North Bergen is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a total population of 60,773, reflecting an increase of 2,681 (+4.6%) from the 58,092 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 9,678 (+20.0%) from the 48,414 counted in the 1990 Census. The town was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by a series of secessions. Situated on the Hudson Palisades, it is one of the “hilliest” municipalities in the United States. Like neighboring North Hudson communities, North Bergen is among those places in the nation with the highest population density and a majority Hispanic population

On February 22, 1838, Jersey City was incorporated as a separate municipality, and in 1840 Hudson County, comprising the city and Bergen Township, was created from the southern portion of Bergen County. North Bergen was incorporated as a township on April 10, 1843, by an act of the New Jersey Legislature, from the northern portion of Bergen Township. At the time, the town included everything east of the Hackensack River and north of and including what is now Jersey City Heights.

The entire region which is now known as North Hudson experienced massive immigration and urbanization during the latter half of the 19th century, and led to the creation of various new towns. 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) and Secaucus (March 12, 1900). During this era many of Hudson County’s cemeteries were developed along the town’s western slope of the Hudson Palisades.

At their foot in the Meadowlands, the Erie, the New York, Susquehanna and Western and the West Shore railroads ran right-of-ways to their terminals on the Hudson, the last building its tunnel through Bergen Hill at North Bergen. The area was important destination during peak German immigration to the United States and is recalled today in Schuetzen Park, founded in 1874. Further north, Nungesser’s Guttenberg Racetrack became a notable and notorious destination which, after its closing, became a proving ground for new technologies: the automobile and the airplane.

The development of Hudson County Boulevard, which skirts around the west, north and east of North Bergen, was completed in the early 20th century. By 1913 it was considered to be fine for “motoring”. The roadway is now known by its two sections: Kennedy Boulevard and Boulevard East.

Residential districts along and between the two boulevards were developed. Bergenline Avenue, a broad street which accommodated the North Hudson County Railway streetcars^[47] to Nungesser’s became (and remains) an important commercial and transit corridor. The two boulevard sections met at Bergenline Avenue, at the northwest corner of North Hudson/Braddock Park.

Soon after the opening of the Lincoln Tunnel Approach, the Susquehanna Transfer was opened in August 1939 to accommodate passengers who wished to transfer to buses through the tunnel. It closed in 1966.

At the time of its construction in 1949, the 760-foot (230 m) WOR TV Tower, in the midst the residential Woodcliff Section, was the tenth-tallest man-made structure in the world. The tower was dismantled in 1956 but in 1967, about half a mile (2500 m) to the east, the 34-story, 369-feet (112 m) Stonehenge apartment building was constructed on the tip of the Palisades.

In the early 1960s two notable paleontological finds of fossils from the Newark Basin were made near the foot of the cliffs at one of several former quarries, the Granton, of which today’s avenue is a namesake. The former quarry remained an archeological site until at least 1980.

North Hudson Park was renamed the James J. Braddock North Hudson County Park. In 1935, while living in North Bergen, local hero James J. Braddock won the world heavyweight championship in one of the most stunning upsets in boxing history.

In contrast to other Hudson County communities during the latter half of the century, North Bergen grew significantly in population. Many residents are part of the wave of Spanish language speakers which had begun in the 1960s with Cuban émigrés, leading to the nickname, Havana on the Hudson.

The town has seven cemeteries, more than any other town in the county, including some, such as Weehawken Cemetery and Hoboken Cemetery, that were at one time designated for other towns. This may be due to the layout of the county in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with North Bergen having more land than its more densely populated neighbors, which had to bury their dead outside of town. It may also date back to the Civil War era. Among these cemeteries are Flower Hill Cemetery and Grove Church Cemetery.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 60,773 people, 22,062 households, and 14,539 families residing in the township. The population density was 11,838.0 per square mile (4,570.7/km²). There were 23,912 housing units at an average density of 4,657.8 per square mile (1,798.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 66.98% (40,705) White, 4.04% (2,456) Black or African American, 0.88% (535) Native American, 6.55% (3,979) Asian, 0.08% (49) Pacific Islander, 16.63% (10,107) from other races, and 4.84% (2,942) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 68.40% (41,569) of the population.

Source: Wikipedia