North Bergen, New Jersey | ||
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Township | ||
Township of North Bergen | ||
North Bergen with the Lower Manhattan skyline in the distance | ||
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Map highlighting North Bergen within Hudson County. Inset: Location of Hudson County in New Jersey. | ||
Census Bureau map of North Bergen, New Jersey | ||
Coordinates: 40°47?39?N 74°01?30?W / 40.794175°N 74.02496°W / 40.794175; -74.02496Coordinates: 40°47?39?N 74°01?30?W / 40.794175°N 74.02496°W / 40.794175; -74.02496 | ||
Country | United States | |
State | New Jersey | |
County | Hudson | |
Incorporated | April 10, 1843 | |
Government | ||
o Type | Walsh Act | |
o Mayor | Nicholas Sacco (term ends April 30, 2015) | |
o Clerk | Erin Barillas | |
Area | ||
o Total | 5.575 sq mi (14.438 km2) | |
o Land | 5.134 sq mi (13.296 km2) | |
o Water | 0.441 sq mi (1.142 km2) 7.91% | |
Area rank | 267th of 566 in state 5th of 12 in county | |
Elevation | 112 ft (34 m) | |
Population (2010 Census) | ||
o Total | 60,773 | |
o Estimate (2012 ) | 61,960 | |
o Rank | 23rd of 566 in state 4th of 12 in county | |
o Density | 11,838.0/sq mi (4,570.7/km2) | |
o Density rank | 21st of 566 in state 8th of 12 in county | |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | |
o Summer (DST) | Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4) | |
ZIP code | 07047 | |
Area code(s) | 201/551 | |
FIPS code | 3401752470 | |
GNIS feature ID | 0882223 | |
Website | http://www.northbergen.org |
North Bergen is located at 40°47?39?N 74°01?30?W / 40.794175°N 74.02496°W / 40.794175; -74.02496 (40.794175,-74.02496). According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 5.575 square miles (14.438 km2), of which, 5.134 square miles (13.296 km2) of it is land and 0.441 square miles (1.142 km2) of it (7.91%) is water.
The township is roughly shaped like an inverted "L". It northern section stretches east-west and is south of Bergen County. Its north-south section lies between Secaucus to the west and Guttenberg, West New York, and Union City, which with it meets Jersey City at a single point at its southern end.
North Bergen has a diverse geological features. Partially situated on the North River, the Hudson Palisades rise from the waterfront, while the northern part of the town sits atop the plateau. The cuesta, or slope, on the west side of area makes North Bergen the city with the second most hills per square mile in the United States after San Francisco, some of which are extremely steep. A rock formation along the slope (located at 40°48?27?N 74°01?05?W / 40.80750°N 74.01806°W / 40.80750; -74.01806) is composed of unusual serpentinite rock and made up of small rock cliffs. Because of this, it is one of the few undeveloped parts of North Bergen. Low-lying areas along the west side are part of the New Jersey Meadowlands. The unusual shape and diverse topography of North Bergen have create a diverse historical and contemporary neighborhoods.
North Bergen is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a total population of 60,773, reflecting an increase of 2,681 (+4.6%) from the 58,092 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 9,678 (+20.0%) from the 48,414 counted in the 1990 Census. Originally founded in 1843, the town was much diminished in territory by a series of secessions. Situated on the Hudson Palisades, it is one of the "hilliest" municipalities in the United States. Like neighboring North Hudson communities, North Bergen is among those places in the nation with the highest population density and a majority Hispanic population.
At the time of European colonization. the area was the territory of Hackensack tribe of the Lenape, who maintained a settlement, Espatingh, on the west side of the hills. and where a Dutch trading post was established after the Peach Tree War. In 1658, Peter Stuyvesant, then Director-General of New Netherland, repurchased from them the area now encompassed by the municipalities of Hudson County east of the Hackensack River. In 1660 he granted permission to establish the semi-autonomous colony of Bergen, with the main village located at today's Bergen Square, considered to be the first chartered municipality in what would became the state of New Jersey. At the time, the area of North Bergen was heavily forested, traversed by paths used by the indigenous and colonizing population and became known as Bergen Woods, a name recalled in today's neighborhood. After the 1664 surrender of Fort Amsterdam the entire New Netherland colony came into the possession of the British, who established the Province of New Jersey. In 1682, the East Jersey legislature formed the state's first four counties, including Bergen County, which consisted of all the land in the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers; that is, the eastern portions of what today is Bergen and Hudson Counties. In 1693, Bergen County was divided into two townships: Hackensack Township in the north, and Bergen Township, encompassing the Bergen Neck peninsula, in the south. The border between the two townships is the current Hudson-Bergen county line. While settlement was sparse, communities developed along the Bergen Turnpike at the Three Pigeons and Maisland, later New Durham. French botanist André Michaux developed his gardens nearby. On the Hudson River, Bulls Ferry became an important landing for crossings to Manhattan. While ostensibly under British control during the American Revolutionary War, the area was patrolled by the Americans on foraging, espionage, and raiding expeditions; most notably the Battle of Bull's Ferry.
On February 22, 1838, Jersey City was incorporated as a separate municipality, and in 1840 Hudson County, comprising the city and Bergen Township, was created from the southern portion of Bergen County. North Bergen was incorporated as a township on April 10, 1843, by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature, from the northern portion of Bergen Township. At the time, the town included everything east of the Hackensack River and north of and including what is now Jersey City Heights. The entire region which is now known as North Hudson experienced massive immigration and urbanization during the latter half of the 19th century, and led to the creation of various new towns. Portions of the North Bergen were taken to form Hoboken Township (April 9, 1849, now the City of Hoboken), Hudson Town (April 12, 1852, later part of Hudson City), Hudson City (April 11, 1855, later merged with Jersey City), Guttenberg (formed within the township on March 9, 1859, and set off as an independent municipality on April 1, 1878), Weehawken (March 15, 1859), Union Township and West Hoboken Township (both created on February 28, 1861), Union Hill town (March 29, 1864) and Secaucus (March 12, 1900). During this era many of Hudson County's cemeteries were developed along the town's western slope of the Hudson Palisades. At their foot in the Meadowlands the Erie, the New York, Susquehanna and Western, and the West Shore railroads ran right-of-ways to their terminals on the Hudson, the last building its tunnel through Bergen Hill at North Bergen. The area was important destination during peak German immigration to the United States, and is recalled today in Schuetzen Park, founded in 1874. Further north, the Guttenburg Racetrack became a notable and notorious destination which after its closing became a proving ground for new technologies, the automobile and the airplane. [21][22][23]
The development of Hudson County Boulevard, now known by its two sections which meet in North Hudson Park, Kennedy Boulevard and Boulevard East, was completed in the early 20th century,and by 1913 it was considered to be fine for "motoring".[24] Residential districts along and between the boulevards were developed.[25][26] Bergenline Avenue, a broad street which accommodated the North Hudson County Railway streetcars[27] to Nungesser's became (and remains) an important commercial and transit corridor. In 1935, in one of the most stunning upsets in boxing history, local hero James J. Braddock won the world heavyweight championship. A resident of the town until his death, the county park in North Bergen is now named for him.[28] Soon after the opening of the Lincoln Tunnel Approach, the Susquehanna Transfer was built to accommodate passengers who wished to transfer to buses through the tunnel. At the time of its construction in 1949 the WOR TV Tower, in the midst the residential Woodcliff Section,[29] was the tenth-tallest man-made structure in the world.[30] In the early 1960s two notable paleontological finds of fossils from the Newark Basin were made near the foot of the cliffs at one of several former quarries, the Granton, of which today's avenue is a namsake.[31][32][33] The former quarry remained an archeological site until at least 1980.[34] In contrast to other Hudson County communities during the latter half of the century, North Bergen grew significantly in population. Many residents are part of the wave of Spanish language speakers which had begun in the 1960s with Cuban émigrés, leading to the moniker "Havana on the Hudson" for the North Hudson area.[35][36]
At the time of European colonization. the area was the territory of Hackensack tribe of the Lenape, who maintained a settlement, Espatingh, on the west side of the hills. and where a Dutch trading post was established after the Peach Tree War. In 1658, Peter Stuyvesant, then Director-General of New Netherland, repurchased from them the area now encompassed by the municipalities of Hudson County east of the Hackensack River. In 1660 he granted permission to establish the semi-autonomous colony of Bergen, with the main village located at today's Bergen Square, considered to be the first chartered municipality in what would became the state of New Jersey. At the time, the area of North Bergen was heavily forested, traversed by paths used by the indigenous and colonizing population and became known as Bergen Woods, a name recalled in today's neighborhood. After the 1664 surrender of Fort Amsterdam the entire New Netherland colony came into the possession of the British, who established the Province of New Jersey. In 1682, the East Jersey legislature formed the state's first four counties, including Bergen County, which consisted of all the land in the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers; that is, the eastern portions of what today is Bergen and Hudson Counties. In 1693, Bergen County was divided into two townships: Hackensack Township in the north, and Bergen Township, encompassing the Bergen Neck peninsula, in the south. The border between the two townships is the current Hudson-Bergen county line. While settlement was sparse, communities developed along the Bergen Turnpike at the Three Pigeons and Maisland, later New Durham. French botanist André Michaux developed his gardens nearby. On the Hudson River, Bulls Ferry became an important landing for crossings to Manhattan. While ostensibly under British control during the American Revolutionary War, the area was patrolled by the Americans on foraging, espionage, and raiding expeditions; most notably the Battle of Bull's Ferry.