Editing Ridgefield, New Jersey (section)

==History==
At the time of European colonization, the area was home to the [[Hackensack tribe]] of the [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], who maintained a large settlement to the north on [[Overpeck Creek]]. Their name is an [[exonym]] taken from the territory and is translated as ''place of stony ground'' <ref name="bergencountyhistory.org">Wright, Kevin G. [http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/indians.html "The Indigenous Population of Bergen County"], Bergen County Historical Society. Accessed January 5, 2012.</ref> which describes the diminishing [[Hudson Palisades]] as they descend into the [[New Jersey Meadowlands|Meadowlands]] becoming the ''ridgefield'' that is part of [[Hackensack River]] flood plain.

In 1642, Myndert Myndertsen received a [[patroon]]ship as part of the [[New Netherland]] colony for much the land in the Hackensack and [[Passaic River|Passaic]] valleys. He called his settlement [[Achter Kol, New Netherland|Achter Kol]], or ''rear mountain pass'', which refers to its accessibility to the interior behind the Palisades. Originally spared in the conflicts that begin with the [[Pavonia Massacre]], the nascent colony was later abandoned.<ref>[http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=7128 Historical marker of Achter Col "colony"], Historical Marker Database. Accessed September 22, 2015.</ref> In 1655, [[Oratam]], sachem of the Hackensack, deeded a large tract nearby to Sara Kiersted, who had learned the native language and was instrumental in negotiations between Native Americans and the settlers.<ref>[http://www.teaneckcreek.org/history/ History], Teaneck Creek Organization. Accessed July 21, 2016.</ref><ref>Nottle, Diane. [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/01/nyregion/do-you-know-these-women.html "Do You Know These Women?"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 1, 1998. Accessed October 1, 2014. "Even before the Elizabeths, a Dutch housewife named Sarah Kiersted was learning the language of the local Lenape Indians, possibly as early as the 1640s. She became a channel of communication between Dutch settlers and the Lenape Chief Oratam, and for her services the chief granted her almost 2,300 acres -- comprising all of Ridgefield Park and sections of Teaneck and Bogota -- in 1666."</ref> In 1668, much of the land between Overpeck Creek and the [[North River (Hudson River)|Hudson River]] was purchased by Samuel Edsall,<ref>Harvey, Cornelius Burnham. [http://www.getnj.com/hudberg/hudberg6.shtml "Genealogical History Of Hudson And Bergen Counties New Jersey Early Settlers of Bergen County"], 1900. Accessed October 1, 2014. " In 1668 Samuel Edsall and Nicholas Varlet bought from the native Indians section 3, comprising 1,872 acres of "waste land and meadow," bounded east by the Hudson River, west by the Hackensack River and Overpeck Creek, and south by the 'Town and Corporation of Bergen.'"</ref> and soon became known as the [[English Neighborhood]], despite the fact most of the settlers were of Dutch and [[Huguenot]] origin.<ref>[http://www.cityofenglewood.org/content/9262/11544/default.aspx Historic Englewood], City of Englewood. Accessed October 6, 2019. "In spite of the still strong Dutch character, the area became known as 'English Neighborhood' and stretched from Ridgefield to Closter."</ref>
[[File:NJT x Hackensack R fr Bergen Bv Park Av Ridgefield jeh.jpg|thumb|The northern reaches of the [[New Jersey Meadowlands Commission]] looking west to rail line, New Jersey Turnpike and Hackensack River]]
The opening of the [[West Shore Railroad]] and Erie Railroad's [[Northern Branch]] in the mid 19th century brought suburbanization to the region, and in Ridgefield, significant industry and manufacturing.<ref name=NorthernBranch>[http://www.northernbranchcorridor.com/ Home Page], Northern Branch Corridor Project. Accessed June 16, 2016.</ref> [[Grantwood, New Jersey|Grantwood]] was an artist's colony established in 1913 by [[Man Ray]], [[Alfred Kreymborg]] and [[Samuel Halpert]] and became known as the [[Others (art group)|"Others" group of artists]].<ref>Churchill, ''op. cit.'' page 51</ref><ref>[[Lawrence Van Gelder|Van Gelder, Lawrence]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/arts/arts-briefing.html "Arts Briefing"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', February 12, 2003. Accessed January 5, 2012.</ref> The colony consisted of a number of clapboard shacks on a bluff. To this day the names of the streets in this part of the town—Sketch Place, Studio Road and Art Lane—pay homage to Grantwood's history.<ref>Brandon, ''op. cit.'' page 82</ref> Kreymborg moved to Ridgefield and launched ''[[Others: A Magazine of the New Verse]]'' with [[Skipwith Cannell]], [[Wallace Stevens]], and [[William Carlos Williams]] in 1915.<ref>[http://dl.lib.brown.edu/mjp/render.php?view=mjp_object&id=OthersCollection "Modernism began in the magazines"], The Modernist Journals Project of [[Brown University]] and the [[University of Tulsa]]. Accessed January 5, 2012. "Under the editorship of Alfred Kreymborg, this little magazine published the work of Maxwell Bodenheim, Mina Loy, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Carl Sandburg, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams, playing an important role in freeing American poetry from traditional models."</ref><ref name=TFAOI>Stavitsky, Gail. [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/4aa/4aa26.htm "Afterword: Artists and Art Colonies of Ridgefield, New Jersey"], Traditional Fine Arts Organization. Accessed January 5, 2012.</ref>

The initial {{convert|118|mi}} of the [[New Jersey Turnpike]] were completed in 1952, with the original northern terminus at an interchange connecting to Route 46 in Ridgefield.<ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1952/01/16/archives/jersey-pike-opens-final-9mile-link-section-between-newark-and.html "Jersey Pike Opens Final 9-Mile Link; Section Between Newark and Ridgefield Park Dedicated -- Study of Tolls Planned"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 16, 1952. Accessed January 5, 2012.</ref> An additional four-mile stretch of road connecting the Turnpike from Ridgefield to [[Interstate 80 in New Jersey|Interstate 80]] in [[Teaneck, New Jersey|Teaneck]] and from there to the [[George Washington Bridge]] was completed in 1964. The western spur was added in the 1970s, with its two spurs re-connecting in the western side of the borough.

In the 1970s, the area came under the auspices of the [[Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission]], meant to set parameters and balance development in the ecologically sensitive region. Some parts of the low-lying areas, including Skeetkill Creek Marsh, have been set apart as [[nature reserve]]s and extension of system that connects to the Overpeck Reserve and [[Overpeck County Park]].