Search for LIMS content across all our Wiki Knowledge Bases.
Type a search term to find related articles by LIMS subject matter experts gathered from the most trusted and dynamic collaboration tools in the laboratory informatics industry.
The name Weehawken is generally considered to have evolved from the Algonquian languageLenape 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.[21][22][23]
The name and the place have inspired mention in multiple works of popular culture.
Founding
An 1841 map of parts of Hudson and New York counties, and the Hudson River
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.[27] 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 NetherlandPeter 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).[28] In 1661, Weehawken became part of Bergen when it (and most of northeastern New Jersey) came under the jurisdiction of the court at Bergen Square.[citation needed]
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 35 acres (14 ha) along the Hudson.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]
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.[32]
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.[33] Early documented inhabitants included a Captain James Deas, whose stately residence at Deas' Point was located atop a knoll along the river.[34]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 20 feet (6.1 m) 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;[35] this duel was re-enacted on its 200th anniversary (July 11, 2004) by descendants of Hamilton and Burr.[36] Three years earlier, a duel was held at this spot between Hamilton's son, Philip Hamilton, and George Eacker.[37] (Another source, however, puts the duel in Paulus Hook in Jersey City.[38]) 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.[37]
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.[39]
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)[25] 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.[40]
20th century
The turn of the 20th century saw the end of the large estates, casinos, hotels, and theaters as tourism gave way to subdivisions[41] (such as Highwood Park and Clifton Park) and the construction of many of the private homes in the township.[42] 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.[citation needed]
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%).[1][2]
While the Palisades defines Weehawken's natural topography, the Lincoln Tunnel Helix is prominent man-made and Lincoln Tunnel toll plaza are prominent man-made structures. Geographically, Weehawken has distinct neighborhoods: Downtown (known as "The Shades"), the Heights, Uptown (which includes Kingswood Bluff, known as "The Bluff"), and the Waterfront, which since the 1990s has been developed for transportation, commercial, recreational and residential uses.[48] Though some are long abandoned (e.g., Grauert Causeway), there are still several outdoor public staircases (e.g., Shippen Steps) throughout the town, and more than 15 "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.[49] Local zoning laws prohibit the construction of high-rise buildings that would obstruct sight-lines from higher points in the township.[50][51] In a 1999 decision that blocked the development of a pair of waterfront towers that would have stood 160 feet (49 m), a judge cited the panoramic vistas from Weehawken as "a world-class amenity that encourages people to live, work and locate businesses in the area".[52] In 2021, the development company Roseland donated 14.5 acres (5.9 ha) of land on the Palisades cliff face to the town in order to preserve its beauty and its history.[53]
Weehawken township, Hudson County, New Jersey – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
The 2010 United States census counted 12,554 people, 5,712 households, and 2,913 families in the township. The population density was 15,764.6 per square mile (6,086.7/km2). There were 6,213 housing units at an average density of 7,801.9 per square mile (3,012.3/km2). The racial makeup was 71.85% (9,020) White, 4.83% (606) Black or African American, 0.49% (61) Native American, 8.16% (1,024) Asian, 0.01% (1) Pacific Islander, 10.76% (1,351) from other races, and 3.91% (491) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 40.27% (5,055) of the population.[18]
Of the 5,712 households, 20.4% had children under the age of 18; 34.9% were married couples living together; 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 49.0% were non-families. Of all households, 36.1% were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.93.[18]
16.3% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 39.1% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.2 years. For every 100 females, the population had 95.2 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 93.0 males.[18]
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $62,435 (with a margin of error of +/− $6,887) and the median family income was $90,903 (+/− $17,797). Males had a median income of $53,912 (+/− $7,426) versus $50,129 (+/− $3,238) for females. The per capita income for the township was $45,206 (+/− $5,011). About 10.1% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 20.4% of those age 65 or over.[67]
2000 census
As of the 2000 census,[15] there were 13,501 people, 5,975 households, and 3,059 families residing in the township. The population density was 15,891.3 inhabitants per square mile (6,135.7/km2). There were 6,159 housing units at an average density of 7,249.4 per square mile (2,799.0/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.[62][63]
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.[62][63]
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.[62][63]
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.[62][63]
Weehawken, with a population density about equal to that of Jersey City, is among the most densely populated municipalities in the United States.[68]
Formula One announced plans in 2011 to host a street race on a circuit stretching 3.2 miles (5.1 km) in Weehawken and West New York called Grand Prix of America, that was planned to have its first event in June 2013.[76] The three-day event was anticipated to attract 100,000 people and bring in approximately $100 million in economic activity.[77] The 2013 race was dropped from the calendar, with Formula One President and CEO Bernie Ecclestone stating that the promoters were in breach of contract and that new proposals from other parties would be welcome.[78] The race was repeatedly added then removed from future Formula One provisional calendars, and dropped completely from the provisional calendar by 2016.[79]
Points of interest
Though the panoramic view (from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to George Washington Bridge) may be its most famous attraction,[80] Weehawken is also home to other sites of historic, aesthetic, and engineering importance:
The city's main commercial thoroughfare is Park Avenue, which is populated mostly by locally owned stores, eateries and bars.[77]
Hamilton Park, on Boulevard East, is located at the site of the former Eldorado Amusement Resort.[41]
King's Bluff, a historic district at "the end of the Palisades", includes many of Weehawken's most expensive homes, in an eclectic array of architectural styles[81]
The Weehawken Water Tower on Park Avenue was built in 1883[82] as part of the Hackensack Water Company Complex, and inspired by Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy.[83] The Tower is cited on the Federal Maritime Chart as the "Red Tower" and serves as a warning to ships traveling south along the Hudson that they are approaching New York Bay.[84]
Hackensack Plank Road, an early colonial thoroughfare first laid out in 1718, climbs from Downtown to The Heights and further north, originally connecting Hoboken and Hackensack.[86]
The "Horseshoe" on Shippen Street is a cobbled double hairpin street leading to Hackensack Plank Road and Shippen Street Steps, at the bottom of which is located Weehawken's original town hall, and is the home of VFW Post 1923 and the Weehawken Historical Commission.[87]
The Weehawken Public Library, which was built in 1904 as the home the son of William Peter Sr., wealthy brewer/beer baron of the William Peter Brewing Company, is located at 49 Hauxhurst Avenue. It opened as a library in 1942, and underwent renovations from 1997 to 1999.[89]
The Atrium, which is home to Hudson River Performing Arts Center-sponsored events.[90]
Reservoir Park, located at 20th to 22nd Streets on Palisade Avenue, opened on September 25, 2015, The passive park was created on the 14.4-acre (5.8 ha) site of a reservoir that had been owned by United Water but hadn't been used since 1996.[92][93][94]
The Alexander Hamilton Monument on Hamilton Avenue, next to Hamilton Park, is the site of the second memorial to the Burr–Hamilton duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The first, on the original duel site, was constructed in 1806 by the Saint Andrew Society, of which Hamilton had been a member. A 14-foot (4.3-m) marblecenotaph, consisting of an obelisk, topped by a flaming urn and a plaque with a quote from Horace, surrounded by an iron fence, was raised about where Hamilton was believed to have fallen.[97] Duels continued to be fought at the site, and the marble was slowly vandalized and removed for souvenirs, disappearing entirely by 1820. The tablet turned up in a junk store and found its way to the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan, where it still resides.[98]
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,[99] located just off the Boulevard East.[100] 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;[101] a new bust was unveiled on July 12, 1935.[102][103]
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 early 1990s, when a granite pedestal was added in front of the boulder, and the bust was moved to the top of the pedestal. New historical markers were added on July 11, 2004, the 200th anniversary of the duel.[104][105]
Government
Weehawken Town Hall
Local government
Weehawken operates within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Council-Manager form of municipal government. The township is one of 42 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government.[106] The governing body is a five-member Township Council, whose members are elected to serve four-year terms of office on a concurrent basis in non-partisan elections held in May. Two council members are elected from the township at-large and the remainder are chosen from each of three wards. The council selects a mayor and a deputy mayor from among its members in a reorganization meeting held in the first week of July after the election.[7][107][108]
The mayor of Weehawken is Richard F. Turner (at-large), whose term of office ends June 30, 2026. Turner has served in office since July 1990, after having served as town manager.[109] Turner is one of longest-serving mayors in New Jersey.[110] Other members of the Township Council are Deputy Mayor Rosemary J. Lavagnino (2nd Ward), David J. Curtis (3rd Ward), Carmela Silvestri-Ehret (1st Ward) and Robert Sosa (at large), all serving terms of office expiring on June 30, 2026.[3][111][112][113] Giovanni D. Ahmad is the township manager.[5]
Federal, state, and county representation
Weehawken is located in the 8th Congressional District[114] and is part of New Jersey's 33rd state legislative district.[115][116][117]
Kenneth Kopacz (D, District 1-- Bayonne and parts of Jersey City; 2026, Bayonne),[128][129]
William O'Dea (D, District 2-- western parts of Jersey City; 2026, Jersey City),[130][131]
Vice Chair Jerry Walker (D, District 3-- southeastern parts of Jersey City; 2026, Jersey City),[132][133]
Yraida Aponte-Lipski (D, District 4-- northeastern parts of Jersey City; 2026, Jersey City),[134][135]
Chair Anthony L. Romano Jr. (D, District 5-- Hoboken and adjoining parts of Jersey City; 2026, Hoboken),[136][137]
Fanny J.Cedeno (D, District 6-- Union City; 2026, Union City),[138][139]Caridad Rodriguez (D, District 7-- West New York (part), Weehawken, Guttenberg; 2026, West New York),[140][141]
Robert Baselice (D, District 8-- North Bergen, West New York (part), Seacaucus (part); 2026, North Bergen),[142][143] and
Albert Cifelli (D, District 9-- East Newark, Harrison, Kearny, and Secaucus (part); 2026, Harrison).[144][145]
Hudson County's constitutional officers are:
Clerk E. Junior Maldonado (D, Jersey City, 2027),[146][147]
Sheriff Frank Schillari, (D, Jersey City, 2025)[148]
Surrogate Tilo E. Rivas, (D, Jersey City, 2024)[149][150] and Register Jeffery Dublin (D, Jersey City, 2024).[151][150]
Politics
As of March 2011, there were a total of 7,335 registered voters in Weehawken, of which 3,717 (50.7%) were registered as Democrats, 850 (11.6%) were registered as Republicans and 2,753 (37.5%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 15 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens.[152]
In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 74.7% of the vote (3,692 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 23.6% (1,169 votes), and other candidates with 1.7% (83 votes), among the 4,969 ballots cast by the township's 7,995 registered voters (25 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 62.2%.[153][154] In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 72.4% of the vote (3,895 cast), ahead of Republican John McCain with 26.1% (1,406 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (52 votes), among the 5,381 ballots cast by the township's 8,230 registered voters, for a turnout of 65.4%.[155] In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 65.0% of the vote (3,250 ballots cast), outpolling Republican George W. Bush with 33.8% (1,688 votes) and other candidates with 0.4% (26 votes), among the 4,997 ballots cast by the township's 7,293 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 68.5.[156]
In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat Barbara Buono received 55.5% of the vote (1,407 cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 42.2% (1,070 votes), and other candidates with 2.4% (60 votes), among the 2,637 ballots cast by the township's 8,135 registered voters (100 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 32.4%.[157][158] In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 69.9% of the vote (2,209 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 25.1% (792 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 3.8% (119 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (27 votes), among the 3,161 ballots cast by the township's 7,220 registered voters, yielding a 43.8% turnout.[159]
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.[161]
Emile W. Grauert (1855–1931), 1912 to 1931. He was born in 1855 in Manhattan and later worked as an architect. His mayorship was possibly split over non-consecutive terms. He died in the mayor's office on April 20, 1931, from a heart attack.[169][170][171][172]
Clara E. Grauert, the 72-year-old widow of Emile W. Grauert starting in 1931 filling the office of her husband[170]
Wally P. Lindsley (born 1949), from 1979 to 1982[176]
Stanley D. Ianoco, 1982 to 1990 (second non-consecutive term)[110]
Richard F. Turner (born 1950), from 1990 to present[3][110][176]
Education
The Weehawken School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of three schools, had an enrollment of 1,458 students and 120.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.1:1.[177] Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[178]) are
Daniel Webster School[179] served 418 students in Pre-K through 2nd grade, Theodore Roosevelt School[180] served 420 students in grades 3–6, and Weehawken High School[181] served 569 students in grades 7–12[182] The school system is known for its small classes and high ratings.[183]
The Woodrow Wilson Arts Integrated School (grades 1–8), located in Weehawken, was part of the Union City School District.[184]
Hoboken Catholic Academy, a consolidation of existing Catholic schools, is located in Hoboken. A K–8 school, it was formerly co-sponsored by St. Lawrence Church in Weehawken and four Hoboken churches before the archdiocese's Lighting the Way program changed the allocation of money for schools in the archdiocese.[185]
As of May 2010, the township had a total of 16.08 miles (25.88 km) of roadways, of which 13.35 miles (21.48 km) were maintained by the municipality, 1.30 miles (2.09 km) by Hudson County and 1.43 miles (2.30 km) by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.[189]
In 2013, a planned regional bike share system was announced by the Mayors of Weehawken and two cities to its south.[200] Hudson Bike Share, launched in Hoboken in 2015, expanded to Weehawken in 2017.[201] The program ended in 2020 when Hoboken joined the Citibike network.[202]
Media and culture
Original town hall at foot of Shippen Street steps undergoing renovation and transformation to local history museum
Weehawken is located within the New York media market, with most of its daily papers available for sale or delivery. The Jersey Journal is a local daily paper covering news in the county.
The Weehawken Sequence, an early 20th-century series of approximately 100 oil sketches by local artist John Marin, who worked in the city, is considered among, if not the first, abstract paintings done by an American artist. The sketches, which blend aspects of Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism, have been compared to the work of Jackson Pollock.[206]
The Hudson Riverfront Performing Arts Center is a non-profit organization whose mission is to build a world-class performing arts center on the waterfront. Since 2004, it has presented both indoor and outdoor events at Lincoln Harbor.[207]
In popular culture
The name and the place have inspired mention in multiple works of popular culture.
In 1980, Italian science fiction/horror film Contamination features an Edwardian home on the corner of Boulevard East and 46th Street, in the scene in which a disgraced former astronaut is visited by the colonel who disgraced him.[211]
In the 1970s and early 1980s, jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk lived during his final decade until his death in 1982 in a modernist home at 63 Kingswood Road owned by Jazz patron and heiress Pannonica de Koenigswarter—which she bought from film director Josef von Sternberg and later dubbed "the Mad Pad" and "the Cathouse."[212]
In Dr. Seuss' 1940 children's book Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton the Elephant visits Weehawken while he is in the circus, and in Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, the Onceler gives directions to the land of the Truffula trees that include "...turn left at Weehawken."[213]
In the Apple TV+ animated musical, Central Park, a rap about Weehawken recorded by Daveed Diggs is sung by Helen, one of the characters, who is from there.[214]
Steven Massarsky (1948–2007), lawyer and businessman who founded Voyager Communications[262]
David Mearns (born 1958), marine scientist and deep water search and recovery expert, specializing in the discovery of the location of historic shipwrecks[263]
Cecilia Mettler (1909–1943), medical historian who was one of the first full-time, and the first female, professors of the history of medicine in the United States.[264]
^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."
^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"
^"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."
^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."
^ ab"The American Experience – The Duel – People & Events – Philip Hamilton's Duel"Archived December 2, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, 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."
^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."
^Romano, Jay. "Weehawken Journal; Group Fights to Keep 'Magical' Skyline View", The New York Times, December 30, 1990. Accessed February 9, 2015. "New York as seen from the western shore of the Hudson River is a sight that is seldom disappointing, often inspiring and on occasion nothing short of breathtaking. So for 20 years, a group of citizens from this compact, proud community have fought to preserve as much of that view as possible."
^McFadden, Robert D."Weehawken's Panoramic Skyline View Wins Protection", The New York Times, March 20, 1999. Accessed February 9, 2015. "But a New Jersey judge, calling the view a magnificent natural resource that is entitled to state protection, has ruled that a developer should not be allowed to construct two sprawling, 160-foot office and retail towers on the Weehawken waterfront that would obstruct the spectacular prospect. 'The views in question are a world-class amenity that encourages people to live, work and locate businesses in the area,' the jurist, Administrative Law Judge Richard McGill, said in a 166-page decision recommending that the State Commissioner of Environmental Protection deny permits for the project to the developer, Hartz Mountain Industries."
^Baime, A.J. "Formula One Roars to Banks of Hudson", The Wall Street Journal, October 26, 2011. Accessed October 27, 2011. "Formula One... will hold a Grand Prix race on the banks of the Hudson River against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline in June 2013."
^ abSmith, Ray (March 11, 2012). "The State of Main Street". The Hudson Reporter: Progress Report. pp. 4, 11.
^Staff. "New Jersey Grand Prix organizers in breach of contract says Ecclestone", Autoweek, December 23, 2013. Accessed March 6, 2018. "Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that the organizers of the proposed Grand Prix in New Jersey are in breach of their race contract and have not paid him since signing the agreement in 2011. Speaking to Autoweek over lunch in London, Ecclestone also said that several groups are considering whether to take over the race from the current management to ensure that it goes ahead. The race, known as the Grand Prix of America, is planned to run on 3.2-miles of public roads in Port Imperial, a district in the New Jersey towns of West New York and Weehawken."
^Prisco, Jacopo. "The photographer shooting a 30-year timelapse of New York's skyline", CNN, September 12, 2009. Accessed November 14, 2019. "Since then, DiGiovanna has been capturing that perfect view of Manhattan -- from the George Washington Bridge to the Verrazzano Bridge -- and has turned it into his life project: A 30-year timelapse of New York's skyline."
^Sherman, Lauren. Weehawken, p. 20. Arcadia Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0738562681. Accessed June 27, 2017. "Hackensack Plank Road, one of the earliest roads from Colonial times, was laid out in 1718. The old plank road, also known as the Hackensack or Bergen Turnpike and built with a surface of plank decking, took travelers from Hoboken up through Weehawken, North Bergen, and on to Hackensack."
^Fry, Chris. "Weehawken’s Shippen Street: From Heights To Horseshoes", Jersey Digs, March 17, 2017. Accessed July 29, 2024. "But as Weehawken started to grow, engineers desired to connect Shippen Street to Hackensack Plank Road, which travels down the side of the cliff to lower points. The downward slope of the bluff left them with few options, so they went with a double-hairpin 'horseshoe' design, using extreme 90-degree angle turns to connect the two roadways."
^DePalma, Anthony. "River City is Planned for Jersey", The New York Times, July 7, 1987. Accessed June 27, 2017. "The narrow stretch of land, barren but for a ferry slip, a marina, the ventilation shafts of the Lincoln Tunnel and an old shipping company building used as Arcorp's offices, is roughly opposite the area from 50th Street to 34th Street in Manhattan."
^Grand Opening of Union City / Weehawken Reservoir Park, City of Union City. Accessed August 14, 2016. "Please join us on Friday, September 25, 2015 for a Block Party from 6 to 9 p.m. to celebrate the grand opening of the Union City / Weehawken Reservoir Park with rides, hot dogs and music. The park is located at 20th to 22nd Palisade Avenue."
^Hudson County Parks, Visit Hudson. Accessed October 23, 2015. "Hackensack Number Two, the other remaining reservoir in Weehawken Heights, is now accessible to the public as open space."
^Parks Department, The Township of Weehawken. Accessed February 21, 2014.
^"Monument, symposium honor 200th Bicentennial of duel lures scholars, officials", The Hudson Reporter, July 16, 2004. Accessed November 14, 2019. "Soon after the completion of the re-enactment in Lincoln Harbor (see story at top), participants and spectators reconvened atop the Palisade in Weehawken's scenic Hamilton Park to dedicate two new plaques – one in honor of 'America's most famous duel,' and another acknowledging the other numerous 'Affairs of Honor' that took place near the location."
^"Mayor Richard Turner and Weehawken Township Council sworn in", The Hudson Reporter, July 5, 2022. Accessed December 24, 2023. "Turner, an At-Large Councilman, was re-elected mayor by the council, par for the course for Weehawken's type of mayor and council government. This time around, Silvestri-Ehret was elected Deputy Mayor taking over from Lavangino."
^Staff. "'King of Weehawken' Dead. Simon Kelly Was Never Out of Office from 1870.", The New York Times, June 1, 1900. Accessed December 29, 2016. "He served as Poormaster from 1870 to 1873, was a School Trustee for six years, then Chief of Police until 1887. In that year, he was made a Councilman, and as President of the Board was Mayor of the town until 1898, when he was defeated by a combination of Republicans and Independent Democrats."
^Weehawken History, 1932, via USGenWeb Archives. Accessed December 29, 2016. "To no man of that period belonged greater credit for the building up of our Township than to Simon Kelly, who reigned as the big boss of Weehawken from 1871 to 1900."
^ ab"Widow, 72, Succeeds Weehawken Mayor", The New York Times, May 14, 1931. Accessed November 14, 2019. "Mrs. Clara E. Grauert, 72-year-old widow of Emile W. Grauert, who at the time of his death on April 20. had completed twenty-one years as Mayor of Weehawken, N. J., was sworn in last night at the Weehawken City Hall as her husband's successor."
^Green, Jennie. "Not Too Fancy, Except for the Views". The New York Times, January 23, 2005. Accessed July 8, 2011. "According to Mr. McLellan, the school superintendent, small schools and class sizes are the key to success. Weehawken High School, which encompasses Grades 7 through 12, offers more advanced-placement courses than any other school in the state, he said, while 85 to 90 percent of the students are college bound. Moreover, state testing at Grades 4, 8, and 11 have placed Weehawken students in the top 10 percent statewide."
^Hyman, Dylan. "Burr-Hamilton Duel: A look back", KCRA-TV, July 11, 2017. Accessed December 10, 2017. "It was 213 years ago that longtime rivals Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton met for the final time in Weehawken, New Jersey for a duel that would go in the history books, and eventually make its way to the Broadway stage.... Dramatized in the song "The World Was Wide Enough" from the 'Hamilton' musical, Burr sings about becoming a villain in Hamilton's history. Following the duel, Burr's political reputation never recovered."
^Lathem, Edward Connery. Who's Who & What's What in the Books of Dr. Seuss, Dartmouth College. Accessed April 29, 2021. "[1] Among the cities at which the Circus Show exhibited Horton — in Horton Hatches the Egg [2] Place cited by the Once-ler in giving directions to his relatives for finding their way to him — in The Lorax."
^West, Teri. "Daveed Diggs raps an ode to Weehawken in new Central Park season", The Jersey Journal, March 19, 2021. Accessed April 29, 2021. "The streets of Weehawken are humming with that shyly prideful feeling you get when catapulted into sudden fame.... Last week, the anthem arrived. It's in cartoon form and rapped by actor Daveed Diggs, voicing a grey-haired TV character boasting about her hometown. It's called 'Weehawken Rap,' and Apple TV+ debuted it online as a preview for the upcoming season of Central Park."
^Kirk, Edward J. Weehawken History, 1932, Hudson County Archives Society, October 16, 1932. Accessed June 15, 2017. "The First Citizen of Weehawken.... That is what they say of him who seems to have been the first and for some time apparently the only citizen of Weehawken, Maryn Adriaensen."
^ abHague, Jim. "New commission will capture town's history", The Hudson Reporter, February 15, 2000. Accessed November 13, 2012. "But as Fleckenstein is quick to point out, there are other historic facts about the township. Like the fact that famed actor/dancer Fred Astaire once called Weehawken home."
^Kenneth Burke, Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Accessed February 21, 2024. "In 1916, after his parents decided to move to Weehawken, New Jersey, Burke dropped out of Ohio State and moved in with them in order to be closer to New York City."
^Zeitlinger, Ron. "Weehawken teen who climbed 1 WTC charged with climbing historic water tower, source says", The Jersey Journal, September 22, 2014. Accessed June 27, 2017. "The Weehawken teen who slipped past security and climbed to the top of 1 World Trade Center earlier this year has been arrested in his home town for trying to scale another building, a source told The Jersey Journal. Justin Casquejo, the 16-year-old who caused a national stir – and a security embarrassment – when he posted pictures online from the top of the WTC building while it was still under construction in March, tried to climb the historic Weehawken water tower, a 175-foot-brick structure on Park Avenue on Sept. 17, a source with knowledge of his arrest said."
^Bayot, Jennifer. "John Diebold, 79, a Visionary of the Computer Age, Dies", The New York Times, December 27, 2005. Accessed December 20, 2017. "John Theurer Diebold (he later dropped the middle name) was born on June 8, 1926, in Weehawken, N.J., and received a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and a master's degree from Harvard Business School."
^Halasz, Piri. "State Artists Display Skills", The New York Times, July 6, 1975. Accessed November 26, 2019. "Because of its complexity, Gary T. Erbe's American Recipe also rewards study. Using a trompe l'oeil technique and an arrangement of elements that suggests collage, this skilled Weehawken artist superimposed shiny pie plates, a rolling pin, an electric mixer and other attributes of domestic labor on an old‐fashioned patriotic poster, thus satirically summing up the place of woman in all‐American home."
^Knuth, Don. "Oral History of Edward Feigenbaum, Computer History Museum, 2007. Accessed October 23, 2015. "I was born in Weehawken, New Jersey, which is a town on the Palisades opposite New York. In fact, it's the place where the Lincoln Tunnel dives under the water and comes up in New York. Then my parents moved up the Palisades four miles to a town called North Bergen, and there I lived until I was 16 and went off to Carnegie Tech."
^Speiser, Matthew. "Listen: Weehawken singer, 15, drawing rave reviews and taking shot at the big time", The Jersey Journal, October 14, 2015, updated January 17, 2019. Accessed January 19, 2020. "Chloe Baker is a busy teenager. Between a full course load in musical theater at High Tech High School in North Bergen, homework, and a burgeoning career as a singer and songwriter, the 15-year-old Weehawken girl barely has time to make it to soccer practice at Weehawken High, where she is one of the team's best players."
^Bio, Lost Ceilings: poet, writer, performer & artist Janet Hamill. Accessed October 23, 2015. "Janet Hamill was born in Jersey City, NJ. For her first five years, she gazed across the Hudson from the Palisades in Weehawken before her family moved to New Milford in Bergen County."
^ abFriedwald, Will. "The Ballad of a Jazz Royal", The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2011. Accessed July 9, 2014. "Finally, in 1958, the baroness moved to a mansion in Weehawken, N.J., which became what might have been the metropolitan area's greatest jazz salon ever. Monk, Barry Harris and other greats lived there for long periods, and more incredible music was heard there than in most concert halls."
^Watrous, Peter. "Be-Bop's Generous Romantic", The New York Times, May 28, 1994. Accessed January 14, 2012. "Mr. Harris moved to New York in the early 1960s and became friends with Thelonious Monk and Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, Mr. Monk's patron. Eventually, Mr. Harris moved to her estate in Weehawken, N.J., where he still lives."
^Glenn Hauman. SFBookcase. Accessed August 19, 2011.
^"Graduation ceremonies program, 1974" (Press release). Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, Weehawken, New Jersey. June 1974.
^Kihss, Peter. "Adm. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, 85, First Director Of The C.I.A., Dies", The New York Times, June 21, 1982. Accessed November 13, 2012. Vice Adm. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency, died Friday night at Mount Sinai Hospital. He was 85 years old and had lived in Weehawken, N.J., since his retirement from the Navy in 1958."
^ abThelonious Junior biography, Jazz. Accessed July 8, 2011. "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."
^Levine, Daniel Rome. "Triunfador Franck de Las Mercedes", ABC News, August 16, 2007. Accessed August 18, 2008. "Standing in the middle of his one-bedroom loft apartment in an industrial part of Weehawken, N.J., the 34-year-old abstract painter covers a small brown cardboard box in white acrylic paint and then carefully drips red and hot pink paint on it."
^Lucas, Ed; Lucas, Christopher (2015). Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story: A Blind Broadcaster's Story of Overcoming Life's Greatest Obstacles. Gallery/Jeter Publishing. ISBN 978-1476785837.
^"Out of the Dark Room", Time, March 16, 1962. Accessed June 13, 2007. "In many ways, it took Marin 40 years to find himself. Raised by two maiden aunts in Weehawken. N.J. (his mother died nine days after his birth), he attended Stevens Institute of Technology for a year, drifted from job to job, spent six frustrating years trying to turn himself into an architect."
^Allocca, Sean. "What's old is new; Community theater group returns to the township", The Hudson Reporter, June 20, 2010. Accessed July 9, 2014. "Although the new reincarnation of the group is independent of the township, some of Iacono's original associates – like famous songwriter and longtime Weehawken resident Trade Martin and former Guttenberg Mayor Peter LaVilla – have signed on to work on the project."
^Mettler, Fred A. "Cecilia Charlotte Asper Mettler (1909-1943)", Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 1944. Accessed February 16, 2023, via JSTOR. "She was born October 26, 1909 at Weehawken, N. J. of Spanish-French-Irish extraction and was the daughter of the late William Charles Asper, attorney and Professor of Law at the John Marshall Law College."
^Bird, Christiane (2000). American Women Writers: A Critical Guide from Colonial Times to the Present. St. James Press. pp. 139–140.
^Strong, Martin Charles. The essential rock discography (Canongate U.S.) ISBN 978-1-84195-860-6.
^Staff. "B-52s 'Party' lands close to hometown", The Record, August 15, 2009. Accessed January 14, 2012. "But Athens is a university town – cosmopolitan – with transplants from all over. Which is how Pierson (Weehawken-born, Rutherford-raised) and Schneider (Newark and Long Branch) came to be in the area, ready to join forces with several local musicians to create New Wave's quirkiest party band."
^Henry Reuterdahl, Arlington National Cemetery. Accessed October 23, 2015. "Lieutenant Commander Henry Reuterdahl, United States naval Reserve Force, well-known naval artist and marine colorist, died at the St. Elizabeth's Government Hospital for the Insane on Sunday night and was buried privately today in Arlington National Cemetery, where repose many of the American Navy officers with whom he was intimately associated.... His home was in Weehawken, New Jersey from about 1899–1925."
^Hague, Jim. "Guitar Wizards: Brazilian brothers open HRPAC's UBS Atrium series", The Hudson Reporter, November 28, 2004. Accessed May 8, 2007. "The Seattle Symphony, with Weehawken native Gerard Schwarz as conductor, recently performed a triple concerto of Sergio Assad's original musical compositions."
^Staff. "Theodore Seltzer Is Dead at 86; Manufactured Baume Ben-Gay", The New York Times, January 2, 1957. Accessed November 14, 2019. "Theodore Seltzer, president of Bengue, Inc., 2023 Kerrigan Avenue, Union City, N.J., manufacturers of a medicinal ointment, Baume Ben-Gay, and other products, died Monday in French Hospital after a long illness. He was 86 years old and lived at 55 King Avenue, Weehawken, N.J."
^Seltzer Mansion, Weehawken Time Machine. Accessed August 11, 2014.
^Hendrix, Grady. "The Cartoonist Who Crashed the Party", The New York Sun, September 1, 2006. Accessed June 13, 2007. "Tashlin, a native of Weehawken, N.J., got his start animating Looney Tunes in the early 1940s before becoming the go-to guy for comedy as one of the few directors to successfully make the transition from animation to live-action, shaping star vehicles for one outsized celeb after another: Bob Hope, Jayne Mansfield and, most famously, Jerry Lewis."
^"Campus Profiles; English Professor First Of Series", The Cowl, March 16, 1951. Accessed May 20, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Mr. Paul Van K. Thomson, professor of English literature here at Providence College, has another important job to do besides teaching, that is, being the father of six children. Mr. Thomson who arrived here in 1949 was born in Weehawken. N. J., and attended high school there."
^Wolf, Jaime. "What A Design Guru Really Does", The New York Times, December 1, 2002. Accessed October 23, 2015. "Or the house in Weehawken that Walrod wants to save, which wasn't only designed by a close associate of Walter Gropius's but was also originally commissioned by Josef von Sternberg, later sold to an eccentric baroness who was famous for supporting jazz musicians like Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk and was ultimately, it turns out, the place where Monk died."
^Staff. "Grant Wright, 70, Dies In East of Pneumonia", Peoria Star, October 21, 1935. Accessed August 11, 2014. "Grant Wright aged 70, one of the leading landscape painters in the country, and known to practically every older resident of Peoria, died yesterday morning at the North Hudson Hospital at Union City, N.J., following a short illness. Death was caused by pneumonia. He was admitted to the hospital Saturday night, being taken from his home, 327 Park Avenue, Weehawken, N.J."
United States
New Jersey
