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Bayonne Online Front
Page -
What's New
Tuesday, November 5th Election Coverage
Bayonne in History
Before the arrival
of Europeans, Bayonne was the home to Lenni Lenape Indians.
Dutch settlers arrived in the 1600's after the explorer, Henry
Hudson, sailed past the future site of Bayonne, and claimed the
area for the Netherlands. Bayonne was known originally as Bergen
Neck, located south of the Dutch settlement of Bergen, the
predecessor of Jersey City. The area came under British rule in
1664 after they defeated the Dutch. During the American
revolution, British and American forces clashed at Fort Delancey
in what is now Bayonne. |
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The completion of the Morris Canal in 1836 linked Bergen Neck
with the rest of Northern New Jersey. Steamboats connected the
peninsula with New York City as early as1846. Railroads came to
Bayonne in the 1860's.
Residents of Bergen Township living between the Morris Canal and
the Kill Van Kull formed the independent Township of Bayonne
with a township council form of government in 1861. The
municipal name was taken from Bayonne Avenue, a cross-town road
that is today's 33rd Street. Bayonne united the
villages of Bergen Point, Constable Hook, Centerville, Pamrapo
and Saltersville. The township became the City of Bayonne with a
mayor-council form of government in 1869. In that era, New York
residents and America's gentry, including presidents and authors
flocked to Bayonne to enjoy its resort hotels and beaches. The
first mayor was Henry Meigs, Jr., President of the New York
Stock Exchange. Bayonne was an early boat-building and yachting
center. Its farmers, fishers and oystermen supplied the nearby
New York market. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth
century, Bayonne urbanized and industrialized rapidly, becoming
the home to thousands of European immigrants. The changing
character of the community gradually eroded the resorts, farms
and fisheries. IN 1877, the standard Oil Company took over a
small refinery. By the 1920's, Standard Oil became the city's
largest employer with over 6,000 workers. At that time, Bayonne
was one of the largest oil refinery centers in the world. |
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During the
progressive era Bayonne abolished the mayor-council form of
government, and adopted the commission form in 1915. In 1962,
Bayonne returned to a mayor-council form of government.
During World War II, Bayonne became the home of a large shipping
terminal, |
built
on man-made land jutting from the east side of the city into New
York Bay. It was the site of the largest dry-dock on the Eastern
seaboard and the location of vast naval supply center. Known as
the Military Ocean Terminal (MOT), the facility became a US Army
base in 1967. Ships carried goods from World War II to the
Persian Gulf War and the Haiti mission in the 1990's. The City
of Bayonne is planning the transformation of the base for new
uses by early in the next century when the base is scheduled to
close.
Bayonne is a community that retains many of the elements of a
small town. One and two family homes, small apartment buildings,
and small business predominate. There is a population of 62,000
people who take pride in their hometown and its history. Bayonne
residents and their ancestors moved to the city from many parts
of the world. During colonial times and the first century of the
American Republic, the Dutch, British, and Africans were the
first groups to arrive after the Indians. Subsequent waves if
immigrants came from all over Europe, especially between the
1880's and the 1920's. In recent decades, Latin American, the
Middle East, and Asian and Pacific countries have also been
sources of immigration to Bayonne. Each group has left its mark
on the cultural, religious, and political life of the community.
Bayonne homes are among the best urban housing stock in the
state, with residents actively maintaining and improving their
homes and property. Our schools, both public and private, are
outstanding, and our youngsters achieve some of the highest
scores and honors in New Jersey.
In the decades since World War II, oil refining and other
traditional industries have declined, and have been replaced by
container port operations and the service sector. The city once
known as the Peninsula of Industry has restyled itself the
Peninsula of Business and Technology. The city administration
believes that Bayonne is set to begin a new era of economic
development with new technology, new shopping malls and a
civilianized ocean terminal.
Preparing to enter the next century, Bayonne is looking forward
to the arrival of light rail service at two local stations in
1999, and three other stations after the year 2000. Bayonne has
had a colorful history, and can look forward to a bright future
with new businesses and infrastructure. |
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The first reference to Bayonne in history is in 1609 when Henry
Hudson stopped there before proceeding on his journey up the river which would
later bear his name. He called this tip of the peninsula which jutted out into
Newark Bay, "Bird's Point". The Dutch as part of New Amsterdam later claimed
this land, along with New York and the rest of New Jersey. In 1646, the land was
granted to Jacob Jacobson Roy, a gunner at the fort in New Amsterdam (now
Manhattan), and named "Konstapel's Hoeck" (Gunner's Point in Dutch). In 1654,
additional grants were given and shelters were built as centers for trading with
the Leni-Lennapes. Soon, they became enraged with the Dutch trading tactics, and
drove out the settlers. A peace treaty was arranged in 1658, and the Dutch
returned.
In 1664, the British gained control of New Amsterdam, and they
called the future Bayonne, "Constable Hook", and later "Bergen Neck". It was
part of the township of Bergen, which included present day Jersey City and North
Bergen. Trading posts and woods gave way to homes and large estates. During the
next century the area became the vacation spot for the socialites of the New
World. The first industry did not settle there until the War of 1812, when the
Hazard Powder House was built to provide gunpowder for the navy and the forts in
New York Bay. In 1864, in order to speed the movement of troops and munitions, a
railroad trestle was built over the Newark Bay and the railhead (the end of the
line) was moved from Elizabethtown (Elizabeth) to the Bayonne area. 1n 1869, the
area of Constable Hook, Saltersville, Bergen Point and Centerville were
incorporated as the City of Bayonne by the State Legislature.
The founding of the Prentice refinery in 1875 marked the
beginning of the city's change from rural to urban. Many corporations and
industries became drawn to Bayonne due to the railroads and its proximity to New
York City and other urban centers. These included many refineries most notably
Standard Oil of New Jersey who laid pipelines to bring crude oil directly from
Oklahoma and Illinois. These refineries squeezed out many of the remaining
recreational and historic areas along the shoreline. In addition, these
refineries polluted the land and surrounding waters with numerous spills,
destroying fishing, boating, etc.
As for the name "Bayonne," I had always assumed it was named
somehow after the town of Bayonne in France. I had also assumed it would be easy
to check. I may be wrong on the first assumption, and definitely wrong on the
second. Although I have many references to Bayonne history at my disposal, none
mention how it was named. I am indebted to Bob Griffin of Bergen County Historic
Books, Inc., for the following choices. Take your pick.
1. "First History of Bayonne, New Jersey," by Royden Page
Whitcomb, 1904, pg.61
[quote] There has been some doubt as to the signification [sic]
of the word naming the locality. It may have derived its name from Bayonne in
France, being pronounced Ba-yon. There is a story that French Huguenots settled
there some time before New Amsterdam was settled. They are said to have remained
about a year. This, however is probably some old fireside legend, without a
particle of truth in it. The author has searched, but can find nothing to give
this story foundation. He was also told that when Erastus Randall, E.C. Bramhall
and B.F. Woolsey bought the land owned by Jasper and William Cadmus, for real
estate speculation, they called it Bayonne by reason of its touching the borders
and being on the shores of two bays, Newark and New York - hence Bay-on, or on
the bays. This in all probability, is the real origin of the name.[ unquote]
2. "Bayonne - Old and New," by Gladys Mellor Sinclair, 1940, pg.
15.
[quote] Bayonne was named, according to tradition, after Bayonne
in France, pronounced Ba yon. It is said that French Huguenots settled here
before New Amsterdam was settled. There is a tradition which seems to be without
historical foundation that Bayonne got its name from the fact that it is located
on the shores of two bays, Newark and New York - Bay-on or on the bays.
[unquote]
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