Bergen Section, Jersey City

The Bergen Section of Jersey City, New Jersey is the neighborhood on either side of Kennedy Boulevard between Saint Peter's College/ McGinley Square and Communipaw Avenue in the Bergen-Lafayette section of the city. The name Bergen, used throughout Hudson County, is taken from the original Bergen, New Netherland settlement at Bergen Square.

Bergen Section
Restored Victorian mansions on Bergen Avenue
Bergen Section
Bergen Section in Hudson County in New Jersey
Coordinates: 40°43′45″N 74°03′57″W
CountryUnited States
StateNew Jersey
CountyHudson
CityJersey City
Elevation85 ft (26 m)
Area code(s)201
GNIS feature ID882003[1]
Building on what was then Hudson Boulevard during residence of Mayor Hague

While there was discussion of building a county long road as early as the 1870s,[2][3] the Boulevard was officially opened in 1896.[4][5] In the early automobile age it became part of the route of the Lincoln Highway and one of the busiest roads in the state.[6] Bergen Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare in the city running south from Journal Square along the ridge of the diminishing Hudson Palisades known as Bergen Hill. Monticello Avenue, which takes its name from mid 19th "suburban" development,[7] is a shopping district[8] lined with many turn-of-the-century buildings with storefronts being brought back into use. As its name suggests West Bergen overlaps this neighborhood.

The section retains much of the character that at one time made it the premiere 20th century residential district of the city.[9][10] A variety of architectural styles can be found along the Boulevard, Bergen Avenue, and sidestreets including 19th-century rowhouses, Victorian and Edwardian mansions. Many of the multi-family buildings are pre-war, built during the period of expansive growth in the 1920s and 1930s, sometimes Art Deco style.[11] including The Hague, residence of one of the city's best-known mayor, Frank Hague.[12] Among the many landmarks in the area are the Fairmount Apartments,[13] Temple Beth-El, and the former Jersey City YMCA. Lincoln the Mystic, a statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln by James Earle Fraser is situated at the entrance to the park which bears the president's name.[14] and is one of the Hudson County's largest public green spaces.[15][16]

Historic district
Edmund Miller Library, formerly Bergen Branch

In 1997, the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office listed part of the neighborhood the West Bergen Historic District on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. [17] In 2011, The New Jersey Historic Trust" Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund provided the city with a $50,000 grant to conduct studies to determine if the area qualifies as a federal historic district. It describes it as architecturally significant with a diverse collection of mostly residential building built between 1880s and 1930s. There are approximately 300 to 400 contributing property, some of which are large homes not found in the city's other historic districts,[18][19] which are located Downtown.[20] In 2014 The Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy proposed an area which is larger than the state-designated one called the West Bergen-East Lincoln Park Historic District.[21] Approval was required by the city, and the ordinance was passed in June 2015.[22][23][24][25]

Transportation
Jersey City and Bergen horse-drawn tram, 1887

References
  1. "Bergen". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. "The Old and the New - The Opposition and the Proposed Route" (PDF). The New York Times. August 12, 1873. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  3. "The Hudson County Boulevard" (PDF). The New York Times. August 30, 1873.
  4. "JERSEY CITY'S BICYCLE PARADE.; It Was Held Yesterday on the Hudson Boulevard and Was a Big Thing". The New York Times. August 30, 1896. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  5. "OPENING THE BOULEVARD.; Wheelmen Parade Along Hudson County's New Driveway" (PDF). The New York Times. November 29, 1895.
  6. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/05/04/96299933.pdf HC Blvd. 1919
  7. "Page Not Found". njcu.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Cite uses generic title (help)
  8. "Jersey City Shopping Districts". jerseycityonline.com.
  9. Lynch, Kevin (June 1960). Images of the City. MIT. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-262-62001-7.
  10. "Lincoln Park". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  11. "Jersey City Project, Apartments for Bergen section will cost $750,000" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  12. "PHOTOS: Fire at historic 2600 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City". NJ.com.
  13. "Fairmount Hotel Apartments". njcu.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  14. James, George (January 24, 1999). "JERSEYANA; For 134 Years, Jersey City Puts Politics Aside and Honors Lincoln". The New York Times.
  15. "Abraham Lincoln Association of Jersey City". njcu.edu.
  16. http://travel.sulekha.com/jersey-city-attractions.htm#Lincoln%5B%5D Park
  17. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Hudson County". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  18. MacDonald, Terrance (May 5, 2011). "4 Jersey City historic sites get state preservation grants". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  19. "West Bergen Historic District". New Jersey Historic Trust. 2001. Retrieved 2014-06-06. The West Bergen Historic District is an architecturally important collection of primarily c.1880 to 1930 era residential buildings including row houses, free standing frame houses, and apartment buildings. The proposed historic district contains 300 to 400 contributing buildings. Portions of the proposed district contain larger scale houses, which is unique to this part of Jersey City and different from the other listed historic districts in Jersey City.
  20. "Rules & Regulations for Alterations & Additions to Buildings & New Construction in Historic Districts Adopted by the Historic Preservation Commission March 6, 1992 Adopted by the City Council April 11, 2001" (PDF). Jersey City Historic Pesevation. April 11, 2001. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
  21. "West Bergen-East Lincoln Park Historic District" (PDF). Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. May 5, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  22. "Historic district may come to Jersey City's West Side". NJ.com.
  23. "It's neighbor vs. neighbor in fight for new Jersey City historic district". NJ.com.
  24. "City Council introduces ordinance to create new Jersey City historic district". NJ.com.
  25. "Jersey City City Council approves controversial West Side historic district". NJ.com.
  26. NJT bus 87 schedule
  27. http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T0010.pdf
  28. http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T0080.pdf
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