Editing North Bergen, New Jersey (section)

===Colonial era===
At the time of European colonization the area was the territory of [[Hackensack tribe]] of the [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]],<ref>Wright, Kevin W. [http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/indians.html ''The Indigenous Population of Bergen County''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120051116/http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/indians.html |date=January 20, 2019 }}, Bergen County Historical Society. Accessed March 20, 2015.</ref> who maintained a settlement, Espatingh, on the west side of the hills<ref>{{cite web | title = H New Jersey Indian Villages, Towns and Settlements | work = A complete listing of all the Indian villages, towns and settlements as listed in Handbook of Americans North of Mexico | publisher = Access Genealogy | url = http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/handbook/h_new_jersey_indian_towns.htm | access-date = January 30, 2011 | archive-date = March 15, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120315133226/http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/handbook/h_new_jersey_indian_towns.htm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Hodge | first = Federick Webb | title = Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Volumes 2–4 | publisher = The Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Handbook of American Indians Volume II H-M | year = 1912 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=68ERQ9fkyTMC&q=Espatingh&pg=PA545 | isbn = 978-1-58218-749-5 | access-date = November 7, 2020 | archive-date = September 30, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230930135933/https://books.google.com/books?id=68ERQ9fkyTMC&q=Espatingh&pg=PA545 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/historycountyhu00winfgoog/page/n74 <!-- pg=62 quote="by the great rock above wiehacken". --> ''History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time'']</ref> and where a Dutch [[trading post]] was established after the [[Peach War]].<ref>Clayton, W. Woodford; and Nelson, William. [http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/w-woodford-clayton/history-of-bergen-and-passaic-counties-yal/page-23-history-of-bergen-and-passaic-counties-yal.shtml "History of Bergen and Passaic Counties, New Jersey"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823115542/http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/w-woodford-clayton/history-of-bergen-and-passaic-counties-yal/page-23-history-of-bergen-and-passaic-counties-yal.shtml |date=August 23, 2012 }}, p. 23. Everts & Peck, 1882. Accessed September 10, 2015.</ref> In 1658, [[Peter Stuyvesant]], then [[Director-General of New Netherland]], repurchased from them the area now encompassed by the municipalities of Hudson County east of the [[Hackensack River]]. This is commemorated in a [[New Deal]] [[List of United States post office murals|post off mural]] entitled ''Purchase of Territory of North Bergen from the Indians''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hudpost.com/purchase-of-territory-of-north-bergen-from-the-indians/|title=Purchase of Territory of North Bergen from the Indians|date=November 22, 2018|website=HudPost|access-date=August 19, 2023|archive-date=August 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819125604/https://hudpost.com/purchase-of-territory-of-north-bergen-from-the-indians/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-mural-north-bergen-nj/|title=Post Office Mural - North Bergen NJ|website=LivingDeal|access-date=August 19, 2023|archive-date=August 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819130829/https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-mural-north-bergen-nj/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1660 Stuyvesant granted permission to establish the semi-autonomous colony of [[Bergen, New Netherland|Bergen]], with the main village located at today's [[Bergen Square]], considered to be the first chartered municipality in what would become the state of New Jersey.<ref>[http://www.njcu.edu/Programs/jchistory/Pages/B_Pages/Bergen_Township.htm Bergen Township: Original boundaries included most of present-day Hudson County, East of Newark Bay and the Hackensack River.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915040457/http://www.njcu.edu/Programs/jchistory/Pages/B_Pages/Bergen_Township.htm |date=2008-09-15 }}, [[New Jersey City University]]. Accessed December 22, 2011. "The village of Bergen, officially begun on September 5, 1661, is regarded as New Jersey's first permanent settlement and the state's first local civil government. It is now part of the City of Jersey City."</ref> At the time, the area of North Bergen was heavily forested, traversed by paths used by the indigenous and colonizing population and became known as Bergen Woods, a name recalled in today's neighborhood of [[Bergenwood, North Bergen|Bergenwood]].

After the 1664 surrender of [[Fort Amsterdam]] the entire [[New Netherland]] colony came into the possession of the British, who established the [[Province of New Jersey]]. In 1682, the [[East Jersey]] legislature formed the state's first four counties, including Bergen County, which consisted of all the land in the peninsula between the [[Hackensack River|Hackensack]] and [[North River (Hudson River)|Hudson River]]s; that is, the eastern portions of what today is [[Bergen County, New Jersey|Bergen]] and [[Hudson County, New Jersey|Hudson Counties]].<ref>Clayton, W. Woodford; and Nelson, William. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zDEUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA80 ''History of Bergen and Passaic counties, New Jersey: with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men''], p. 80. Everts & Peck, 1882. Accessed December 22, 2011 "IN December, 1682, the Assembly of East Jersey passed an act dividing the province into four counties, viz.: Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth. Bergen included all of the settlements between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and extended to the northern boundary of the province."</ref> In 1693, Bergen County was divided into two townships: [[Hackensack Township, New Jersey|Hackensack Township]] in the north, and [[Bergen Township, New Jersey (1661–1862)|Bergen Township]], encompassing the [[Bergen Neck]] peninsula, in the south. The border between the two townships is the current Hudson-Bergen county line.<ref>{{cite web | last = Grundy | first = J. Owen | author-link = J. Owen Grundy | author2 = Caroselli, Louis P. | title = Jersey City History of Forms of Government from Early Dutch Days to the Present Time | publisher = Jersey City Online | year = 1970 | url = http://www.jerseycityonline.com/history_of_jersey_city.htm | access-date = February 4, 2011 | archive-date = March 22, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110322192926/http://www.jerseycityonline.com/history_of_jersey_city.htm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Lang, Arnold |title=Bergen County's Townships and Municipalities, Part 1: 1682 to 1709 |url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njgsbc/gsbcArch01.html |publisher= The Archivist | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081202041732/http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njgsbc/gsbcArch01.html | archive-date =December 2, 2008 |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref>

While settlement was sparse, communities developed along the [[Bergen Turnpike]] at the [[Three Pigeons]] and [[Maisland]], later [[New Durham, North Bergen|New Durham]]. French botanist [[André Michaux]] developed his gardens nearby. On the Hudson River, [[Bulls Ferry]] became an important landing for crossings to [[Manhattan]]. While ostensibly under British control during the [[American Revolutionary War]], the area was patrolled by the Americans on [[Forage War|foraging]], espionage, and raiding expeditions,<ref name=jc>{{cite web|last=Grundy|first=Owen|title=History of Forms of Government from Early Dutch days to the present time|url=http://www.jerseycityonline.com/jc_history.htm|work=Jersey City Online|access-date=October 1, 2010|author2=Caroselli, Louis P.|year=1970|archive-date=July 29, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729134200/http://www.jerseycityonline.com/jc_history.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name = Menssouls>{{cite book|title=The Revolutionary War in Bergen County: The Times That Tried Men's Souls|first=Carol|last=Karels|isbn=978-1-59629-358-8|publisher=History Press|year=2007|location=Charleston, SC}}</ref> most notably the [[Battle of Bull's Ferry]].