Before and After: Reimagining Hoboken Architecture

Story by Jack Silbert
Photos by Peter Kubilus and Joe Epstein
Additional Photos courtesy of the Hoboken Historical Museum, Mowery Marsh Architects, Halstead and Liberty Real Estate

Shopping in Walgreens, you stretch for a moment, looking upward. Whoa… pretty ornate for a drug store, huh? The beautiful high ceiling, light fixtures, old clock, majestic columns… Stepping outside, you realize that this was once the Hoboken Bank for Savings, built in 1929.

Hoboken is a lot like that: a fascinating mix of old and new, a thoroughly modern city maintaining the charm of its storied past. “You can walk around big areas of Hoboken and really get a sense of what the town looked like when it was built in the late 19th century,” says Bob Foster, director of the Hoboken Historical Museum.

The following are just a handful of the classic buildings that have been renovated and reimagined: testaments to the town’s continuing character…