Weehawken, New Jersey

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.

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 (a boundary shared with 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.

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.Hamilton-Burr Duel Re-Enactment, accessed May 17, 2006

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.

Despite becoming a transportation hub 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 came during the early 1870s, Weehawken remained a sleepy, suburban-like town, little changed, until the advent of the Lincoln Tunnel in 1937.

In the late 1950s and early '60s, Weehawken saw its modes of transit change from ferry, train and trolley to an ever increasing concentration of buses and cars chugging through the Lincoln Tunnel tubes. However, everything old is new again. Since the late 1980s, the ferry returned in the form of the NY Waterway, based in Weehawken. Ridership continues to grow and new ferry stops are being added 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 Jersey coast cities of Union City and North Bergen heading northbound and Hoboken, Jersey City and Bayonne southbound.

Demographics

As of the census ² 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 ofWeehawken Mayor and Town Council, accessed June 22, 2006:

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.

Weehawken is represented on Hudson County's Board of Chosen Freeholders by District 7 Freeholder Silverio Vega (Current Board Chair).

Education

The Weehawken School District serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Woodrow Wilson School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive, during the 2004-05 school year.U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 2003 through 2005 (PDF), accessed June 5, 2006

Noteworthy residents

Lori Majewski, journalist, former contributor to Spin and US Weekly magazines, and current managing editor of Teen People magazine.

Trivia

Weehawken (though misspelled in a caption as "Weehauken") was humorously slighted in an episode of the animated TV series Futurama as being the prior location of the rather ramshackle Democratic Order Of Planets (DOOP) headquarters, where DOOP must return after Zapp Brannigan unwittingly destroys the new space-faring headquarters during its christening ceremony.