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At the time of first European contact, Bergen County was inhabited by Native
American people, particularly the Lenape groups of the Tappan, Hackensack and
Rumachenanck (later called the Haverstraw).[4] Today, some of the Ramapough
Mountain Indians who reside in the northwest of the county trace their ancestry
back to the Lenape and Munsee peoples.[5]
The area comprising today's Bergen and Hudson counties was part of New
Netherland, the 17th century North American colonial province of the Dutch
Republic. It had been claimed after Henry Hudson (sailing for the Dutch East
India Company) explored Newark Bay and anchored his ship at Weehawken Cove in
1609.[6]
Early settlement attempts by the Dutch included Pavonia (1633), Vriessendael
(1640) and Achter Col (1642) but these settlements were repelled in Kieft's War
(1643-1645) and the Peach Tree War (1655-1660).[7][8] Settlers again returned to
the western shores of the Hudson in the 1660 formation of Bergen, which would
become the first permanent European settlement in the territory of the modern
state of New Jersey.[9]
During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, on August 27, 1664, New Amsterdam surrendered
to the English Navy.[citation needed] The Province of New Jersey was then formed
in 1674. In 1679, Bergen was included in a judicial district with Essex,
Monmouth and Middlesex counties, while the territory was called East Jersey, a
proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony).[citation needed] In 1683,
Bergen (along with the three other counties) was officially recognized as an
independent county by the Provincial Assembly.[10]
The origin of the name of Bergen County is a matter of debate. It is believed
that the County is named for one of the earliest settlements, Bergen, in the
location of modern day Hudson County. However, the source of the name of the
settlement is under wide debate. Several sources attribute the name to Bergen,
Norway, while others attribute it to Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands. Still
others attribute it to the Dutch word meaning "hill" or "place of safety".[11]
Some sources say that the name is derived from one of the earliest settlers of
Nieuw Amsterdam (now New York City), Hans Hansen Bergen, a native of Norway, who
arrived in New Netherlands in 1633.[12][13]
Initially, Bergen County consisted of only the land between the Hudson and the
Hackensack Rivers, extending north to the border between East Jersey and New
York.[14] In January 1709, the boundaries were extended to include all the
current territory of Hudson County (formed in 1840), and portions of Passaic
County (formed in 1837). The 1709 borders were described as follows.[14]
"Beginning at Constable's Hook, so along the bay and Hudson's River to the
partition point between New Jersey and the province of New York; along this line
and the line between East and West Jersey† to the Pequaneck River; down the
Pequaneck and Passaic Rivers to the sound; and so following the sound to
Constable's Hook the place of beginning."
† The line between East and West Jersey here referred to is not the line finally
adopted and known as the Lawrence line, which was run by John Lawrence in
September and October, 1743. It was the compromise line agreed upon between
Governors Coxe and Barclay in 1682, which ran a little north of Morristown to
the Passaic River; thence up the Pequaneck to forty-one degrees of north
latitude; and thence by a straight line due east to the New York State line.
This line being afterward objected to by the East Jersey proprietors, the latter
procured the running of the Lawrence line.[14]
Bergen saw several battles and troop movements during the American Revolutionary
War. Fort Lee's location atop the New Jersey Palisades, opposite Fort Washington
in Manhattan, made it a strategic position during the war. In November, 1776
Fort Lee, the site of an American fortification, was abandoned when British
troops began crossing the river. The American forces staged a retreat through
present-day Englewood and Teaneck, and across the Hackensack River at New Bridge
Landing, one of the few sites where the river was crossed by a bridge. With the
British in pursuit, this retreat allowed American forces to escape capture and
regroup for subsequent successes against the British elsewhere in New Jersey
later that winter.[15] The Baylor Massacre took place in 1778 in River Vale,
resulting in severe losses for the Continentals.[16]
Bergen and Passaic counties, 1872
In 1840, Hudson County was formed from Bergen. These two divisions lost roughly
13,000 residents (nearly half of the previous population) from the county's
rolls.[17]
In 1852, the Erie Railroad began operating major rail services from Jersey City
on the Hudson River to points north and west via leased right-of-way in the
county. This became known as the Erie Main Line, and is still in use for
passenger service today.[18]
In the late 19th century, state law was changed to allow easy formation of
municipalities with the Borough form of government. This led to the Boroughitis
phenomenon where many new municipalities were created in a span of a few
years.[19]
On January 11, 1917, the Kingsland Explosion took place at a munitions factory
in what is today Lyndhurst.[20] The explosion is believed to be an act of
sabotage by German agents, as the munitions in question were destined for
Russia, part of the U.S.'s effort to supply allies before entrance into World
War I.[21] After the U.S. entry into the war in April 1917, Camp Merritt was
created in eastern Bergen County for troop staging. Beginning operations in
August 1917, it housed 50,000 soldiers at a time, staging them for deployment to
Europe via Hoboken. Camp Merritt was decommissioned in November, 1919.[22]
In 1931, the George Washington Bridge was completed, linking Fort Lee to
Manhattan. This connection would spur development in the post-World War II era,
developing much of the county to suburban levels. A second deck of traffic on
the bridge was completed in 1962, expanding its capacity to 14 lanes.[23]
In 1955, the U.S. Army created a Nike Missile station at Campgaw Mountain (in
the west of the county) for the defense of the New York Metropolitan Area from
strategic bombers. In 1959, the site was upgraded to house Nike-Hercules
Missiles with increased range, speed and payload characteristics. The missile
site closed in June 1971.[24]
In 2004, Bergen County and neighboring Passaic County were ranked by Forbes as
the second most overpriced place in the nation. In 2005, they ranked
seventh.[25]
In 2005, Bergen had the fourth-highest median property tax of any county in the
nation at $6,846, the second highest in New Jersey behind Hunterdon.[26][27] In
2006, Bergen County homeowners paid a median of $7,237, a 5.7% increase over the
previous year. However, the county dropped a position in the rankings, with only
the fifth highest median property tax bill in the country, and third highest in
New Jersey behind top-ranked Hunterdon county at $7,999 and #4 Somerset County
at $7,318.[28] The prospect of property tax relief prompted County Executive
Dennis McNerney to call for municipalities with populations less than 10,000 in
Bergen County to merge, saying "The surest way to significantly lower
homeowners' property taxes is to merge small towns and reduce administrative
overhead." Thirty-five of Bergen County's municipalities have less than 10,000
residents each.[29]
[edit] Geography
Bergen County, 1896
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 247 square
miles (639 km˛), of which, 234 square miles (606 km˛) of it is land and 13
square miles (33 km˛) of it (5.12%) is water.
The highest elevation is Bald Mountain near the New York state line in Mahwah,
at 1,152 feet (351 m) above sea level (41°07′15″N 074°12′01″W / 41.12083°N
74.20028°W / 41.12083; -74.20028).[30] The lowest point is sea level, along the
Hudson River, which in this region is more of a tidal estuary than a river.
The sharp cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades lift much the county up from the
river along the eastern boundary with the Hudson River, but then relief remains
relatively minimal across the county as much of it is in the Hackensack River
valley. Only in the northwestern portion of the county are any serious hills
found, leading to the Ramapo Mountains
The damming of the Hackensack River and a tributary, the Pascack Brook, produced
three reservoirs in the county, Woodcliff Lake Reservoir, Lake Tappan and
Oradell Reservoir, which provide drinking water to much of northern New Jersey.
The Hackensack River drains the eastern portion of the county through the New
Jersey Meadowlands, a wetlands area in the southern portion of the county. The
central portion is drained by the Saddle River and the western portion is
drained by the Ramapo River. Both of these are tributaries of the Passaic River,
which forms a section of the southwestern border of the county.
Bergen County is bordered by Rockland County, New York to the north, by
Westchester County, The Bronx, and Manhattan in New York, across the Hudson
River to the east, Hudson County to the south, a small border with Essex County
also to the south and Passaic County to the west.
Rockland County, New York
Passaic County North Westchester County, New York and Bronx County, New York
(The Bronx) and New York County, New York
(Manhattan)
West Bergen County, New Jersey East
South
Essex County and Hudson County
[edit] Climate
Bergen County has a humid subtropical climate according to the Koppen climate
classification because its coldest month (January) averages above 32°F / 0°C.
[1][2][3]. In part due to its coastal location and low elevation, it is milder
than cities further inland such as Chicago.
[edit] Law and government
[edit] County government
The Bergen County Court House
Bergen has had a County Executive form of government since 1986. The current
County Executive is Democrat Dennis McNerney. The executive, along with the
Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business.
The seven Freeholders are elected at-large to three-year terms in office on a
staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election each
year.[31] As of 2010, Bergen County's Freeholders are:[32]
* Freeholder Chairman Tomas J. Padilla (D, Park Ridge)
* Freeholder Vice-Chairman Elizabeth Calabrese (D, Wallington)
* David L. Ganz (D, Fair Lawn)
* James M. Carroll (D, Demarest)
* Bernadette P. McPherson (D, Rutherford)
* Rob Hermansen (R, Mahwah)
* John Driscoll (R, Paramus)
Bergen also elects three countywide officials, separately from the County
Executive and Freeholder Board, who are (as of January 2008) Sheriff Leo McGuire
(D), Surrogate Court Judge Michael Dressler (D-Cresskill), and County Clerk
Kathleen Donovan (R-Rutherford).
[edit] State representatives
The seventy municipalities of Bergen County are represented by seven separate
state legislative districts. Three of these districts (the 37th, 38th and 39th)
are situated entirely within the county, the others cross county boundaries.
District Senator Assembly 2002
Pop. Municipalities
32nd Nicholas Sacco (D) Vincent Prieto (D)
Joan M. Quigley (D) 13,363 Fairview. The remainder of the district covers Hudson
County.
35th John Girgenti (D) Nellie Pou (D)
Elease Evans (D) 11,527 Glen Rock. The remainder of the district covers Passaic
County.
36th Paul Sarlo (D) Frederick Scalera (D)
Gary Schaer (D) 119,146 Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Garfield, Lyndhurst,
Moonachie, North Arlington, Rutherford, Wallington, Wood-Ridge. The district
also includes Nutley (in Essex County) and Passaic (in Passaic County).
37th Loretta Weinberg (D) Valerie Huttle (D)
Gordon M. Johnson (D) 217,255 Bergenfield, Bogota, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs,
Hackensack, Leonia, Maywood, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park, Rochelle Park,
Teaneck, Tenafly
38th Robert M. Gordon (D) Joan Voss (D)
Connie Wagner (D) 218,991 Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Elmwood Park, Fair Lawn,
Fort Lee, Hasbrouck Heights, Little Ferry, Lodi, Paramus, Ridgefield, Saddle
Brook, South Hackensack, Teterboro
39th Gerald Cardinale (R) John E. Rooney (R)
Charlotte Vandervalk (R) 217,434 Allendale, Alpine, Closter, Cresskill,
Demarest, Dumont, Emerson, Harrington Park, Haworth, Hillsdale, Ho-Ho-Kus,
Montvale, New Milford, Northvale, Norwood, Old Tappan, Oradell, Park Ridge,
Ramsey, River Edge, River Vale, Rockleigh, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River,
Waldwick, Washington Township, Westwood, Woodcliff Lake
40th Kevin J. O'Toole (R) Scott T. Rumana (R)
David C. Russo (R) 97,375 Franklin Lakes, Mahwah, Midland Park, Oakland,
Ridgewood, Wyckoff. The district also includes Cedar Grove (in Essex County) and
Little Falls, Ringwood and Wanaque (in Passaic County).
[edit] Congressional representatives
Two federal Congressional Districts cover the county, with the northern portion
of the county in New Jersey's 5th district, represented by Scott Garrett (R) and
the southern portion of the county in New Jersey's 9th district, represented by
Steve Rothman (D).
[edit] Politics
In recent years, Bergen County has voted slightly more Democratic than the
nation as a whole. It voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by 54.2% to 44.8%.
This makes the county slightly less Democratic than New Jersey as a whole,
however. At the county level, the Democratic Party is dominant, holding all
county elected positions except county clerk and 2 freeholder seats. The county
is characterized by a divide between Republican communities in the north and
northwest of the county and Democratic communities in the center and southeast.
In 2008, the most strongly Democratic municipality was Englewood, while the most
strongly Republican municipality was Saddle River.
[edit] Blue laws
One of the last remaining blue laws (Actually non Religious Sunday Closing
laws)in the United States that covers selling Clothing, Furniture, and Electric
Appliances is found in Bergen County. It has produced the ironic situation that
one of the largest and most popular commercial shopping cores of the New York
metropolitan area[33] is almost completely closed on Sunday (grocery stores,
convenience stores, gas stations, and restaurants are among the few businesses
allowed to operate). Furthermore, Bergen County has significant populations of
Jewish (2000 estimate of 83,700) and Muslim (2000 estimate of 6,473) residents
whose observant members would not be celebrating the Sunday Sabbath with most of
their Christian neighbors.[34] The substantial Orthodox Jewish minority is
placed in the position of being unable to shop either on Sunday (due to the blue
laws) or on Saturday (due to religious observance).[35][36]
However, repeated attempts to lift the law have failed as voters either see
keeping the law on the books as a protest against the growing trend toward
increasing hours and days of commercial activity in American society or enjoy
the sharply reduced traffic on major roads and highways on Sunday that is
normally seen the other days of the week. In fact, a large part of the reason
for maintaining the laws has been a desire for relative peace and quiet one day
of the week by many Bergen County residents.[37]
This desire for relative peace is most apparent in Paramus, where most of the
county's largest shopping malls are located, along the intersecting highways of
Route 4 and Route 17, which are jam-packed on many Saturdays. Paramus has
enacted blue laws of its own that are even more restrictive than those enforced
by Bergen County,[38] banning all forms of "worldly employment" on Sundays,
including white collar workers in office buildings.[37][39]
The Bergen County court system consists of a number of municipal courts handling
traffic court and other minor matters, plus the Bergen County Superior Court
which handles the more serious offenses.
[edit] Highlands protection
In 2004, the New Jersey Legislature passed the Highlands Water Protection and
Planning Act, which regulates the New Jersey Highlands region. A portion of the
northwestern area of the county, comprising the municipalities of Oakland and
Mahwah, was included in the highlands preservation area and is subject to the
rules of the act and the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, a
division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.[40] Some of
the territory in the protected region is classified as being in the highlands
preservation area, and thus subject to additional rules.[41]
[edit] Transportation
Bergen County, 1909
Bergen County has a well-developed road network, including the northern termini
of the New Jersey Turnpike (a portion of Interstate 95) and the Garden State
Parkway, the eastern terminus of Interstate 80 and a portion of Interstate 287.
US Highways 46, 202, 9, 9W, and New Jersey state highways 4, 17, 3, 120, 208,
and the Palisades Interstate Parkway also serve the region.
Access to New York City is primarily available for motorists through the George
Washington Bridge in Fort Lee and the Lincoln Tunnel in Hudson County. Train
service is available on three lines from New Jersey Transit: the Bergen County
Line, the Erie Main Line and the Pascack Valley Line. They run north-south to
Hoboken Terminal with connections to the PATH train. New Jersey Transit also
offers connecting one-stop service to New York Penn Station via the Secaucus
Junction transfer station. Connections are also available at the Hoboken
Terminal to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and New York Waterways ferry service to
the World Financial Center and other destinations. Although the Hudson-Bergen
Light Rail bears the "Bergen" name, it has not yet expanded to run into the
county; this is planned for the future, possibly with connections via a proposed
new passenger rail service, the Northern Branch.
There is also bus service, available from New Jersey Transit and private
companies such as Academy Bus Lines, Coach USA, DeCamp Bus Lines and Red and Tan
Lines, offering transport within Bergen County, elsewhere in New Jersey and to
the Port Authority Bus Terminal and George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal in New
York City.
There is one airport in the county, Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, which is
operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Most commercial air
traffic is handled by nearby Newark Liberty International Airport in Essex
County, which also serves as a major airport for the City of New York.
For the main surface-street routes through the county, see List of county routes
in Bergen County, New Jersey.
[edit] Demographics
Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1790 12,601
—
1800 15,156 20.3%
1810 16,603 9.5%
1820 18,178 9.5%
1830 22,412 23.3%
1840 13,223 * −41.0%
1850 14,725 11.4%
1860 21,618 46.8%
1870 30,122 39.3%
1880 36,786 22.1%
1890 47,226 28.4%
1900 78,441 66.1%
1910 138,002 75.9%
1920 210,703 52.7%
1930 364,977 73.2%
1940 409,646 12.2%
1950 539,139 31.6%
1960 780,255 44.7%
1970 897,148 15.0%
1980 845,385 −5.8%
1990 825,380 −2.4%
2000 884,118 7.1%
Est. 2009 910,323 [1] 3.0%
* lost territory
Historical census data source:[42][43]
As of the census[44] of 2000, there were 884,118 people, 330,817 households, and
235,210 families residing in the county. The population density was 3,776 people
per square mile (1,458/km˛). There were 339,820 housing units at an average
density of 1,451 per square mile (560/km˛). The racial makeup of the county was
78.41% White, 5.27% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 10.67%
Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.22% from other races, and 2.26% from two or
more races. 10.34% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 330,817 households out of which 32.10% had children under the age of
18 living with them, 57.90% were married couples living together, 9.70% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 24.70%
of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living
alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and
the average family size was 3.17.
In the county the population was spread out with 23.00% under the age of 18,
6.60% from 18 to 24, 30.60% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 15.20% who
were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100
females there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
were 89.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $65,241, and the median
income for a family was $78,079 ( these figures had risen to $78,314 and $96,589
respectively as of a 2007 estimate[45]. ) Males had a median income of $51,346
versus $37,295 for females. The per capita income for the county was $33,638.
About 3.40% of families and 5.00% of the population were below the poverty line,
including 4.90% of those under age 18 and 5.90% of those age 65 or over.
Bergen County, 1918
Bergen is the most populous county in New Jersey, with approximately 90,000 more
residents than Essex County (the second-ranked county in 2000), accounting for
10.5% of the state's population.[46] It is also fairly diverse in terms of race,
ethnicity, and religion. One of the largest immigrant groups in Bergen County is
the Korean American community, which is concentrated along the Hudson River -
especially in the area near the George Washington Bridge - and represents over
half of the state's entire Korean population.[47][48] Palisades Park boasts the
highest percentage (36.38%) and total number (6,065) of Koreans among all
municipalities in the state,[49][50] while neighboring Fort Lee has the second
largest cluster (5,978) and third highest proportion (17.18%, trailing Leonia's
17.24%).[50][51] Eight of the nation's top ten municipalities by percentage of
Korean population are located in Bergen County, including Palisades Park,
Leonia, Fort Lee, Ridgefield, Closter, Norwood, Edgewater, and Englewood
Cliffs.[50] Overall, sixteen of the top twenty communities on that list are
located in Bergen; virtually all are in the eastern third of the county near the
Hudson River.
In addition, the commercial districts of several communities — including
Palisades Park, Fort Lee, Cliffside Park, Ridgefield, Leonia, and to a lesser
extent Englewood Cliffs, Edgewater, and Fairview — collectively function as a
sprawling suburban Koreatown for northern New Jersey, drawing shoppers from
throughout the region.[52] There is also an entrenched Korean population in the
Northern Valley, especially in Tenafly, Cresskill, Demarest, Closter, Norwood,
and Old Tappan, as well as in several inland boroughs, including Paramus,
Rutherford, and Little Ferry.[50]
Indian Americans represent the second largest Asian ethnic group in Bergen
County, with slightly larger numbers than the Filipino and Chinese
communities.[47] Although the Indian American population in the area is widely
dispersed, its biggest clusters are located in Bergenfield,[53] Lodi,[54]
Paramus,[55] and Elmwood Park.[56] Bergenfield and, to a lesser extent New
Milford, Dumont, and Teaneck, have become a hub for Filipino American
immigrants, with Bergenfield becoming the first municipality on the East Coast
of the United States to elect a mayor of Filipino descent in November 1999.[57]
Taken as a whole, these four adjacent municipalities contain over 40% of
Bergen's entire Filipino population[53][58],[59][60] although there are small
numbers of Filipinos in many of the county's communities.
The Chinese American population is also spread out, with fairly sizable
populations in Fort Lee, Paramus, and Englewood Cliffs.[61] Fort Lee and Paramus
have the highest total number of Chinese among Bergen municipalities while
Englewood Cliffs has the highest percentage (8.42%). And the small Japanese
community, which mainly consists of foreign businessmen and their families, has
long had a presence in Fort Lee, with over a quarter of the county's total
Japanese population living in that borough alone. The remainder of Bergen's
Japanese residents are concentrated in the towns surrounding Fort Lee as well as
in a few northern communities such as Ridgewood.[62]
Meanwhile, Italian Americans have long had a significant presence in Bergen
County; in fact, Italian is the most commonly identified first ancestry among
Bergen residents (21.0%).[63] Overall, 194,614 Bergen residents were recorded as
being of Italian heritage in the most recent census.[64] To this day, many
residents of the Meadowlands communities in the south are of Italian descent,
most notably in South Hackensack (36.3%), Lyndhurst (33.8%), Carlstadt (31.2%),
Wood-Ridge (30.9%) and Hasbrouck Heights (30.8%).[65] Saddle Brook (29.8%), Lodi
(29.4%), Moonachie (28.5%), Garfield, Hackensack, and the southeastern Bergen
towns were Italian American strongholds for decades, but their numbers have
diminished in recent years as immigrants have taken their place.[66] At the same
time, Italian American population has grown in many of the affluent communities
in the northern half of the county, including Franklin Lakes,[67] Ramsey,[68]
Montvale,[69] and Woodcliff Lake.[70]
Irish Americans and German Americans are the next largest ethnic groups in
Bergen County, numbering 133,351 (12.8% of the county's total population)[71]
and 98,929 (11.2%),[72] respectively. As is the case with Italian Americans,
these two groups established sizable enclaves long ago and are now firmly
entrenched in all areas of the county. Polish Americans are also
well-represented throughout Bergen, with 65,232 residents of Polish descent as
of the last census.[73] The community's cultural and commercial heart has long
been centered in Wallington, where 45.5% of the population is of Polish descent;
this is the largest concentration among New Jersey municipalities and the
seventh-highest in the United States.[74] In recent years, the adjacent city of
Garfield has also become a magnet for Polish immigrants, with 22.9% of the
population identifying themeselves as being of Polish ancestry, the third
highest concentration in the state.[74] And while Polish Americans are the
fourth-largest ethnic group in Bergen County, Poland is also the second most
common place of birth (after South Korea) for foreign-born county residents.[75]
Many towns in the county have a significant number of Jewish Americans,
including Fair Lawn, Teaneck, Tenafly, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee,
Woodcliff Lake, Paramus, and Franklin Lakes.[76] Teaneck, Fair Lawn and
Englewood in particular have become havens for the Conservative and Orthodox
Jewish communities,[77] while Fair Lawn, Tenafly, Alpine and Fort Lee are
well-known as hubs for Russian Americans, including a substantial proportion of
Russian Jews.[78] Closter, and Tenafly also have the largest Israeli communities
in Bergen County and two of the three largest in the state.[79] Altogether,
83,700 Bergen residents identified themselves as being of Jewish heritage in the
most recent study.[76]
Greek Americans have had a fairly sizable presence in Bergen for several
decades, and according to census data the Greek community currently numbers
13,247 county-wide.[80] The largest concentrations by percentage are in
Englewood Cliffs (7.2%), Alpine (5.2%), Fort Lee (3.7%), and Palisades Park
(3.5%).[81] Similarly, the Armenian American population in Bergen (8,305
according to the 2000 Census) is dispersed throughout the county, but its most
significant concentration is in the southeastern towns near the George
Washington Bridge.[82] Cliffside Park (3.6%), Englewood Cliffs (3.4%), Oradell
(3.1%), Ridgefield (2.4%), Fairview (2.4%), Demarest (2.3%), and Emerson (2.2%)
have the highest percentage of Armenians among all municipalities in the state,
and in fact are all in the top 20 nationwide. Furthermore, the top 25 New Jersey
communities on that list are all Bergen County communities.[83][84]
Bergen also has a moderately sized Muslim population, which numbered 6,473 as of
the last census.[76] Its most notable Muslim enclaves are centered in Teaneck
and Hackensack, two of the most diverse communities in the entire county.[85]
Bergen's Muslim population primarily consists of Arab Americans, South Asians,
and African Americans, although it should be noted that many members of these
groups practice other faiths.[86] While Arab Americans have not established a
significant presence in any particular municipality, in total there are 11,755
county residents who indicated Arab ancestry in the most recent survey.[87] The
overwhelming majority of Bergen's Arab American population (64.3%) is
constituted by persons of Lebanese (2,576),[88] Syrian (2,568),[89] and Egyptian
(2,417)[90] descent.
The county's African American community is almost entirely concentrated in three
municipalities: Englewood (10,215 residents, accounting for 38.98% of the city's
total population), Teaneck (11,298; 28.78%), and Hackensack (10,518; 24.65%).
Collectively, these three areas account for nearly 70% of the county's total
African American population of 46,568, and in fact blacks have had a presence in
these towns since the earliest days of the county. In sharp contrast,
African-Americans comprise less than 2% of the total in most of Bergen's other
municipalities.[91] In Englewood, the African American population is
concentrated in the Third and Fourth wards of the western half of the city,
while the northeastern section of Teaneck has been an African American enclave
for several decades.[92] Hackensack's long-established African American
community is primarily located in the central part of the city, especially in
the area near Central Avenue and First Street.[93]
The diverse Latino population in Bergen is growing in many areas of the county,
but is especially concentrated in a handful of municipalities, including
Fairview (37.1%), Hackensack (25.9%), Ridgefield Park (22.2%), Englewood
(21.8%), Bogota (21.3%), Garfield (20.1%), Cliffside Park (18.2%), Lodi (18.0%),
and Bergenfield (17.0%).[94] Traditionally, many of the Latino residents were of
Colombian and Cuban ancestry, although that has been changing in recent years.
Currently, Englewood's Colombian community is the largest in Bergen County and
among the top ten in the United States (7.17%); Hackensack, Fairview,
Bergenfield, and Lodi also have notable populations.[95] The Cuban population is
largest in Fairview, Ridgefield Park, Ridgefield, and Bogota, although the Cuban
community is much bigger in Hudson County to the south.[96] Since 1990 an
increasing number of immigrants from other countries have entered the region,
including people from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic,
Peru, and Ecuador. The diverse backgrounds of the local Latino community are
best exemplified in Fairview, where 10% of the overall population hails from
Central America, 7% from South America and 9% from other Latin American
countries, mainly the Caribbean.[97]
In the Forbes magazine 2006 ranking of the Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the
United States, Alpine was ranked as the 8th most expensive in the country, with
a median home sale price in 2005 of $1,790,000.[98] In all, twelve Bergen County
municipalities were represented on the list, including Englewood Cliffs (ranked
#78; median sale price of $1,112,500), Saddle River (107; $997,000), Franklin
Lakes (111; $985,000), Woodcliff Lake (266; $786,000), Haworth (342; $747,500),
Demarest (350; $742,000), Ho-Ho-Kus (353; $740,000), Wyckoff (405; $700,000),
Closter (452; $684,000) and Ridgewood (470; $675,000).[99]
[edit] Education
Bergen has several colleges and universities:
* Bergen Community College - Paramus
* Berkeley College - Paramus
* Dover Business College - Paramus
* Fairleigh Dickinson University - Teaneck and Hackensack
* Felician College - Lodi and Rutherford
* Ramapo College - Mahwah
Bergen has some 45 public high schools, see this list. It also has at least 23
private high schools, see this list.
[edit] Municipalities
In the last decades of the 19th century, Bergen County, to a far greater extent
than any other county in the state, began dividing its townships up into
incorporated boroughs; this was chiefly due to the Boroughitis phenomenon,
triggered by a number of loopholes in state laws that allowed boroughs to levy
lower taxes and send more members to the county's board of freeholders. There
was a 10-year period in which many of Bergen County's townships disappeared into
the patchwork of boroughs that exist today, before the state laws governing
municipal incorporation were changed.
labeled outline map of municipalities
* Montvale (Borough)
* Moonachie (Borough)
* New Milford (Borough)
* North Arlington (Borough)
* Northvale (Borough)
* Norwood (Borough)
* Oakland (Borough)
* Old Tappan (Borough)
* Oradell (Borough)
* Palisades Park (Borough)
* Paramus (Borough)
* Park Ridge (Borough)
* Ramsey (Borough)
* Ridgefield (Borough)
* Ridgefield Park (Village)
* Ridgewood (Village)
* River Edge (Borough)
* River Vale (Township)
* Rochelle Park (Township)
* Rockleigh (Borough)
* Rutherford (Borough)
* Saddle Brook (Township)
* Saddle River (Borough)
* South Hackensack (Township)
* Teaneck (Township)
* Tenafly (Borough)
* Teterboro (Borough)
* Upper Saddle River (Borough)
* Waldwick (Borough)
* Wallington (Borough)
* Washington Township
* Westwood (Borough)
* Wood-Ridge (Borough)
* Woodcliff Lake (Borough)
* Wyckoff (Township)
[edit] Historical municipalities
Over the history of the county, there have been various municipality secessions,
annexations, and renamings. The following is a partial list of former
municipalities, ordered by year of incorporation.
* Bergen Township, 1683
* Hackensack Township, 1693
* New Barbadoes Township, 1710
* Saddle River Township, 1716
* Franklin Township, 1771
* Harrington Township, 1775
* Lodi Township, 1825
* Washington Township, 1840
* Hohokus Township, 1849
* Union Township, 1852
* Midland Township, 1871
* Englewood Township, 1871
* Palisades Township, 1871
* Ridgefield Township, 1871
* Ridgewood Township, 1876
* Orvil Township, 1885
* Boiling Springs Township, 1885
* Overpeck Township, 1892
* Bergen Township, 1893
* Eastwood Borough, 1894
[edit] Points of interest
[edit] Educational and cultural
The New Jersey Meadowlands in Lyndhurst
* New Jersey Naval Museum, Hackensack — There the USS Ling is moored in the
Hackensack River and is available for tours as a museum ship.
* Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey, Teterboro Airport
* The Bergen Museum of Art and Science, Paramus
* Meadowlands Environment Center, Lyndhurst
* Tenafly Nature Center, Tenafly
* The Puffin Foundation, Teaneck
* The Maywood Station Museum, Maywood
[edit] Commercial and entertainment
Interior of Westfield Garden State Plaza
* Giants Stadium, East Rutherford (to be replaced by the Meadowlands Stadium)
* Izod Center, East Rutherford (formerly known as the Continental Airlines Arena
and the Brendan Byrne Arena)
* Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford
* Westfield Garden State Plaza, shopping mall, Paramus
* The Shops at Riverside, shopping mall, Hackensack (formerly known as Riverside
Square Mall)
* Paramus Park, shopping mall, Paramus
* Bergen Town Center, shopping mall, Paramus (formerly known as Bergen Mall)
* Fashion Center, shopping mall, Paramus
* H Mart, Korean shopping plaza and supermarket, Ridgefield
* Mitsuwa Marketplace, Japanese shopping plaza and supermarket, Edgewater
[edit] County parks
Scarlet Oak Pond, Ramapo Mountain Reservation
* Belmont Hill County Park, Garfield
* Campgaw Mountain Reservation, Mahwah
* Dahnert's Lake County Park, Garfield
* Darlington County Park, Mahwah
* McFaul Environmental Center, Wyckoff
* Ramapo Mountain Reservation, Mahwah
* Overpeck County Park, Leonia, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park
* Riverside County Park, Lyndhurst, North Arlington
* Pascack Brook County Park, Westwood
* Saddle Ridge Riding Area, Franklin Lakes
* Saddle River County Park, Paramus, Glen Rock, Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook,
Ridgewood
* Samuel Nelkin County Park, Wallington
* Van Saun County Park, Paramus
* Wood Dale County Park, Woodcliff Lake
* Bergen County Zoological Park, Paramus[100]
[edit] County-owned historical sites
* Baylor Massacre site, River Vale
* Camp Merritt, Cresskill
* Campbell-Christie House, River Edge
* Easton Tower, Paramus
* Garretson Farm, Fair Lawn
* Gethsemane Cemetery, Little Ferry
* Washington Spring Garden, Paramus
* Wortendyke Barn, Park Ridge[101]
[edit] State parks
Part of the Palisades Interstate Park, the New Jersey Palisades overlook the
Hudson River
* Ramapo Mountain State Forest, Mahwah
* Palisades Interstate Park, Fort Lee, Englewood Cliffs, Tenafly, Alpine
[edit] State-owned historical sites
* New Bridge Landing, New Milford, River Edge and Teaneck
* The Hermitage, Ho-Ho-Kus
* Steuben House, River Edge (at New Bridge Landing)
[edit] Other historical sites
see List of Registered Historic Places in Bergen County, New Jersey
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