Editing Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey (section)

==History==
The borough was originally incorporated as the '''Borough of Woodcliff''', on August 31, 1894, from parts of [[Orvil Township, New Jersey|Orvil Township]] and [[Washington Township, Bergen County, New Jersey|Washington Township]], based on the results of a referendum held three 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. 88. 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.<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 1, 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 borough derives its name from the characteristics of its geography.<ref>Hutchinson, Viola L. [http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=33 ''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''], New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed November 5, 2015.</ref>

On March 1, 1910, after the creation of the reservoir, the name of the borough was changed to Woodcliff Lake, to match the name of the post office.<ref name=Story/> Prior to the creation of [[ZIP Code]]s as a way to uniquely identify addresses, [[United States Postal Service]] policy was that two post offices in a state could not have the same name, and there was already a "Woodcliff" in [[Hudson County, New Jersey|Hudson County]].<ref>Burrow, Megan. [http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/96538754_Putting_the_lake_into_Woodcliff_Lake.html "Putting the lake into Woodcliff Lake"], ''Pascack Valley Community Life'', June 17, 2010. Accessed June 12, 2012. "Before 1910, the borough was simply known as Woodcliff, but the moniker was changed a century ago to reflect the shining new lake in the center of the rural hamlet, and to match the town's post office, whose name had been changed shortly before to distinguish it from a mail center in the Hudson County town of Woodcliff. In the era before zip codes, each post office in the state had to have a unique name in order to avoid confusion."</ref> On January 1, 1956, and again on July 1, 1958, Woodcliff Lake exchanged sections of land with [[Park Ridge, New Jersey|Park Ridge]]. On October 13, 1960, portions were exchanged with [[Hillsdale, New Jersey|Hillsdale]].<ref>[http://www.dutchdoorgenealogy.com/bergen_county_new_jersey_municipalities.html Bergen County New Jersey Municipalities], Dutch Door Genealogy. Accessed May 30, 2006.</ref>

Woodcliff Lake has many historic houses and buildings, some dating from the 18th century. Many old buildings are also present, but are likely to have been modified through the years. The borough has seen intense development over the past 50 years, as virtually all areas available for construction have been developed.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}