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Weehawken, New Jersey

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Weehawken is a Township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 13,501.

Situated along the western shore of the Hudson River across from Manhattan and along the southern end of the New Jersey Palisades, Weehawken is the location of the western terminus of the Lincoln Tunnel.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 3.9 km² (1.5 mi²). 2.2 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is land and 1.7 km² (0.7 mi²) of it (43.71%) is water.

 
Weehawken, as seen across the Hudson River from midtown Manhattan. The Lincoln Tunnel vent towers and the Palisades are visible on the right; the tunnel's access highway, known as the Helix, is on the left.

Though small in area and population, Weehawken is very urban. Its population density is among the highest in the United States and comparable with that of nearby Jersey City. Weehawken is a residential community of primarily single-family houses (on small lots) and low-rise apartments. It also has a retail district along Park Avenue (the boundary between Weehawken and Union City), large office and apartment/townhouse developments along the Hudson riverfront, and a few scattered retail shops and light industrial facilities, which blend into their respective neighborhoods.

Traversing Weehawken is John F. Kennedy Boulevard East (known locally as simply Boulevard East), a scenic street that runs along the eastern cliff of The Palisades. With narrow Hamilton Park along its east shoulder, it offers a sweeping vista of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline. On summer weekends, numerous wedding parties use the park and its famous backdrop as the setting for their photographs. Many gracious homes and mansions, especially of the Victorian era, are located along and about the boulevard.

To the south of Weehawken is a body of water called Weehawken Cove.

History

Weehawken, which may mean, "End of the Palisades" or "Place of Gulls" dates its incorporation as a township from 1859. But its written history began in 1609, when Henry Hudson, on his third voyage to the New World, sailed up what was then called The North River on the Half Moon and weighed anchor in Weehawken Cove.

The earliest residents of the area were the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. They were displaced by the Dutch, who came to settle the area in the early part of the 1600s. In 1658, Governor Peter Stuyvesant of New Amsterdam negotiated a deal for land with the Lenape. This transferred territory comprised the township of Bergen, "by the great rock above Wiehacken," then taking the sweep of what was west of the Hudson and east of the Hackensack River extending down to the Kill Van Kull in Bayonne. The English eventually forced the Dutch out as they settled Manhattan Island and surrounding areas. In 1752, Weehawken was given a grant for its first ferry service; the ferry house was north of Hoboken and was primarily used for farm produce.

During the American Revolutionary War, Weehawken's Palisades were used as a lookout for the patriots to check on the British, who were in situated in New York and controlled the surrounding waterways. In fact, in July 1778, Lord Stirling, in a letter to Aaron Burr, asked, on behalf of General George Washington, that Burr employ several persons to "go to the Bergen heights, Weehawk, Hoebuck or other heights to observe the motions of the enemy's shipping" and to gather any other possible intelligence.

Most early habitation was along the top of the cliffs, or Palisades, since much of the sea level areas were marshland. Early descriptions speak of the dense foliage and forests along the top of the Palisades and excellent land for growing vegetables and orchard fruits.

 
Alexander Hamilton fights his fatal duel with Aaron Burr.

Early documented inhabitants included a Captain Deas, whose "cozy home at Dea's Point, was located upon a knoll or elevation near the river and may have overlooked the infamous dueling grounds, a grassy shelf about 20 ft (6.1 m) above sea level and attached to the Palisades. This ledge, long gone, hosted 18 documented duels and many unknown between the years 1798–1845, the most famous being that between General Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury, and Colonel Aaron Burr, sitting third Vice President of the United States, which took place on July 11, 1804. The duel was re-enacted on July 11, 2004, the 200th anniversary of the fatal duel, by descendants of Hamilton and Burr.[1]

Weehawken became the playground of the rich during the middle to late 1800s. The wealthy built homes along the top of the New Jersey Palisades. Here they might flee from the sweltering heat of New York, and breathe the fresh air of the heights. A series of wagon lifts, stairs, and even an elevator designed by famed Frenchman, Gustave Eiffel, which at the time was the world's largest, were put in place along the Palisades to accommodate the tourists and summer dwellers.

With the ferry, an early toll road (the Hackensack Plank Road, which was a main artery from Weehawken up to Hackensack, and the West Shore Railroad which was built during the early 1870s, Weehawken became a transportation hub, but remained a sleepy, suburban-like town, little changed, until the opening of the Lincoln Tunnel in 1937.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Weehawken saw its ferry, train, and trolley transit give way to an ever increasing concentration of buses and cars chugging through the Lincoln Tunnel tubes. However, everything old is new again. In the late 1980s, the ferry returned in the form of NY Waterway, based in Weehawken, with service to several points in Manhattan. Ridership continues to grow (it was extremely high after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but some of the growth was temporary) and new ferry stops are being planned up and down the Jersey coast from Fort Lee to Bayonne.

Since 2004, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line has provided service at the Port Imperial and Lincoln Harbor stations, connecting Weehawken with neighboring "Gold Coast" communities of Union City and North Bergen heading northbound and Hoboken, Jersey City and Bayonne southbound.

The Northeast Corridor rail line, built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1910, now run by Amtrak and also carrying New Jersey Transit trains, runs in a deep tunnel underneath the township as it prepares to enter the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River. There has never been a stop in Weehawken, but one is being considered for the proposed Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel.

Demographics

As of the census2 of 2000, there were 13,501 people, 5,975 households, and 3,059 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,132.7/km² (15,891.3/mi²). There were 6,159 housing units at an average density of 2,797.7/km² (7,249.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 73.05% White, 3.58% African American, 0.20% Native American, 4.67% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 13.94% from other races, and 4.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 40.64% of the population.

There were 5,975 households out of which 20.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.8% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the township the population was spread out with 16.6% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 42.4% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $50,196, and the median income for a family was $52,613. Males had a median income of $41,307 versus $36,063 for females. The per capita income for the township was $29,269. About 9.3% of families and 11.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.0% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Weehawken's Town Council consists of[2]:

  • Richard F. Turner, Mayor
  • Robert Zucconi, Councilman-at-Large
  • Carmela Silvestri Ehret, 1st Ward Councilwoman
  • Rosemary J. Lavagnino, 2nd Ward Councilwoman
  • Robert J. Sosa, 3rd Ward Councilman

James Marchetti is the Township Manager.

Federal, state and county representation

Weehawken is in the Thirteenth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 33rd Legislative District.

New Jersey's 13th congressional district is represented by Albio Sires (D, West New York). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027) and Andy Kim (Moorestown, term ends 2031).[3]

For the 2024–2025 session, the 33rd legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Brian P. Stack (D, Union City) and in the General Assembly by Julio Marenco (D, North Bergen) and Gabe Rodriguez (D, West New York).[4] Template:NJ Governor

Hudson County's County Executive is Thomas A. DeGise. Weehawken is in Freeholder District 7 of the County's Board of Chosen Freeholders, and is represented by Silverio Vega, who is the Freeholder Chairman, and who also represents Guttenberg and West New York.

Education

The Weehawken School District serves students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district are Daniel Webster School (316 students in PreK through 2nd grade), Theodore Roosevelt School (365 students in grades 3-6) and Weehawken High School [1] (562 students in grades 7-12).

Noteworthy residents

Trivia

  • Weehawken is referred to in multiple Dr. Seuss stories, most notably The Lorax (likely due to how humorous the name sounds to speakers of English).

See also

References

  1. ^ Hamilton-Burr Duel Re-Enactment, accessed May 17, 2006
  2. ^ Weehawken Mayor and Town Council, accessed June 22, 2006
  3. ^ States in the Senate: New Jersey, United States Senate. Accessed January 23, 2025. "Cory A. Booker (D) Hometown: Newark; Andy Kim (D) Hometown: Moorestown"
  4. ^ Legislative Roster for District 33, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 20, 2024.
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