North Jersey is a colloquial term, with no precise consensus definition, for the northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey.[1] A straightforward, noncolloquial term for the region is northern New Jersey.
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Some define North Jersey as all points in New Jersey north of I-295 in the western part of the state and all points north of I-195 in the eastern part of the state. Others define it using the two original telephone area codes- 201 and all its additions for north and 609 (today plus 856) for south.
Others, primarily those who live in the northern tier of counties, count only that area north of the mouth of the Raritan River.
The state is also sometimes described as having North Jersey and South Jersey separated from each other by Central Jersey.
In this approach, the state is divided into three different sections, North Jersey being north of Route 22, Central Jersey being south of the Route 22 but north of Interstate 195, and South Jersey being anything south of Interstate 195.
New Jersey State Department of Tourism defines two distinct areas of North Jersey which address their quality and character:[2]
The following counties are often considered part of North Jersey.[3]
The seven counties that are included in North New Jersey have a total population of 3,492,590 as of the 2000 U.S. Census. The demographics of all of the counties are 66.8% White, 15.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 6.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander and 18.5% Hispanic or Latino.
Northern New Jersey was the site of some of the earliest European settlements in what would become the United States of America, first as part of the provincial colony of New Netherland, and later as part of the Province of New Jersey. During the American Revolutionary War, New Jersey was a strategic location between the capital of the fledgling United States, New York City, and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Important materials necessary to the war effort were produced in northern New Jersey.
The Continental Army made its home here during the war, and history from this period can be found in nearly every village and town in northern New Jersey. Battle fields, camps, skirmish sites and headquarters can be found near Morristown and north in the Preakness Valley. In the northwestern part of the state, iron mines and foundries supplied raw material for guns and ammunition.
The Industrial Revolution in America started by the founding of the northern New Jersey town of Paterson. Today, the United States and the world enjoy the fruit born of seeds planted in northern New Jersey during the Industrial Revolution. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary for the Treasury and President of the Bank of New York during the end of the eighteenth century, selected the Great Falls area (also known as the Passaic Falls) for an ambitious experiment. He promoted the natural power of the Great Falls as an excellent location for textile mills and other manufacture.
Paterson attracted skilled craftsmen and engineers from Europe to run the mills and produced a large concentration of creative and able people. During the mid nineteenth century, the engines and materials to tame a continent were made here. Thomas Edison installed one of the first hydroelectric power plants in the world using the Great Falls as an energy source. This power plant still provides electricity today.
In West Orange, Edison created the first technical research and development facility with his "invention factory". Electric light, improved motion pictures, and sound recording, were among the hundreds of inventions produced here.[4]
Sports allegiances are often divided between the northern and southern portions of the state.[1] The 2009 World Series divided the people of New Jersey, because South Jersey residents generally root for the Philadelphia Phillies, while North Jersey residents usually root for the New York Yankees or the New York Mets. A similar trend exists for most other major sports, with North Jersey residents supporting the New Jersey Nets or the New York Knicks in basketball, the New Jersey Devils or the New York Rangers in hockey, the New York Red Bulls in soccer, and the New York Giants or the New York Jets in football.
It is important to note that while fans for all of these teams exist in North Jersey, there are trends. Such as the Giants being noticeably more popular than the Jets. These trends are due to relatively simple factors; for example in this case, the Giants have played in New Jersey longer, been more successful over the past 3 decades, and were located closer to New Jersey prior to moving to New Jersey (the Giants playing in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, while the Jets played in Shea Stadium in Queens). The reverse of this trend is present in Queens and Long Island, where the Jets are noticeably more popular, as the Jets played in Queens (which is located on the very western tip of Long Island) until 1984. Similar trends affect the fanship of North Jersey residents for the other sports franchises as well.
Additionally, contrary to popular belief, sports fans of a given team will not necessarily, and almost always do not, support another team for the same sport even, when the two teams are not in the same division like the Jets and Giants, or the Mets and Yankees. This was perhaps best highlighted during the 2009 World Series with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts, who host the mid-morning show on 660 WFAN New York Sports talk radio and who are both passionate Met fans. Both Joe and Evan were torn as to who they would rather see win the World Series, the Yankees or their bitter division rivals, the Phillies, a sentiment shared by many of their callers who were Met fans. While there are fans of the New York Islanders in North Jersey, they are a significantly smaller portion of the population compared to the other two New York Metropolitan Area NHL franchises (Devils and Rangers), due to the fact they play, and have always existed, on Long Island. Conversely, South Jersey residents do typically support the Philadelphia Eagles, 76ers, Union, and Flyers.
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