Category Archives: NJ Cities Gates services

Ocean City originated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 3, 1884, from portions of Upper Township, based on results from a referendum on April 30, 1884, and was reincorporated as a borough on March 31, 1890. Ocean City was incorporated as a city, its current government form, on March 25, 1897.[21][22] The city is named for its location on the Atlantic Ocean.[23][24]

Westwood was officially incorporated as a borough on May 8, 1894, from portions of Washington Township, early during the “Boroughitis” phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone.[25][26] Isaac D. Bogert served as the first mayor of the Borough.[27] In April 1909, Westwood was enlarged through the annexation of the “Old Hook” section of the borough of Emerson,[28] and on September 24, 1957, portions of the borough were exchanged with Emerson.[25]

The presence of the Chatham station along the Morris and Essex Lines in neighboring Chatham Borough proved a vital role in population increases in Chatham Township, which began to be developed for residential use due to its easy commute to nearby Manhattan.[21]

Historically, many of Manville’s residents are of Slavic—mostly eastern Polish (23.1% of the borough’s population in 2000[21]) and western Ukrainian descent—with many businesses and restaurants geared towards the Polish-American community located along Main Street (County Route 533).

New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Lincoln Park as its 5th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the “Best Places To Live” in the state.[25]

Hackettstown was incorporated as a town by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 9, 1853, from portions of Independence Township. Portions of territory were exchanged with Mansfield Township in 1857, 1860, 1872 and 1875.[19]

Gloucester City was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 25, 1868, from the remaining portions of Union Township, which was then dissolved. Additional territory was annexed in 1925 from Centre Township and in 1927 from Haddon Township.[21] The city’s name derives from Gloucester, England.[22][23]

Wanaque was incorporated as an independent borough on February 23, 1918, when Pompton Township was split up into three boroughs, along with Bloomingdale and Ringwood, and affirmed by a referendum held on March 22, 1918.[23] The borough’s name Wanaque (original pronunciation ‘Wa Na Kee’) is thought to have been derived from a Lenni Lenape Native American word meaning “land of sassafras”.[24][25][26]

Bellmawr is home to the main post office for the area, one of the largest in the state of New Jersey, handling an average of 4.5 million pieces of mail daily.[21]

The area that would become the borough had been known as Corona from the mid-1800s and grew up around the two local railroad stations. The name “Hasbrouck” was chosen in 1889 to honor Jacob Dillon Hasbrouck (1842–1918), general manager of the New Jersey and New York Railroad.[21][22] In the face of local opposition, the name change was promoted as improving the community’s public perception and avoiding confusion with the Corona, Queens neighborhood, while “Heights” was added to avoid confusion with a similarly named community in upstate New York.[23]