Jersey City
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About this ebook
Go inside the people, places and events of Jersey City with over 200 fascinating photographs that bring its past to life!
Author Patrick Shalhoub takes us on a journey into Jersey City's past. We see the farming communities which dominated the locality from the 1660s through the middle of the 19th century when the area was part of the larger Bergen Township. We then experience the arrival of the immigrants, the advent of industrialization, and the rapid growth of Jersey City from a cluster of farmsteads and villages into the second largest city in New Jersey. Immigration has been the lifeblood of Jersey City's history and through the images selected, here we witness how Jersey City sprang to life with the influx of immigrants between 1830 and 1920. At first it was Irish, German, and British, and, later, immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, including Italians, Poles, Russians, and Slovaks. African-Americans were present in Bergen Township from the early days of the city, but their numbers increased with the migration of laborers from the South in the first half of the 20th century and their important contribution to the city continued. In recent decades, new communities have grown in Jersey City, including Latin American, Asian Indian, Egyptian, Filipino, and Haitian communities. Shalhoub brings to life the people, places, and events which have created the city's vibrant and colorful history over the centuries.
Patrick B. Shalhoub
This superb collection of photographs and prints from the Jersey City Public Library combined with Patrick Shalhoub's lively and informative text will fascinate young and old, visitor and resident alike.
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Book preview
Jersey City - Patrick B. Shalhoub
mentor.
Introduction
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Lenape Indians resided throughout most of what is today the state of New Jersey. The branch of the Lenape known as the Hackensacks lived in the vicinity of Hudson and Bergen Counties, hunting and gathering shellfish. Today, only archaeological remains can tell the story of the vanished way of life of the original inhabitants of the land which became Jersey City.
From 1660 through the middle of the nineteenth century, the area which is now Jersey City was part of Bergen Township. The farmers of Bergen Township were mostly of Dutch, Flemish, English, or Huguenot heritage. Slavery was commonplace, and many African slaves were brought to Bergen Township to work on farms. The two main farming communities were at Bergen Village up on the hill and at Communipaw on the New York Bay waterfront. The first two chapters of this book offer a picture of how these two vanished communities once appeared.
Today Jersey City is made up of what were once several independent municipalities which joined together in the late nineteenth century to create the modern political boundaries of the town. The photographs in the last five chapters of the book are organized into sections reflecting the original boundaries of each town: Old Jersey City, Van Vorst Township, Hudson City, Bergen, and Greenville.
The original area called Jersey City was a small peninsula known as Paulus Hook, which jutted out into the Hudson River. Van Vorst Township occupied the surrounding riverfront meadows. Jersey City became fully independent of Bergen Township in 1838, and Van Vorst followed soon after in 1841, only to be annexed to Jersey City in 1851.
Up on Bergen Hill, new municipalities were carved out of Bergen Township: Hudson City was formed in 1855, and Greenville became independent in 1863. What remained of Bergen Township was re-incorporated as Bergen City in 1868. Between 1869 and 1870, Hudson City, Bergen City, and Jersey City united, reversing the trend of municipal fragmentation. When Greenville merged with Jersey City in 1873, the modern boundaries of the city were finally set in place.
The second largest city in New Jersey, Jersey City has been, and continues to be, a city of immigrants and their families. Between 1830 and 1880 waves of Irish, German, and British immigrants settled throughout Jersey City, which had become a thriving center of industry and transportation. Many native-born Americans moved into Jersey City during the same time period, frequently commuting daily to their businesses in New York City. Meanwhile, the descendants of the early farmers frequently grew rich, as their agricultural lands were subdivided into suburban and urban real estate developments.
Settlement patterns were varied in nineteenth-century Jersey City. As English-speaking Protestants, the British immigrants assimilated quickly into the native-born population of Jersey City. Irish families resided in almost every part of the city, but, as Catholics, they needed to create their own institutions and communities. The German immigrants, set apart by their distinct language and culture, transformed their Hudson City neighborhoods into a little Germany.
Between 1880 and 1920, immigrants from southern and eastern Europe began to settle in Jersey City. Among these groups, the Italians, Poles, Russians, and Slovaks created the most visible communities. The Italians settled in the western neighborhoods of the Downtown section as well as in the Marion section on the west side of town. The immigrants from eastern Europe tended to reside near their workplaces along the heavily industrialized waterfront. During the 1930s and’40s, all of these ethnic groups began to spread throughout the city.
The descendants of the African slaves of Bergen Township resided mostly in the central areas of Jersey City in parts of the Bergen and Lafayette sections. The African-American population increased during the middle of the twentieth century as farm laborers from the southern United States migrated north into the cities.
In the 1950s, the Puerto Rican immigrants were the first of many Latin American groups to arrive in Jersey City, settling primarily Downtown. Today, the Asian Indian, Egyptian, Filipino, and Haitian communities are also growing rapidly.
Hopefully, this pictorial history will provide a glimpse into Jersey City’s rich heritage for both current and former residents to enjoy.
Patrick B. Shalhoub
September 1995
One
Old Bergen
A Map of Bergen Square and Vicinity, c. 1882. Bergen Township was one of the earliest locations of European settlement in what is now the state of New Jersey. The street plan of the town was originally surveyed and laid out by Jacques Cortelyou in 1660. The four city blocks bounded by Newkirk Street, Van Reypen Street, Vroom Street, and Tuers Avenue approximate the location of the wooden fortifications constructed to protect the early settlers in the Dutch colony.
The Bergen Reformed Church, First Building. The oldest incorporated religious organization in New Jersey was the Dutch Reformed Church of Bergen. Initially, the congregation assembled in a simple building made of logs. By 1680, the community had become prosperous enough to erect the small, octagonally-shaped stone church at the southwest corner of Vroom Street and Bergen Avenue.