Weehawken, as seen across the Hudson 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.
(pronounced WEE-haw-ken) is a
township in
Hudson County,
New Jersey,
United States. As of the
United States 2000 Census, the township population was 13,501.
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, and across from Midtown
Manhattan, Weehawken is the location of the western terminus of the
Lincoln Tunnel.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²), of which, 0.9 square miles (2.2 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.7 km²) of it (43.71%) is water.
Though small, Weehawken has very urban population density that is among the highest in the United States and comparable with that of nearby
Jersey City. Weehawken is a residential community of primarily one- and two-family homes (many built during the
Edwardian era) and low-rise apartment buildings.
Weehawken has a retail district along Park Avenue (its boundary with
Union City) and large office and apartment/townhouse developments along the Hudson River. A few scattered retail shops and light manufacturing facilities blend into their respective neighborhoods. Local zoning laws prohibit the construction of high-rise buildings that would obstruct sight-lines from higher points in town.
As the emergent
Palisades define Weehawken's natural topography, so too the
Lincoln Tunnel (which cuts the town in half) looms as an inescapable man-made feature. Geographically, Weehawken has distinct neighborhoods: Downtown (or The Shades), The Heights, Uptown (which includes Kingswood Bluff), and The Waterfront, which since 1990s has been developed for transportaion, commercial, recreational and residential uses. Though some are long abandoned (e.g., Grauert Causeway), there are still several outdoor public staircases (e.g., Shippen Steps) throughout the town, and a surprising number (more than 15) of "dead-end" streets. At its southeastern corner is
Weehawken Cove which, along with the rail tracks farther inland, defines Weehawken's border with
Hoboken. Its northern boundary is shared with
West New York. Traversing Weehawken is
Boulevard East, a scenic thoroughfare offering a sweeping vista of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 13,501 people, 5,975 households, and 3,059 families residing in the township. The
population density was 15,891.3 people per square mile (6,132.7/km²). There were 6,159 housing units at an average density of 7,249.4/sq mi (2,797.7/km²). 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.
Name
Weehawken is generally considered to have evolved from the Algonquian language
Lenape, likely from the
Unami dialect spoken by the
Hackensack and
Tappan. It has variously been interpreted as
rocks that look like rows of trees, which would refer to the Palisades, atop of which most of the town sits or
at the end of the cliffs or the stream that flowed from them.
The interpretation
place of gulls may have been inspired by the the Dutch word
Meeuwken (SeaMew), which was the name of the ship upon which the
Director of New Netherland,
Peter Minuit, arrived in May 1626.
Spellings in Dutch and English have included:
Awiehawken, Wiehacken, Weehauk, Weehawk, Weehock, Wiceaken,
Wiehachan and
Wyhaken.
History
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 (
see map). A portion of the township was ceded to Hoboken in 1874. Additional territory was annexed in 1879 from
West Hoboken.
["The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 148.]Its 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 weighed anchor in
Weehawken Cove. At the time it was the territory of the
Hackensack and
Tappan, of the Turtle Clan, or
Unami, a branch of the
Lenni 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). In 1661, Weehawken become part of
Bergen 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 British, and the town became part of the Province of
East Jersey. John Luby, in 1677, acquired several parcels totlaing 35 acres along the Hudson. Most habitation was along the top of the cliffs since much of the low-lying areas were 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, 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.
During the
American Revolutionary War, Weehawken was 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 asked
Aaron Burr, in a letter written on behalf of General
George Washington, to 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.
Early documented inhabitants included a Captain James Deas, whose stately residence at Deas' Point was located atop a knoll along the river.
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 20 paces long and situated 20 ft (6.1 m) above the Hudson along the Palisades. This ledge, long-gone, hosted 18 documented
duels and many unknown ones 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. In the mid 1800s,
James G. King built his estate Highwood on the bluff that now bears his name, and entertained many politic and artistic figures of the era, including
Daniel Webster.
Map (1841) showing Dea's Point, the original Hamilton Monument, and Highwood, the estate of James Gore King.
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 1800s. A series of wagon lifts, stairs, and even an
elevator designed by same engineer of 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, a
pleasure garden, drew massive crowds.
The turn of the century saw the end of the large estates,
casinos,
hotels, and theaters as tourism gave way to subdivisions (such as Highwood Park and Clifton Park) and the construction of many of the private homes still seen in town. 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, NJ. While remaining essentially residential, Weehawken continued to grow as Hudson County became more industrial and more populated. Shortly after the
first World War, a significant contingent of
Syrian immigrants from
Hims (a major textile center in its own right) moved into Weehawken to take advantage of the burgeoning textile industry.
Since the 1990s, a growing population of individuals and childless families (often retirees, gay men and women, or newlyweds) have taken up residency in town.
Points of interest
Though the panoramic view (from the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to
George Washington Bridge) may be its most famous attraction, Weehawken is also home to other sites of historic, aesthetic, and engineering importance:
thumb|right|Weehawken Public Library.- Hamilton Park, used by tourists, wedding parties, advertising companies, fashion designers, and others as a setting for photographs
- King's Bluff, a historic district at "the end of the Palisades" with many homes in an eclectic array of architectural styles
- The Public Library, former home of the Peters Brewery family (overlooking Park Ave and I-495)
- Hackensack Plank Road, an early colonial thoroughfare climbing from the The Shades to The Heights and furthur north.
- The Horseshoe (at Shippen Street), a cobbled double hairpin street leading to Hackensack Plank Road
- Shippen Street Steps, at the bottom of which is located Weehawken's original town hall
- Hackensack Number Two, (at Highpoint Avenue), a reservoir previously part Hudson County's water system along with #1 (demolished), and #3 and #4 in Jersey City Heights in the Gregory/Highpoint Historic District. All are named for the river from which water was pumped into them.
Lincoln Tunnel ventilation tower
- Hamilton Memorial (at the northern end of Hamilton Avenue at the Boulevard Curve)
The first memorial to the duel was constructed in 1806 by the
Saint Andrew Society, of which Hamilton had been a member. A 14-foot (4.3-m)
marble cenotaph, consisting of an
obelisk, topped by a flaming urn and a plaque with a quote from
Horace, surrounded by an iron fence, was constructed approximately where Hamilton was believed to have fallen. Duels continued to be fought at the site, and the marble was slowly vandalized and removed for souvenirs, leaving nothing remaining by 1820. The tablet itself did survive, turning up in a junk store and finding its way to the
New York Historical Society in
Manhattan, where it still resides.
From 1820 to 1857, the site was marked by two stones, with the names Hamilton and Burr, placed where they were thought to have stood during the duel. When a road from
Hoboken to
Fort Lee was built through the site in 1858, an inscription on a boulder where a mortally wounded Hamilton was thought to have rested—one of the many pieces of
graffiti left by visitors—was all that remained. No primary accounts of the duel confirm the boulder anecdote. In 1870,
railroad tracks were built directly through the site, and the boulder was hauled to the top of the Palisades, where it remains today. In 1894, an iron fence was built around the boulder, supplemented by a bust of Hamilton and a plaque. The bust was thrown over the cliff on October 14, 1934 by vandals, and the head was never recovered; a new bust was unveiled on July 12, 1935.
The plaque was stolen by vandals in the 1980s, and an abbreviated version of the text was inscribed on the indentation left in the boulder, which remained until the 1990s, when a
granite pedestal was added in front of the boulder, and the bust was moved to the top of the pedestal. New markers were added on July 11, 2004, the 200th anniversary of the duel.
Government
Local government
Weehawken operates under the
Faulkner Act (Council-Manager) form of municipal government.
members of Weehawken's Township Council are:
- 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.
Education
The
Weehawken School District serves public school students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with 2005–06 enrollment data from the
National Center for Education Statistics) are (307 students in PreK through 2nd grade), (342 students in grades 3–6) and
Weehawken High School (541 students in grades 7–12).
Transportation
Rail
During the 1940s and 1950s, Weehawken and Hudson County saw its extensive streetcar/trolley system dismantled and replaced by buses (as had happened in many cities across the USA).
Today, the
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) provides service on the waterfront at
Lincoln Harbor and
Port Imperial, where transfer to the boat is possible. The system connects with neighboring
North Hudson locations at
Bergenline Avenue and 48th Street (
Union City/
West New York) and Tonnelle Avenue (
North Bergen) heading westbound and continues southbound towards
Hoboken,
Jersey City and
Bayonne.
In 1910, the
Pennsylvania Railroad opened the
North River Tunnels, with a western portal in North Bergen and terminus in the also newly opened
Pennsylvania Station. Now used by the
Northeast Corridor line, it is operated by
Amtrak and shared with
New Jersey Transit trains. Although the tunnel runs deep underground through the township, there has never been a stop in Weehawken, but one is being considered for the proposed
Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel (THE Tunnel). Weehawken is a short bus or light-rail trip away from
Hoboken Terminal, where connections to
New Jersey Transit trains and the
PATH system is possible.
Surface
Bus service is provided by
New Jersey Transit to the
Port Authority Bus Terminal in
Midtown Manhattan on the
123,
126,
128,
156,
158,
159,
165,
166,
168 and
319 routes. The
George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal is served by the
181,
Newark by the
67, and
Jersey City on the
23,
68,
84,
86 and
89 routes. There is also service by "carrito" (licensed mini-bus) with destinations in
Journal Square and
Pavonia/Newport in
Jersey City,
Manhattan,
Paterson, and southeast
Bergen County.
Water
In 1959, the last boat left the Western Shore Terminal, ending almost 300 years of ferry service. But in the late 1980s, the ferry returned in the form of
NY Waterway. 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 for the west bank of the Hudson from
Fort Lee to
Bayonne. In 2006, in agreement with the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the company opened new major terminals on Weehawken's waterfront and West 38th Street in Manhattan.
Currently, NY Waterway offers service to midtown and lower Manhattan, as well sight-seeing trips and seasonal excursions to the
Hudson Valley,
Yankee Stadium, and
Sandy Hook.
Air
- Newark Liberty Airport (EWR), 13.1 miles away, is the closest airport in New Jersey with scheduled passenger service.
Emergency services
Fire
Weehawken Volunteer First Aid and the Weehawken Police Department were among the many
Hudson County agencies that responded to the January 2009 crash of
Flight 1549, for which they received accolades from the survivors.
Noteworthy residents
Notable current and former residents of Weehawken include:
- Adele Astaire, (1896–1981), Fred Astaire's elder sister, dancer and entertainer in vaudeville, on Broadway and the West End, who retired in 1932 to become Lady Charles Cavendish
- Fred Astaire, (1899–1987), Hollywood legend, lived in Weehawken as a teenager, and during vaudville and early Broadway years
- Francis Bitter, (1902–1967), son of Karl Bitter, physicist know for his research with magnets and long career at MIT.
- Karl Bitter, (1867–1915), sculptor, established atelier in town, where he lived and worked until his death.
- John Diebold, (1926–2005), computer scientist, considered to be an automation evangelist.
- John Erskine, (1879–1951), educator and author, who reflects on the town in The Memory of Certain Persons.
- Edward Feigenbaum, (born 1936), computer scientist who collaborated on the development of the first expert system Dendral.
- Peter Fiordalisi, (1904–1988), modern artist whose work was inspired by the Palisades, Hudson, and skyline
- James G. King (1791–1853), businessman and politician who represented from 1849 to 1851.
- John Marin, (1870–1953), modern American artist, raised by maternal grandparents and two artistically talented maiden aunts in town.
- Steven Massarsky (1948–2007), American lawyer and businessman; founder of Voyager Communications.
- Thelonious Monk, (1917–1982), jazz legend, who retired to and spent last years in town.
[. Accessed May 8, 2007. "He made three final performances with an orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and appeared with a quartet at the Newport Jazz Festival New York in 1975 and in 1976, but otherwise spent his final years in seclusion in Weehawken, New Jersey, at the home of the Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, his lifelong friend and patron."]
- Daniel Webster (1782–1852), American statesman who spent part of his later years in town
Use of the name
- Weehawken Street is located in Greenwich Village, one block from the Hudson River at Christopher Street. During the colonial era it was the site of a ferry landing and market where fresh produce was brought to Manhattan from farms across the river. It is the shortest street in the entire borough, even featuring a plaque designating it so.
- Weehawk is a type of knife-blade.
- The Weehawken was the the last ferry to The West Shore Terminal on March 25, 1959 at 1:10 am, ending 259 years of continuous ferry service.
In media
Film
Television
- Weehawken (though misspelled in a caption as "Weehauken") was humorously slighted in "Brannigan, Begin Again", an episode of the TV series Futurama as being the prior location of the rather ramshackle Democratic Order Of Planets (DOOP) headquarters, which was shown after the new headquarters was destroyed.
- In "Mirror, Mirror", a 2007 episode of the TV series House, the town was cited humorously as a mundane place for a patient to have travelled.
Recording
- On Moby Grape's 1968 album Wow, the track "Just Like Gene Autry: A Foxtrot" (strangely, cut at 78 rpm) features Arthur Godfrey announcing: "And now, emanating from the Secaucus Lounge at the fabulous Fandango Hotel in Weehawken, New Jersey ..."
Print
- John Erskine reflects on his childhood in the town in The Memory of Certain Persons.
- In the comic strip Pogo, the turtle character, Churchy Lafemme, once exclaimed "Weehawken!" as his head was unstuck from his shell by use of a bicycle pump.
- Wee Willie Weehawken is a character in Boys' Ranch, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and published by Harper Comics in the 1950s.
See also
