HISTORICAL EVENTS
“History is formed by the people, those who have power, and those without power. Each one of us makes history” (Anselm Kiefer)
PRE DUTCH SETTLEMENT
At the time of first European contact, Bergen County was inhabited by Native American people, particularly the Lenape Nation, whose sub-groups included the Tappan, Hackensack, and Rumachenanck. Some of their descendants are included among the Ramapough Mountain Indians. Their ancestors had moved into the mountains to escape encroachment by Dutch and English colonists. Their descendants reside mostly in the northwest of the county, in nearby Passaic County and in Rockland County, New York.​
FORMATION OF BERGEN COUNTY
In the 17th century, the Dutch considered the area comprising today's Bergen and Hudson counties as part of New Netherland, their colonial province of the Dutch Republic. In 1683, Bergen was officially recognized as an independent county by the Provincial Assembly. The origin of the name of Bergen County is a matter of debate. It is believed that the county is named for one of the earliest settlements. Several sources attribute the name to Bergen, Norway, while others attribute it to Bergen, North Holland in the Netherlands.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Bergen was the location of several battles and troop movements during the American Revolutionary War. Fort Lee's location on the bluffs of the New Jersey Palisades, opposite Fort Washington in Manhattan, made it a strategic position during the war. In November 1776, the Battle of Fort Lee took place as part of a British plan to capture George Washington and to crush the Continental Army, whose forces were divided and located in Fort Lee and Hackensack. After abandoning the defenses in Fort Lee and leaving behind considerable supplies, the Continental forces staged a hasty retreat through present-day Englewood, Teaneck, and Bergenfield, and across the Hackensack River at New Bridge Landing, one of the few sites where the river was crossed by a bridge. They destroyed the bridge to delay the British assault on Washington's headquarters in the village of Hackensack. The next day, George Washington retreated to Newark and left Hackensack via Polifly Road. British forces pursued, and Washington continued to retreat across New Jersey. The retreat allowed American forces to escape capture and regroup for subsequent successes against the British elsewhere in New Jersey later that winter.
WORLD WAR I
The New Jersey Council of Defense, a civilian group attached to the governor’s office, helped coordinate four major Liberty Loan campaigns in the Garden State. These fundraising drives raised millions of dollars for the war effort. As demand for military supplies increased, New Jersey’s strong industrial infrastructure made the state the largest supplier of munitions in America by 1918. New Jersey would ultimately provide 72,946 conscripts and 46,960 volunteers to the war effort. With those already in the service, more than 140,000 New Jerseyans served by war’s end. Also Camp Merritt was a military base in Dumont and Cresskill, in Bergen County, New Jersey, was World War I’s largest embarkation camp. It had a capacity for 38,000 transient troops and was one of three camps directly under the control of the New York Port of Embarkation.
WORLD WAR II
After the United States entered World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, New Jersey's economy which had continued to feel the effects of the Depression throughout the 1930’s recovered strongly as industry geared up to support the military. As occurred during World War I, New Jersey factories again produced a wide range of military weapons, munitions, vehicles and equipment. The George Washington Bridge was completed in 1931, linking Fort Lee to Manhattan. This connection spurred rapid development in the post-World War II era, developing much of the county to suburban levels. The state also served as a major troop training center and point of embarkation for soldiers and pilots. One of the most dramatic war events in the Northeast occurred in 1945, when US forces hit and sank a German U-boat (U-869) off the coast of New Jersey. The Coast Guard station at what is now Sandy Hook Gateway Park was manned for the duration of the war to protect New York harbor.
