Editing Weehawken, New Jersey (section)

===Founding===
[[File:Hamilton monument map.jpg|thumb|An 1841 map of parts of Hudson and New York counties and the [[Hudson River]]]]
The township's written history began in 1609, when [[Henry Hudson]], on his third voyage to the New World, sailed down what was later named the [[North River (Hudson River)|North River]] on the [[Halve Maen|Half Moon]] and anchored in [[Weehawken Cove]].<ref>[http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2402731/article-Hoboken-s-earliest-days-Before-becoming-a-city---Hobuck--went-through-several-incarnations "Hoboken's earliest days: Before becoming a city, 'Hobuck' went through several incarnations"], ''[[The Hudson Reporter]]'', January 16, 2005. Accessed July 7, 2016. "On October 2, 1609, Henry Hudson anchored his ship, the Half Moon, in what is now Weehawken Cove. Robert Juet, Hudson's first mate, wrote in the ship's log, "[W]e saw a good piece of ground ... that looked of the color of white green." The rock of which Juet wrote makes up Castle Point in Hoboken; nowhere else along the Hudson River exists a white-green rock formation."</ref> At the time it was the territory of the [[Hackensack (Native Americans)|Hackensack]] and [[Tappan Zee|Tappan]], of the Turtle Clan, or [[Lenape|Unami]], a branch of the [[Lenape]]. They were displaced by immigrants to the province of [[New Netherland]], who had begun to settle the west bank of the [[Hudson River|Hudson]] at [[Pavonia, New Netherland|Pavonia]] in 1630. On May 11, 1647, [[Maryn Adriansen]] received a patent for a plantation (of 169 acres) at ''Awiehaken''. In 1658, [[Director-General of New Netherland]] [[Peter Stuyvesant]] negotiated a deal with the Lenape to purchase all the land from ''"the great rock above Wiehacken"'', west to ''Sikakes'' ([[Secaucus]]) and south to ''Konstapels Hoeck'' ([[Constable Hook]]).<ref>[https://archive.org/details/historycountyhu00winfgoog/page/n74 <!-- pg=62 --> ''History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time''], p. 62. Accessed March 29, 2007.</ref> In 1661, Weehawken became part of [[Bergen, New Netherland|Bergen]] when it (and most of northeastern New Jersey) came under the jurisdiction of the court at [[Bergen Square]].{{fact|date=September 2024}}

In 1674, [[New Netherland]] was ceded to the [[Netherlands]] by the British and the town became part of the Province of [[East Jersey]]. In 1677, John Luby acquired several parcels covering {{convert|35|acre|ha}} along the Hudson.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://files.usgwarchives.org/nj/statewide/history/colrec/vol21/v21-01.txt |title=New Jersey Colonial Records, East Jersey Records: Part 1 – Volume 21 Calendar of Records 1664–1703 |access-date=October 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210113334/http://files.usgwarchives.org/nj/statewide/history/colrec/vol21/v21-01.txt |archive-date=February 10, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Most habitation was along the top of the cliffs since the low-lying areas were mostly marshland. Descriptions from the period speak of the dense foliage and forests and excellent land for growing vegetables and orchard fruits. As early as 1700 there was regular, if sporadic ferry service from Weehawken.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hudsonriver.com/ferry.htm|title=History of the Hudson River Ferries|access-date=February 28, 2009|archive-date=March 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307204017/http://hudsonriver.com/ferry.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1752, [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]] made the first official grant for ferry service, the ferry house north of [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]] primarily used for farm produce and likely was sold at the [[Greenwich Village]] landing that became [[Weehawken Street (Manhattan)|Weehawken Street]].<ref>Van Valen, James M. [https://archive.org/details/historybergenco00valegoog/page/n96 <!-- pg=86 --> ''History of Bergen County, New Jersey''], p. 86. New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Co., 1900. Accessed January 14, 2012. "For many years the farmers and others in the northern part of Bergen County reached New York by means of the Weehawken Ferry established by Samuel Bayard about the year 1700. The charter for this ferry was granted by George II in 1752 to Stephen Bayard."</ref>

Weehawken was formed as a township by an act of the [[New Jersey Legislature]], on March 15, 1859, from portions of [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]] and [[North Bergen, New Jersey|North Bergen]]. A portion of the township was ceded to Hoboken in 1874. Additional territory was annexed in 1879 from [[West Hoboken, New Jersey|West Hoboken]].<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. 148. Accessed May 30, 2024.</ref>