Editing Upper Saddle River, New Jersey (section)

==History==
Upper Saddle River was originally settled by the [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and was colonized in the 18th century principally by [[Dutch people|Dutch]] settlers who built mills along the [[Saddle River (Passaic River)|Saddle River]]. The area was granted borough status in 1894 and remained principally rural until the 1950s. The suburban growth of New Jersey affected Upper Saddle River and surrounding municipalities, as the borough's population increased tenfold from 1950 to 1970. The population has remained fairly constant since 1970.

[[File:Hopper Goetschius House Marker.JPG|thumb|left|[[Hopper-Goetschius House]] Historic Marker in Upper Saddle River]]
Predominantly a residential community consisting of one-acre (4,000 m<sup>2</sup>) lots, Upper Saddle River also contains a library, police station, fire station, ambulance corps, municipal hall, and three primary schools. Commerce and industry are concentrated along the town's western border along [[New Jersey Route 17|Route 17]]. Postal service is shared with the neighboring borough of [[Saddle River, New Jersey|Saddle River]].<ref name=USPS/>

Upper Saddle River was formed as a borough by an act of the [[New Jersey Legislature]] on November 22, 1894, from portions of [[Hohokus Township, New Jersey|Hohokus Township]] and [[Orvil Township, New Jersey|Orvil Township]], based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier.<ref name=Story>Snyder, John P. [https://nj.gov/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''], Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 87. Accessed May 30, 2024.</ref> The borough was formed during the "[[Boroughitis]]" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. Upper Saddle River's referendum passed on November 20, one day after the referendum passed for [[Saddle River, New Jersey|Saddle River]].<ref>Harvey, Cornelius Burnham. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EdoMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11 ''Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey''], p. 11, New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900. Accessed September 15, 2013. "For a period of sixteen years following the passage of this act few boroughs were organized in the State, only three of them being in Bergen County.... As it was twenty-six boroughs were created in the county from January 23, 1894, to December 18, of the same year."</ref> The name of the river, and hence the borough, is thought to come from early explorers who thought that the geography of the area resembled that of the Sadle Burn, the valley surrounding a stream in the [[Scotland|Scottish]] area of [[Argyll]].<ref>[http://www.usrtoday.org/about-us/history/ History], Borough of Upper Saddle River. Accessed October 17, 2015. "There are a number of theories on the origin of the name Saddle River, but the most likely is that it came from two Scotsmen exploring the area in the 1600s who thought it resembled the Sadle Burn in their homeland."</ref><ref>Hutchinson, Viola L. [http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=28 ''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''], New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed October 17, 2015.</ref><ref>Edwards, Richard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jQVLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA121 ''Industries of New Jersey, Part 1''], p. 121. Historical Publishing Company, 1882. Accessed October 17, 2015.</ref>