Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 17,197, an increase of 4,643 (+37.0%) from the 2010 census count of 12,554, which in turn reflected a decline of 947 (−7.0%) from the 13,501 counted in the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023.
History Name The name Weehawken is generally considered to have evolved from the Algonquian language Lenape spoken by the Hackensack and Tappan. It has variously been interpreted as "maize land", "place of gulls", "rocks that look like trees", which would refer to the Palisades, atop which most of the town sits, or "at the end", among other suggested translations.Weehawken, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Accessed June 13, 2007. "A township in Hudson County, N.J., seven miles northeast of Jersey City. The name was originally an Algonquin Indian term and later changed by folk-usage to a pseudo-Dutch form. Its exact meaning is unclear, but variously translated as place of gulls, rocks that look like trees, maize land, at the end (of the Palisades) and field lying along the Hudson."Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed October 23, 2015.Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 31. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed October 23, 2015.
Three U.S. Navy ships have been named for the city. The USS Weehawken, launched on November 5, 1862, was a Passaic-class monitor, or ironclad ship, which sailed for the Union Navy during the American Civil War, encountered battles at the Charleston, South Carolina, coast and sank in a moderate gale on December 6, 1863.USS WeehawkenCivil War Union Naval Ship, AmericanCivilWar.com. Accessed October 23, 2015. The Weehawken was the last ferry to the West Shore Terminal on March 25, 1959, at 1:10 am, ending 259 years of continuous ferry service. Weehawken Street in Manhattan's Greenwich Village was the site of a colonial Hudson River ferry landing.Apmann, Sarah Bean. "Weehawken Street Historic District, Part I", Village Preservation, January 11, 2016. Accessed February 16, 2023. "Speculative New Yorkers bought lots on the east side of the planned Weehawken Street (named for the ferry connection to the New Jersey town) in anticipation of the market"
The name and the place have inspired mention in multiple works of popular culture.
Founding
The township's written history began in 1609, when Henry Hudson, on his third voyage to the New World, sailed down what was later named the North River on the Half Moon and anchored in Weehawken Cove."Hoboken's earliest days: Before becoming a city, 'Hobuck' went through several incarnations" , The Hudson Reporter, January 16, 2005. Accessed July 7, 2016. "On October 2, 1609, Henry Hudson anchored his ship, the Half Moon, in what is now Weehawken Cove. Robert Juet, Hudson's first mate, wrote in the ship's log, "[W]e saw a good piece of ground ... that looked of the color of white green." The rock of which Juet wrote makes up Castle Point in Hoboken; nowhere else along the Hudson River exists a white-green rock formation." At the time it was the territory of the Hackensack and Tappan, of the Turtle Clan, or Unami, a branch of the Lenape. They were displaced by immigrants to the province of New Netherland, who had begun to settle the west bank of the Hudson at Pavonia in 1630. On May 11, 1647, Maryn Adriansen received a patent for a plantation (of 169 acres) at Awiehaken. In 1658, Director-General of New Netherland Peter Stuyvesant negotiated a deal with the Lenape to purchase all the land from "the great rock above Wiehacken", west to Sikakes (Secaucus) and south to Konstapels Hoeck (Constable Hook). History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, p. 62. Accessed March 29, 2007. In 1661, Weehawken and all of present-day Hudson County became part of Bergen Township, New Jersey when it (and most of northeastern New Jersey) came under the jurisdiction of the court at Bergen Square.
In 1674, New Netherland was ceded to the Netherlands by the British and the town became part of the Province of East Jersey. In 1677, John Luby acquired several parcels covering along the Hudson. Most habitation was along the top of the cliffs since the low-lying areas were mostly marshland. Descriptions from the period speak of the dense foliage and forests and excellent land for growing vegetables and orchard fruits. As early as 1700 there was regular, if sporadic ferry service from Weehawken. In 1752, King George II made the first official grant for ferry service, the ferry house north of Hoboken primarily used for farm produce and likely was sold at the Greenwich Village landing that became Weehawken Street.Van Valen, James M. History of Bergen County, New Jersey, p. 86. New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Co., 1900. Accessed January 14, 2012. "For many years the farmers and others in the northern part of Bergen County reached New York by means of the Weehawken Ferry established by Samuel Bayard about the year 1700. The charter for this ferry was granted by George II in 1752 to Stephen Bayard."
Weehawken was formed as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature, on March 15, 1859, from portions of Hoboken and North Bergen. A portion of the township was ceded to Hoboken in 1874. Additional territory was annexed in 1879 from West Hoboken.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 148. Accessed May 30, 2024.
Revolutionary War
During the American Revolutionary War, Weehawken was used as a lookout for the patriots to check on the British, who were situated in New York and controlled the surrounding waterways. In fact, in July 1778, Lord Stirling asked Aaron Burr, in a letter written on behalf of General George Washington, to employ several persons to "go to Bergen Heights, Weehawk, Hoebuck, or any other heights thereabout to observe the motions of the enemy's shipping" and to gather any other possible intelligence.Parton, James. The Life and Times of Aaron Burr (Volume 1), p. 109. J.R. Osgood, 1876. Accessed January 14, 2012. Early documented inhabitants included a Captain James Deas, whose stately residence at Deas' Point was located atop a knoll along the river.Historic Monument – Hamilton-Burr Duel, Weehawken, Art & Architecture of New Jersey, Stockton University. Accessed January 14, 2012. Lafayette had used the mansion as his headquarters and later Washington Irving came to gaze at Manhattan.
Not far from Deas' was a ledge 11 paces wide and 20 paces long, situated above the Hudson on the Palisades. This ledge, long gone, was the site of 18 documented duels and probably many unrecorded ones in the years 1798–1845. The most famous is the duel between Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury, and Aaron Burr, then Vice President of the United States, which took place on July 11, 1804;Ellis, Joseph J. 2000. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. (Chapter One: The Duel), Alfred A. Knopf. New York. this duel was re-enacted on its 200th anniversary (July 11, 2004) by descendants of Hamilton and Burr. Three years earlier, a duel was held at this spot between Hamilton's son, Philip Hamilton, and George Eacker."The American Experience – The Duel – People & Events – Philip Hamilton's Duel" , PBS. Accessed March 21, 2022. "When Alexander Hamilton's 19-year-old son rose to his father's defense on November 20, 1801, he took the first step of a violent process that had become an American social convention – the duel.... The weapons chosen were pistols; the dueling site the heights of Weehawken, New Jersey, just across the Hudson from New York." (Another source, however, puts the duel in Paulus Hook in Jersey City.) Phillip, who had been defending his father's honor, suffered a fatal wound in his hip and his left arm and died two days later on November 24, 1801.
19th century In the mid-19th century, James G. King built his estate Highwood on the bluff that now bears his name and entertained many political and artistic figures of the era, including Daniel Webster.Allocca, Sean. "Happy Birthday, Weehawken! Town unveils new book, year-long 150th celebration" , The Hudson Reporter, February 8, 2009. Accessed January 14, 2012. "According to the book, Weehawken first gained momentum when James Gore King, a banking tycoon from New York City, moved his family to Weehawken in 1832. Naming his estate Highwood, these 50 acres served as the model for what Weehawken represented: exquisiteness, quiet communities, and astonishing scenery."
With the ferry, the Hackensack Plank Road (a toll road that was a main artery from Weehawken to Hackensack), and later, the West Shore Railroad, built during the early 1870s, the waterfront became a transportation hub. The wealthy built homes along the top of the New Jersey Palisades, where they might flee from the sweltering heat of New York and breathe the fresh air of the heights. Weehawken became the playground of the rich during the middle to late 19th century. A series of wagon lifts, stairs and even a passenger elevator designed by the same engineer as those at the Eiffel Tower (which at the time was the world's largest) were put in place to accommodate the tourists and summer dwellers. The Eldorado Amusement Park, a pleasure garden which opened in 1891, drew massive crowds.Staff. "A Substantial El Dorado; Weehawken's Counterpart Of The City Of Gold. It Can Be Readily Reached By Various And Some Novel Conveyances – Many Means Of Entertainment – A Grand Spectacle – What There Is To See", The New York Times, July 17, 1892. Accessed February 9, 2015.
20th century The turn of the 20th century saw the end of the large estates, casinos, hotels, and theaters as tourism gave way to subdivisionsSenft, Bret. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Weehawken; Insular With a Magnificent Skyline View", The New York Times, September 25, 1994. Accessed February 9, 2015. (such as Highwood Park and Clifton Park) and the construction of many of the private homes in the township.Astudillo, Carla. "The 23 N.J. towns with the most old homes, ranked", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, March 2018. Accessed November 14, 2019. This coincided with the influx of the Germans, Austrians, and Swiss, who built them and the breweries and embroidery factories in nearby Union City and West New York. While remaining essentially residential, Weehawken continued to grow as Hudson County became more industrial and more populated. Shortly after World War I, a significant contingent of Syrian immigrants from Homs (a major textile center in its own right) moved into Weehawken to take advantage of the burgeoning textile industry.
Geography Weehawken is part of the New York metropolitan area. Situated on the western shore of the Hudson River, along the southern end of the New Jersey Palisades across from Midtown Manhattan, it is the western terminus of the Lincoln Tunnel. Weehawken is one of the towns that comprise North Hudson, sometimes called NoHu in the artistic community.Paul, Mary; and Matzner, Caren. "Scores of artists find a place in N. Hudson WNY, Union City, Weehawken, and North Bergen becoming 'NoHu'" , The Union City Reporter, April 17, 2008, pages 1, 6 and 19. Accessed January 14, 2012.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 1.48 square miles (3.82 km2), including 0.78 square miles (2.03 km2) of land and 0.69 square miles (1.79 km2) of water (46.69%).