The Heights, Jersey City
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jersey City neighborhoods |
| Downtown |
| -Hamilton Park |
| -Newport |
| -WALDO |
| -Van Vorst Park |
| -Exchange Place |
| -Paulus Hook |
| -Port Liberté |
| The Heights |
| -Croxton |
| -Western Slope |
| Journal Square |
| -Marion |
| -India Square |
| -Five Corners |
| West Side |
| -Lincoln Park/West Bergen |
| -Society Hill |
| -Hackensack Waterfront |
| Greenville |
| Bergen/Lafayette |
The Heights or Jersey City Heights is a neighborhood atop the New Jersey Palisades overlooking Hoboken to the east and the Meadowlands to the west. Central Avenue is its primary commercial strip, with residential districts flanking the street on both sides. The Heights, though part of Jersey City, is often viewed as a separate city by residents in other neighborhoods.
The area comprising the Heights was once an independent municipality, known as Hudson City. It was incorporated as a town in 1852, and later into a city in 1855. The Town Hall, erected on Oakland Avenue, still stands today. Garrett D. Van Reipen was that city's first mayor.[1]
On March 27, 1868 Hudson City became the birthplace of its most famous namesake, the new Hudson City Savings Bank, when it received a special charter from the State of New Jersey Legislature to open in what was then the small City of Hudson, New Jersey. Hudson's mayor Garrett D. Van Reipen became the first President of the small bank, which was located on Newark Avenue.[1]
Hudson City, along with the Town of Bergen and the Township of Greenville, merged with Jersey City in 1873.[1]
By the end of the 19th Century, Hudson City Savings Bank had accumulated assets and deposits of over US$1 million. In the 1920s, the savings bank opened its second branch, and moved from Newark Avenue to 587 Summit Avenue in Jersey City, and later moved its headquarters to Bergen County. It still thrives today, based in Paramus, New Jersey, the largest savings bank in New Jersey, and an S&P 500 company.[1] [2] [3]
The Heights area is comprised mostly of two- and three-family houses. Six blocks to the east, and parallel to Central Avenue, are Palisade and Ogden Avenues, both of which offer breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline. Many stately Victorian and Edwardian homes contribute to the attractiveness of the Heights, particularly along Summit Avenue and Sherman Place. The Palisade, a condominium on Palisade Avenue at Fleet Street, is one of the few Art Deco buildings in the city. Pershing Field is a park in the center of this district, offering green space, baseball fields, a swimming pool and ice skating rink. Two lakes (former reservoirs) lie within the park; one may be redeveloped as a ball field or housing. Parts of this neighborhood are experiencing gentrification, largely due to the relative affordability of housing and the variety of transportation options, including the recently installed "light rail elevator" at Congress Street that connects to the 9th Street-Congress Street station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. The Western Slope area of the Heights is on the side that faces away from Manhattan and overlooks the marshes of the Meadowlands.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Hudson City Savings Bank
- ^ Institution History for HUDSON CITY BANCORP, INC. (2367556), National Information Center
- ^ 27. THACHER PROFFITT REPRESENTS HUDSON CITY BANCORP IN 7TH LARGEST DOMESTIC PUBLIC OFFERING IN HISTORY, June 8, 2005, PRNewswire, Insurance Newscast, InsuranceBroadcasting.com
