For a century and a half, Montclair has been known as one of America\'s most attractive residential suburbs.
Some of the finest.
As one historian put it, when the trains came in 1856 they "completely changed the character of our town from a sparsely settled agricultural region to a community of elegant suburban homes." Elegant homes remain, and at the opening of the latest century, they lured a new surge of refugees from Gotham.
Yet for an equally long period, it was a simple, rural settlement.
For a century and a half, Montclair has been known as one of America\'s most attractive residential suburbs