Category Archives: NJ Cities Gates services

North Haledon was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 20, 1901, from portions of the now-defunct Manchester Township.[21]

Edgewater Park was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 26, 1924, from portions of Beverly Township (now known as Delanco Township).[22] The township was named for its location along the Delaware River.[23]

Caldwell was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 10, 1892, from portions of Caldwell Township (now Fairfield Township), based on the results of a referendum held on the previous day.[20] In 1981, the borough’s name was changed to the “Township of the Borough of Caldwell”, as one of seven Essex County municipalities to pass a referendum to become a township, joining four municipalities that had already made the change, of what would ultimately be more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify themselves as townships in order take advantage of federal revenue sharing policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid to municipalities on a per capita basis.[21][22][23][24] Effective January 26, 1995, it again became a borough.[25]

Haledon was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1908, replacing the now-defunct Manchester Township, based on the results of a referendum held on May 21, 1908.[21]

Westampton was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 6, 1850, from portions of Northampton Township (now known as Mount Holly Township). Portions of the township were taken to form Eastampton Township on February 11, 1880.[20] Its name derives from its original location in the western portion of what was Northampton Township.[21]

Jacob Fisler, who purchased much of the area that is now Clayton, acquired 6,500 acres (2,600 ha) of land after the American Revolutionary War. A settlement called Fislertown developed that had grown to 36 families by 1812.[21] The establishment of a glass factory in the 1850s by one of Fisler’s descendants led to the growth of Fislertown.[22]

Until August 2014, Pitman was a dry town. Though the borough still does not allow liquor stores or bars, patrons can purchase wine by the bottle from local vineyards at select licensed establishments under the terms of a state law that bypasses municipal oversight.[24] In 2016, a pair of local breweries opened in Pitman’s Uptown business district under the terms of a state law that allows the sale of beer by the glass in tasting rooms.[25]

Bogota was formed on November 14, 1894, from portions of Ridgefield Township, based on the results of a referendum held that day.[21] The borough was formed during the “Boroughitis” phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed during 1894 alone.[22] Portions of Bogota were taken in 1895 to form part of the newly created Township of Teaneck. Bogota was named in honor of the Bogert family, which had been the first European settlers to occupy the area,[23] and may also be a blend of Bogert and Banta, another early family, with an “O” added to ease pronunciation.[24][25][26]

Prior to being called West Long Branch, the area had been called Mechanicsville from the 18th century through the Civil War, and then Branchburg in the 1870s. The name West Long Branch appears in the 1889 Wolverton Atlas of Monmouth County, and seems to have derived its name from its proximity to a section of the Shrewsbury River.[21]

The Lenni Lenape Native Americans tilled the soil, hunted in the woods, and fished in the rivers and streams before the Dutch arrived in the early 18th Century. The Dutch settlers, though, left an indelible mark on the area. Early records show that after the English takeover of New Netherland, English Governor Philip Carteret in 1669 granted a real estate speculator named Balthaser De Hart a strip of property which extended east and west from the Hudson River to the Tiena Kill, and north and south from today’s Cresskill into Palisades, New York.[22] It is within these geographical boundaries that lies what is now known as Closter. The first land grant deed for the area today known as Closter was not written until April 13, 1671.[23] The northern half of this tract of land consisting of 1,030 acres (420 ha) (extending from what is Closter Dock Road northward) was purchased by Barent and Resolvert Nagel on April 25, 1710,[24][25] who along with the Vervalen family first settled what is now Closter.