This article was excerpted from Images of America: Allendale.
The story of the Celery Farm began in 1866 with John Zabriskie of Hohokus purchasing the Wolf Swamp (Celery Farm area) for use as a peat farm. Henry J. Appert purchased the property in 1888 and renamed it the Allendale Produce Gardens. In 1915, Arthur Appert bought out his father’s interest in the venture. The 100-plus acres were the basis of a flourishing enterprise that sent lettuce, onions, and celery (with the brand names Triple A and King Arthur) to Philadelphia, New York, Paterson, Boston and to the Campbell Soup Company in Camden. In 1943, Appert retired, selling the business to McBride Inc. of Paterson.
Beginning in 1977, Mayor Fitzpatrick led the effort to purchase the Celery Farm from the McBride family. He obtained the services of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF), a nonprofit organization, who purchased the property in 1979 for $170,000. The NJCF held it as the borough applied for Green Acre funds. In 1981, the NJCF sold the 60-acre Celery Farm wildlife sanctuary to Allendale.
In the 1970s, Mayor Ed Fitzpatrick began an effort for the borough to preserve the open space bordered by Franklin Turnpike and Cottage Place. The McBride family, who had owned the property since World War II, sold it to the New Jersey Conservation Federation, which sold it to Allendale in 1981. Additional acreage was purchased in later years, and Stiles Thomas was appointed by the council to the newly created post of marsh warden to oversee the 107-acre nature sanctuary, known today as the Celery Farm. On September 30, 1983, former mayor Edward Fitzpatrick (left) and Allendale resident Stiles Thomas (right) accepted the Conservationist of the Year Award from Thomas G. Gilmore, executive director of the New Jersey Audubon Society, for their leadership in preserving the Celery Farm.
Since then, an additional 47 acres have been added. In 2003, Allendale honored Stiles Thomas for his dedication and efforts toward preserving and maintaining the Celery Farm Natural Area with a new welcoming center and a plaque, located at the entry to the sanctuary.
On September 13, 2008, Allendale celebrated Thomas’s 25 years as marsh warden with “Stiles Thomas Day.” On October 27, 2013, in recognition of her longtime efforts to preserve a 20-acre parcel known as the Allendale Wetlands, Lillian Thomas, Stiles’ spouse, was recognized with a mayoral proclamation and subsequently with a plaque near Yeomans Lane. The Allendale Wetlands were renamed the Lillian Thomas Natural Area.