User:Djflem/UC History

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Pre-settlement
At the time of European colonization, the area that would become Hudson County was the territory of the Hackensack tribe of the Lenape people. Soon after the Henry Hudson's exploration of the Hudson River estuary, the Dutch began trading with them, mostly in pelts, and by the 1630s had established communities at Harsimus and Communipaw as part of New Netherland colony of Pavonia at today's Jersey City. . These settlements were compromised in the Peach Tree War in 1655. and in 1658, Peter Stuyvesant, then Director-General of New Netherland, renegotiated a new deed for the area east of the Hackensack River. In 1660 he granted permission to establish the fortified semi-autonomous village of Bergen, located at today's Bergen Square and considered to be the first chartered municpality in what would became the state of New Jersey. After the 1664 capitulation of Fort Amsterdam the entire colony came into the possession of the British, who established the Province of New Jersey. In 1682, the East Jersey legislature created Bergen County, consisting of all the land in the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers; that is, the eastern portions of what today is Bergen and Hudson Counties. In 1693, Bergen County was divided into two townships: Hackensack Township in the north, and Bergen Township, encompassing the Bergen Neck peninsula, in the south. The border between the two townships is the current Hudson-Bergen county line. At the time Jersey City Heights and North Hudson was heavily forested, traversed by paths used by the indigenous and colonializing population and became known as Bergen Woods.

Early settlement
During the 17th and early part of the 18th century many lands were held in common, which led to much confusion and conflict. It was not until 1765 that Bergen Township was was completely surveyed and allloted, mostly to Dutch and British settlers and merchants. That year the Van Vorst family, early Dutch settlers to Pavonia acquired possession a tract. in the area now encompassed by the city. Some holdings were part of estates on the river in Hoboken and Weehawken. The southeastern part of town was acquired by Colonel John Stevens when he bought at auction the estate of loyalist Nicolaas Bayard, member of the Bayard family, which he bequethed to Hoboken Land and Improvement Company in 1838. The northern part of town included western parts of the riverfront estates of James Gore King and James Brown, a founder of Brown Bros. & Co., from whom the current street takes its named. The Paterson Plank Road and the Hackensack Plank Road were laid out over the palisades from the ferry landings at the waterfront to the towns for which they are named. Coach service connecting to the Hoboken ferry began in 1845 over the first, and in 1854 began travelling over the latter. At the time there was only one north-south route though the town that would later become Kennedy Boulevard. ,once called Weavertown Road for the small village located along it. The area that would one day be Union City, however, remained sparsely populated until the early 19th century, with farms interspersed with small clustered settlements. The subdivision of West Hoboken began in 1841. Union Hill was earnesty marketed and developed starting in 1851 by a savings and loan association established on Manhattan's Lower East Side but a group of Germans, who sold lots by installment plan.

Subdivision of North Bergen
In 1838, Jersey City was re-incorporated as separate municipality, and in 1840, after a significant population increase in southern portion of Bergen County the previous decade, Hudson County, comprising the city and Bergen Township, was created. North Bergen Township was incorporated as on April 10, 1843, from the northern portion of Bergen Township, At the time, the town included everything east of the Hackensack River south of the county line, and north of what is now Jersey City. Portions of the North Bergen were taken to form Hoboken Township (April 9, 1849, now the City of Hoboken), Hudson Town (April 12, 1852, later part of Hudson City), Hudson City (April 11, 1855, later merged with Jersey City), Guttenberg (formed within the township on March 9, 1859, and set off as an independent municipality on April 1, 1878), Weehawken (March 15, 1859), Union Township and West Hoboken Township (both created on February 28, 1861), Union Hill town (March 29, 1864). Union Township, or simply Union, was formed through the merger of a number of villages, such as Dalleytown, Buck’s Corners and Cox’s Corners. The largest of these villages, Union Hill, became the colloquial name for the merged town of Union itself. The northern section of Union Township was later incorporated as West New York in 1898. The name of one of the city's schools, Union Hill Middle School, recalls the former town.

Early history and civic boundaries
The area of what is today Union City was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape. It became part of the European New Netherland settlement of Pavonia, later founded as Bergen. During the colonial era it was part of Bergen Township. Three years after the formation of Hudson County in 1840, North Bergen Township was created from the northern part of Bergen Township. North Bergen later divided in various municipalities. :Hoboken in 1849, Weehawken and Guttenberg in 1859, and West Hoboken and Union Township in 1861. The southern portion of Union Township became Union Hill on March 29, 1864, and the remaining northern section was later incorporated as West New York in 1898. Secaucus was founded in 1900. Union City was incorporated on June 1, 1925 by merging the two towns of West Hoboken and Union Hill.. The name of one of the city's schools, Union Hill Middle School, recalls the former town.

The area of what is today Union City was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape. It became part of the European New Netherland settlement of Pavonia, later founded as Bergen. During the colonial era it was part of Bergen Township. Three years after the formation of Hudson County in 1840, North Bergen Township was established. It was later divided in various municipalities which included Union Township and West Hoboken Township (both created on February 28, 1861), Union Hill town (March 29, 1864) Union City was incorporated on June 1, 1925 by merging the two towns of West Hoboken and Union Hill. The name of one of the city's schools, Union Hill Middle School, recalls the former town.

Merger, incorporation, and street name changes
Union City was incorporated on June 1, 1925 by merging the two towns of West Hoboken and Union Hill. On January 2, 1926 most of the street names were changed to reflect the new city boundaries. Most side streets that ran east-west were given numbers, while some north-south streets also were renamed. Many of the orginal names, such as Shippen, can be seen in neighboring Weehawken where they were not given numbers. Most of the north-south streets, now called avenues, were also renamed. Some streets still bear the names of these early settlers, including Sip Street,  Brown Street, Golden Lane, Tournade Street and Kerrigan Avenue,

Immigration and industry
Later, German immigrants immigrated from Manhattan. Irish, Polish, Armenians, Syrians, eastern European Jews and Italians followed. In 1851, Germans moved across the Hudson River from New York City in search of affordable land and open space. During the Civil War a military installation, Camp Yates, covered an area now bounded by Bergenline and Palisade Avenues from 22nd to 32nd Street. Germans began to settle what would become Union Hill in 1851, and some descendants of the immigrants of this period live in the city today. Although the area's diversity was represented by the more than nineteen nationalities that made their home in the Dardanelles (a five block area of Central Avenue from 23rd Street to 27th Street, from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, German Americans and Dutch dominated the area. Along with Swiss and Austrian immigrants, they founded the European-style lace making industries for which they were famous. The introduction of Schiffli lace machines in North Hudson made Union City the "embroidery capital of the United States". The trademark of that industry is on the Union City Seal.

As immigration to the area progressed throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Belgian, Armenian, Greek, Chinese, Jewish and Russian people found a home in the area, though its domination by Germans by the turn of the 20th century was reflected in the fact that the minutes of town meetings were recorded in German. By this time, the area was witnessing a period of urbanization, as an extensive trolley system was developed by the North Hudson County Railway, spurred by both electrification in 1890 and the arrival of Irish and Italian immigrants, which dominated the city until the late 1960s. Successive waves of immigrants from Eastern Europe, the Near East and Latin America contributed to the embroidery industry in subsequent years. "The Cultural Thread"/"El Hilo", an exhibit highlighting this industry, is on display at Union City's Park Performing Arts Center.

The town was also home to the rowdy Hudson Burlesque. Vaudeville and burlesque were theatre staples in Union City, with performers such as Harry Houdini and Fred Astaire making appearances locally. Union City was also for a time the home to the headquarters of sports publisher Joe Weider.

The first Cubans immigrated to Union City in the 1940s, having been attracted to the city in search of work after hearing of its famed embroidery factories. A majority of these Cubans hailed from small towns or cities, particularly Villa Clara Province in central Cuba. After World War II, veterans relocated to Bergen County, causing a short-lived decline in the population. In the late 1960s, a large migration of Cuban refugees fleeing Fidel Castro's regime came and settled in Union City, making Union City for many years the city with the largest Cuban population in the U.S. after Miami, hence its nickname, "Havana on the Hudson." Following the Mariel boatlift in 1980, 10,000 Cubans settled in New Jersey, leading to a second wave of Cubans to Union City, which totaled 15,000 by 1994. The city, as well as neighboring towns such as West New York, has experienced a profound cultural impact as a result of this, as seen in such aspects of local culture as its cuisine, fashion, music, entertainment and cigar-making.

Development in the 21st Century
Since its inception in 2000 the Cuban Day Parade of New Jersey has become a major annual event in North Hudson, beginning in North Bergen and travelling south to its end in Union City. Union City has historically been a family-oriented city predominantly made up of brownstones, two-family homes and locally owned businesses. Beginning approximately in 2003, it underwent a period of development of modestly-sized residences, spurred by similar development in neighboring Hoboken, and the city's attempt to attract developers to what had historically been a town unfriendly to them, according to Mayor Brian P. Stack. Through approval of varied construction projects to address the needs of residents of different incomes, improved rent control laws and community input on such issues, this "Hobokenization" resulted in positive comparisons with the redeveloped Hoboken of the mid-to-late 1990s, with new restaurants, bars and art galleries cited as evidence of renewal. The city recorded $192 million in new construction in 2007, and 600 certificates of occupancy, with 500-700 projected for 2008–2009, compared with previous years, in which 50 certificates was considered a high amount. This development continued for several years, reaching a milestone in 2008 with the completion of Union City's first high-rise condominium tower, The Thread, whose name evokes the city's historical association with the embroidery industry. Other such towers have followed, such as the Altessa and Park City Grand.

Schuetzen Park is a privately-owned park in North Bergen, New Jersey, USA that has existed since 1874 and is located on the ridge of the Hudson Palisades at Kennedy Boulevard and Bergen Turnpike just north of the Marginal Highway. Its southern and western perimeters are shared with the Fritz Reuter Althenheim, a retirement community named for the German author, Fritz Reuter, and Columbia Park, a large shopping center. The German-American Volksfest has taken place there annually since 1874.

History
In 1864, nearby Union Hill was set apart from North Bergen as a separate municipality that had been originally settled by a group of German-Americans as early as 1851. Schuetzen is a derivative of the German word Schütze, meaning "shooter" or "rifleman". Originally encompassing about 32 acres. , the park's location on the western cuesta of the Hudson Palisades was chosen so that bullets could be directed into the side of the hill. Target practice continued at the park until 1935. In a 1911 ad for the park (in which it is called Schützen Park) proprietor Fred Hager claimed it as the "largest park of its kind in New Jersey", offering 600 x 200 feet rifle ranges, 10 modern bowling alleys, and three dancing pavilions, which could accommodate roughly 50,000 people. The park also contained a variety of attractions, such as vaudeville performances, parades, fireworks and tournaments. The park was one of the venues in Hudson County that catered to the large German-speaking population. Arbuster's Scheutzen Park and Pohlmann's Hall, are among the many others. From 1945 to 1975, when the sports field was sold to a real estate developer, Schuetzen Park was the home of Hoboken FC 1912.

Modern use
The park is used for banquets, weddings, receptions, and public sporting events such as boxing and mixed martial arts matches. The park, along with the retirement home, the Bergen Crest Mausoleum, the Garden State Crematory, and the many cemeteries that characterize the area along the western slope - Flower Hill Cemetery, Grove Church Cemetery, Hoboken Cemetery, Machpelah Cemetery and Weehawken Cemetery - constitute a string of green open spaces in North Hudson County.