User:Michaelalahue/Anthony Pio Costa II

Antonio Pio Costa I was from Sant’Arsenio, Province of Salerno, Italy. He came to the United States in the early 1900’s, before 1910, looking for work as all the immigrants did. He returned to Italy to find a wife. Antonia Francesca Grecco, came from a very wealthy landowning family in San Rufo, a small town near Sant’Arsenio. The Grecco family estate encompassed much of the town property including farms and businesses. Antonia was a very young girl when she married Antonio. The couple then moved to the United States and settled with other relatives in Orange, NJ. Antonia was a homemaker.

Anthony Pio Costa II, was born in 1914. He had one brother and four sisters. He began working at the age of 6 selling newspapers, pots and pans and other items in the streets of Orange, NJ. When he was older he sold cigars. He was educated through the Orange school system and went on to start school at NYU in New York City. When he was 21 his father became ill and passed away. My father and his older sister Theresa then had to take over as heads of the family and share responsibilities, as their mother did not speak English and had no formal education. Later Anthony and his brother served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II while Theresa continued to keep the family united.

Theresa put herself through school and had a teacher’s education degree. Anthony Pio Costa II and Theresa helped further their three sisters’ education allowing them to receive their degrees. Theresa married a large contractor out of NYC and purveyed upon him to give her brother a start, which he did. Anthony acquired some construction equipment and opened the Orange Contracting Company based at their home in Orange. By now Theresa’s husband, Bill, helped Anthony get jobs. Many of these were paving and excavating jobs in NYC. Gradually he became very successful at what he was doing. He continued schooling and entered law school at NYU. He was interested in being a real-estate lawyer. As a result of the time constraints associated with supporting his entire family and working around the clock he had to quit law school. Despite his desire to complete his degree, a professor told him he was burning out and, recognizing his talents in construction, guided him to focus in that direction.

He did paving work and other jobs across the West Essex area (Essex County, NJ). After returning from service he married a woman from Caldwell (NJ), Rosalind Petrulio. At this time he was being contracted in NYC to remove granite cobblestones and haul them out to NJ. Initially, he deposited the stones in the parking lot behind his mother-in-law’s apartment building in Caldwell. Upon realizing what the “Belgian Blocks” were worth, he began advertising the sale of them to local contractors and builders. Later, he hauled them to property he purchased in West Caldwell and eventually to another parcel in Fairfield. He was so successful as one of the sole providers of these blocks that he became known as the “NJ Belgian Block King”.

After his marriage, he moved to Caldwell and shortly after decided to buy property in Essex Fells to build his home. In 1950, he moved into the home he built. With the savings and income from his contracting business he began to invest in land. He developed and subdivided the property at 245 Fairfield Avenue in West Caldwell (NJ) selling the first of several lots to the Johnson Scale Company. Today the property is a very successful industrial complex. Anthony was a pioneer in developing similar complexes in the Fairfield area. He then took his energies to a property at 1275 Bloomfield Avenue where he originally wanted to put up a shopping center. Ironically, shopping centers did not even exist at the time. Since his thoughts were ahead of his time, he decided to try for light industrial buildings that the town did approve.

He continued to invest his funds in other areas of NJ such as Morris County, the Township of Montville, Mt Arlington and Roxbury, and later in Riverdale and Warren County in the Hackettstown area. In Fairfield he catered to the small “mom and pop” business owners in the area who found the location very convenient and many of them opened their first businesses in the industrial park. As it became better known larger companies came in, but still today the tenancy remains loyal to the original concept. Anthony was also active within the community with charitable interest groups such as the Caldwell-West Essex Kiwanis Club, James Caldwell Post No. 185 of the American Legion and West Essex Unico. In his efforts he was awarded many times for his contributions.

His goals were to teach his children and to provide for future generations of his family. He passed away before his time at the age of 60 leaving his legacy, reaching many of his goals and becoming a household name as “Mr. West Essex”.

Bibliography

http://www.rensselaercommercialproperties.com/about.htm?History-1

Internal Related Links

Carmen Pio Costa:

External Related Links

Pio Costa Enterprises Rensselaer Commercial Properties Anthony Pio Costa Memorial Library Robin Pio Costa-Lahue Anthony Pio Costa IV