaces. The residences are reserved for those who qualify for low-income subsidized housing.

Affordable Housing Network. Arlington arms, 750-766 Grand St., PublicHousing.com. January 1st 2021. Accessed February 18th 2021. https://www.publichousing.com/details/arlington_arms.

Anonymous. "Board of Aldermen. Official Proceedings." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) February 4th 1892. Last ed, 2-2.

Anonymous. "Ficken Horsewhipped Taylor." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) February 28th 1893. Last ed, 1-1.

Anonymous. "Real Estate News." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) April 14th 1894. Last ed, 2-2.

Anonymous. "Board of Street and Water Commissioners." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) May 29th 1897. Last ed, 3-3.

Anonymous. "Ficken Fined." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) March 16th 1899. Last ed, 1-1.

Anonymous. "Gambling House Fixtures Sold." Jersey City News (Jersey City, NJ) January 27th 1906. Last ed, 1-1.

CoStar Group, Inc.. Arlington Arms Apartments, Apartments.com. January 1st 2021. Accessed February 18th 2021. https://www.apartments.com/arlington-arms-apartments-jersey-city-nj/rmm8dq0/#descriptionSection.

Gonzalez, Laura. Ficken's Warehouse, Street to the Left. Accessed February 24th 2021. http://streettotheleft.weebly.com/fickens-warehouse.html.

R. L. Polk & Co.. Polk's Jersey City and Hoboken Directory, 1910-1911. New York, NY. R. L. Polk & Co., 1911.

R. L. Polk & Co.. Polk's Jersey City and Hoboken Directory, 1918-1919. New York, NY. R. L. Polk & Co., 1918.

R. L. Polk & Co.. Polk's Jersey City and Hoboken Directory, 1925-1926. New York, NY. R. L. Polk & Co., 1925.

U.S. Census. Household of John H. Ficken [Sr.] at 413 Arlington Avenue, Jersey City Ward 8 District 152, NJ, dwelling 153, family 226. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1910.

Wyatt, Charles. NRHP nomination of Ficken's Warehouse, aka Bergen Post Office, Jersey City. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1983.