Bergen Square
{{New Netherland}}
{{Short description|Populated place in Hudson County, New Jersey, US}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}
File:Bergen and Buyten Town map.jpg
File:Van Wagenen House 1933.jpg]]
File:Old Bergen Church 1938.jpg in 1938]]
Bergen Square, at the intersection of Bergen Avenue and Academy Street in Jersey City, is in the southwestern part of the much larger Journal Square district.{{Cite web |url=https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_6189660/File/City%20Hall/Planning%20%26%20Zoning/City_Planning/Engagement/HISTORY%20BOARD_051922_30X40.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=April 21, 2024 |archive-date=December 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231100825/https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_6189660/File/City%20Hall/Planning%20%26%20Zoning/City_Planning/Engagement/HISTORY%20BOARD_051922_30X40.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.forgotten-ny.com/OUT.OF.TOWN/jc.bergen.square/bergen.square.html|title=Bergen Square with map of early village|website=Forgotten-NY.com|access-date=November 5, 2017|archive-date=August 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810174121/http://www.forgotten-ny.com/OUT.OF.TOWN/jc.bergen.square/bergen.square.html|url-status=live}} A commercial residential area, it contains an eclectic array of architectural styles including 19th-century row houses, Art Deco retail and office buildings, and is the site of the longest continually-used school site in the United States.There has been a school at the northeast corner of Bergen Square since 1664. See {{cite web|url=http://www.jclandmarks.org/tour-bergensq.shtml|title=Walking Tour of the Bergen Square|access-date=August 3, 2009|quote=On the northeast corner of Bergen Square stands P.S. 11 (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School). In 1664 the first schoolhouse was built on this lot. From 1790 to 1857 the Columbia Academy stood here until it was replaced by the first of three public schools.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617221117/http://www.jclandmarks.org/tour-bergensq.shtml|archive-date=June 17, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}{{cite book|author=Shalhoub, Patrick B|date=October 1, 1995|title=Images of America: Jersey City|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=0-7524-0255-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GUWQLmEIGUwC|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-date=April 21, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421220537/https://books.google.com/books?id=GUWQLmEIGUwC|url-status=live}}{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1858/07/29/78858114.pdf | work=The New York Times | title=NEW-JERSEY.; Laying the Corner-Home of a New Academy at Bergen--History of the Old Building | date=July 29, 1858 | access-date=June 14, 2018 | archive-date=June 19, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619010249/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1858/07/29/78858114.pdf | url-status=live }}
Nearby are the Van Wagenen House (sometimes called the Apple Tree House) and Old Bergen Church, two structures from the colonial period. St. George & St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church founded by early Egyptian immigrants was one of the original Coptic congregations in New Jersey.[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/17colnj.html "Where Church Pews Replaced the Bar Stools"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024154521/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/17colnj.html |date=October 24, 2017 }}. The New York Times. (Retrieved 08-05-2008)
History
The square and nearby streets mark what is considered the oldest municipality in New Jersey. It was first established in 1660 as Bergen{{cite web|last = Van Winkle|first = Daniel|title = History of Bergen Village|work = The New York Times|date = October 5, 2010|url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/10/05/102048170.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0|accessdate = August 28, 2022|archive-date = June 20, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220620185530/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/10/05/102048170.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0|url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.njcu.edu/community/jersey-city-past-and-present|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915040457/http://www.njcu.edu/Programs/jchistory/Pages/B_Pages/Bergen_Township.htm|url-status=dead|title=Jersey City Past and Present | New Jersey City University|archive-date=September 15, 2008|website=Njcu.edu|access-date=November 9, 2021}} in the province of New Netherland and, in 1683, became Bergen Township. Permission to settle there was granted by the Director-General of New Netherland, Petrus Stuyvesant. The Peter Stuyvesant Monument by J. Massey Rhind was dedicated on the square to commemorate the event in 1913.{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011/02/legends_landmarks_famed_sculpt.html|title=Legends & Landmarks: Famed sculptor of the early 20th century created historically, artistically important Jersey City statue of Peter Stuyvesant|website=NJ.com|date=February 8, 2011|access-date=November 5, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107033422/http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011/02/legends_landmarks_famed_sculpt.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2010/10/peter_stuyvesant_statue_to_be.html|title=Peter Stuyvesant statue to be restored and returned to Bergen Avenue post|website=NJ.com|date=October 18, 2010|access-date=November 5, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107033428/http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2010/10/peter_stuyvesant_statue_to_be.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2012/07/jersey_city_and_hudson_county.html|title=Jersey City and Hudson County contribute toward pedestal for restored Peter Stuyvesant statue|website=NJ.com|date=July 14, 2012|access-date=November 5, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107031639/http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2012/07/jersey_city_and_hudson_county.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/07/peter_stuyvesant_statue_returning_to_mcginley_square.html|title=Peter Stuyvesant monument will return to Jersey City|website=NJ.com|date=July 10, 2013|access-date=November 5, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107032056/http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/07/peter_stuyvesant_statue_returning_to_mcginley_square.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/historic-pedestal-dug-up-in-secaucus-1.1305582 |title=Historic pedestal dug up in Secaucus - News - NorthJersey.com |access-date=April 9, 2015 |archive-date=April 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412030348/http://www.northjersey.com/news/historic-pedestal-dug-up-in-secaucus-1.1305582 |url-status=dead }} Jacques Cortelyou surveyed and designed the square and is the first example of what was to become known as a Philadelphia square in the United States. Though there no buildings from the period still standing, the names of streets (such as Vroom, Van Reypen, Newkirk, Tuers, Dekalb) and the grid they form still remain to mark the origins of the earlier village. In the immediate vicinity, there are cemeteries and the Old Bergen Church which were founded by the settlers and their ancestors.{{cite book |last=Sarapin |first=Janice Kohl |title=Old Burial Grounds of New Jersey |year=2002 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uDfIJt5RFWgC&pg=PP1 |isbn=0-8135-2111-4 |access-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818033939/https://books.google.com/books?id=uDfIJt5RFWgC&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }}
Pavonia, the first European settlement on the west bank of the Hudson River, was temporarily evacuated during a series of raids and retaliations between the Dutch and the Lenape, the Native Americans who lived there at the time known as Kieft's War.{{cite book|author=Winkler, David F. |title= Revisiting the Attack on Pavonia|year= 1998|publisher=New Jersey Historical Society}}{{cite web |author=Beck, Sanderson |title=New Netherland and Stuyvesant 1642-64 |year=2006 |url=http://www.san.beck.org/11-5-Colonies1643-64.html#4 |access-date=August 18, 2007 |archive-date=April 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423224945/http://www.san.beck.org/11-5-Colonies1643-64.html#4 |url-status=live }} Those who survived the counterattack were ordered back to the relative safety of New Amsterdam, on the tip of Manhattan. After the treaty was signed in 1645, the communities at Pavonia and Communipaw continued to grow steadily, but were again raided in a conflict known as the Peach War in 1655.
Responding to settlers wishes to secure their holdings and wanting to re-establish control of the area, Stuyvesant negotiated a deal in 1658 with the Lenape for the larger area named Bergen, "by the great rock above Wiehacken," then taking in the sweep of land on the peninsula west of the Hudson and east of the Hackensack River extending down to the Kill Van Kull in Bayonne.[https://archive.org/details/historycountyhu00winfgoog/page/n74 History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time], p. 62, accessed March 29, 2007. A stipulation for the settlement was that a garrison be built so that homesteaders, whose farms spread out around the village, could retreat there in the event of an attack. The charter for the village gave it a semi-autonomous government, and it became the seat of government for the region, which included all the European settlements radiating from the west bank of the North River.
In 1664, a negotiated surrender gave control of New Netherland to the English, who on September 22, 1668, recognized and confirmed original town charter."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 145. In 1674, soon after English possession of New Netherland was formalized, the village at Bergen became part of the proprietary colony of East Jersey, and the "capital" of one of four newly established administrative districts, Bergen County, where it remained until 1710, when the government moved to Hackensack.
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the town's founding in 1910,{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/10/09/102048570.pdf | work=The New York Times | title=1660-Jersey City-1910;; Topical Heads For Mr. Van Winkle's Articles | date=October 9, 1910 | access-date=June 14, 2018 | archive-date=June 19, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619015916/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/10/09/102048570.pdf | url-status=live }} The New York Times sponsored a seven-week composition competition for Jersey City students to study and write about its history.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://search.nj.com/peter+stuyvesant Stuyvesant statue controversy]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110824051533/http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2011/08/15/peter-stuyvesant-statue-heads-to-the-beacon-for-restoration-on-its-way-back-to-bergen-square/ Peter Stuyvesant Statue Heads to The Beacon for Restoration On its Way Back to Bergen Square | The Jersey City Independent]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160617221117/http://www.jclandmarks.org/tour-bergensq.shtml Bergen Square Walking Tour]
{{coord|40.72942|-74.06594|region:US-NJ_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Jersey City Neighborhoods}}
Category:Geography of Bergen County, New Jersey
Category:Populated places established in the 17th century
Category:History of Jersey City, New Jersey
Category:Pre-statehood history of New Jersey
Category:Streets in Hudson County, New Jersey
Category:Neighborhoods in Jersey City, New Jersey
Category:Colonial forts in New Jersey