- Home
- Your Government
- Community
- Historic Edgewater
Historic Edgewater New Jersey
Edgewater is a historic Hudson River Municipality dating back to 1894. The borough has an early history in Bergen County. Industrialization came in the early 20th century and helped contribute to a rapidly growing residential community.
Edgewater was incorporated as a municipality on December 7, 1894, from portions of Ridgefield Township as the Borough of Undercliff, based on the results of a referendum that passed two days earlier. 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. The borough's name was changed to Edgewater on November 8, 1899.
Constructed in 1904, Borough Hall is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places as well as the Edgewater Public Library and the Binghamton Ferry.
The last remaining of 15 Carnegie libraries in New Jersey built with funds from the Carnegie Foundation, the Edgewater Free Library was dedicated on February 8, 1916. In addition to these sites, the Eleanor Van Gelder School is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.
Edgewater was home to the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant constructed between 1929 and 1931 was located in the southern area of the borough. The Ford Assembly Plant at Edgewater was considered the most advanced and efficient automobile assembly plant for its time. The Edgewater facility was one of the first fully-developed, two-story automobile assembly plants in the United States. Henry Ford took full advantage of the rail line, the deep water frontage of the Hudson River, the free lighterage limit zone and proximity to a great labor and consumer market to experiment with the most modern equipment available to efficiently produce a low priced automobile. More in formation and pictures can be found at Ford's Edgewater Assembly Plant page. The borough had a few more notable factories, including Hills Brothers Coffee, Alcoa Aluminum, Allied Chemical, Lever Brothers and Jack Frost Sugar.
Edgewater Cemetery holds some graves of local heroes from the American Revolutionary War through Spanish–American war. Even an Indian princess and actress named Go-Won-Go Mohawk, who was married to a former Indian fighter and settled in Edgewater. The last burial in took place in 1982.
Edgewater was incorporated as a municipality on December 7, 1894, from portions of Ridgefield Township as the Borough of Undercliff, based on the results of a referendum that passed two days earlier. 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. The borough's name was changed to Edgewater on November 8, 1899.
Constructed in 1904, Borough Hall is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places as well as the Edgewater Public Library and the Binghamton Ferry.
The last remaining of 15 Carnegie libraries in New Jersey built with funds from the Carnegie Foundation, the Edgewater Free Library was dedicated on February 8, 1916. In addition to these sites, the Eleanor Van Gelder School is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.
Edgewater was home to the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant constructed between 1929 and 1931 was located in the southern area of the borough. The Ford Assembly Plant at Edgewater was considered the most advanced and efficient automobile assembly plant for its time. The Edgewater facility was one of the first fully-developed, two-story automobile assembly plants in the United States. Henry Ford took full advantage of the rail line, the deep water frontage of the Hudson River, the free lighterage limit zone and proximity to a great labor and consumer market to experiment with the most modern equipment available to efficiently produce a low priced automobile. More in formation and pictures can be found at Ford's Edgewater Assembly Plant page. The borough had a few more notable factories, including Hills Brothers Coffee, Alcoa Aluminum, Allied Chemical, Lever Brothers and Jack Frost Sugar.
Edgewater Cemetery holds some graves of local heroes from the American Revolutionary War through Spanish–American war. Even an Indian princess and actress named Go-Won-Go Mohawk, who was married to a former Indian fighter and settled in Edgewater. The last burial in took place in 1982.
