Garden State Crematory

The building before you began its life in the middle of the nineteenth century as a private residence known as Becker’s Castle. It was constructed by Louis Becker, a German immigrant who built a fortune through aggressive real estate speculation in Hudson County. He was a flamboyant figure who once auctioned off parcels of land to New Yorkers sight unseen, leaving many buyers to discover their new properties were little more than mosquito-ridden marshes. Becker lived in his stone estate until his death in eighteen ninety-five, and his family resided there until the turn of the century.