Leaving Santa Croce is a local, family, business, and environmental history, set in Bergen County, northern New Jersey. Larson and Trocano make the significant case that the county’s history is directly linked to the Costa family’s success in their wholesale nursery business. Bergen County’s Dutch settlers were the first Europeans to have landscaped gardens, being the leaders in the decorative arts and horticulture on the Continent during the 17th century.
The work begins with a short history of the county, specifically Hackensack, the town to which Salvatore “Sam” Costa immigrated in 1901. The storyline follows Sam and his family, along with events in the area, as he establishes and greatly succeeds in his grocery business until he retires in 1946. His son, Carmen, sets up his own market, taking over his father’s accounts. Over the years, the Costas had heavily depended upon their ethnic Italian customer base. By the late 1950s, however, Costa’s base was shrinking and the new shopping centers were competitors. As a result, Carmen switched to the wholesale nursery business in 1963. Because Bergen County had grand traditions of landscaped farms and estates, Costa couldn’t have picked a better business to go into. Maine Evergreen Nursery, Inc. beautified much of the New York metropolitan region over the next fifty years, including some of the wealthiest home grounds. In relating this history, Larson and Trocano detail interesting “green” industry business factors.
Leaving Santa Croce is one of the few immigration stories that folds family history into the context of the region’s background, making it a rare chronological study. The added cultural and business dimensions make it unique.
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