USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > Paper read before the historical society of Hudson County. 1908 > Part 31
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Robert Gilchrist, County Clerk; Edmund W. Kingsland, Surrogate; Stephen Garretson and Cornelius Van Vorst Kings- land, Judges.
The first County Court was organized April 14th, 1840, and held in Lyceum Hall still standing on the south side of Grand street, west of Washington, Chief Justice Hornblower presiding. September 19th, 1843, the court removed to the hotel then stand- ing at the junction of Hoboken and Newark avenues.
The first meeting of the Board of Chosen Freeholders was held May 13th, 1840, at Drayton's Hotel, Five Corners. The members of same were:
From the township of Bergen, Garret Sip and Abel I. Smith.
From the township of Harrison, Joseph Budd and William C. Kingsland.
From the City of Jersey City, John Griffith and Abraham Van Santford.
George H. Brinkerhoff was made sheriff and Jacob D. Van Winkle county collector.
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The report of the first County Collector submits receipts and expenditures from June 13th, 1840, to May 27th, 1841
Receipts $5097.32
Expenditures 4990.35
And for the year from May 27, 1841, to May 13th, 1842 Receipts $3712.77
Expenditures -
3482.52
The Budget for Hudson County for the year 1916-17 is about $3,000,000.
The necessity for enlarged and permanent court accommoda- tions was soon evident and the location and erection of a suit- able court building became the all absorbing question. Differ- ent sections of the county claimed the distinction. At last it was determined to submit the question of location to a vote of the people. The election was held June 2nd, 1840, with following result:
Bergen cast 306 votes for North Bergen.
Jersey City cast 281 votes for Jersey City and 20 for North Bergen.
Harrison cast 54 votes for North Bergen and 2 for Jersey City.
The Freeholders thereupon selected the plot whereon the present court house is standing. Plans were drawn and adopted, but the corner stone of the contemplated building was not laid until October 17th, 1844, and the building completed and dedi- cated March 11th, 1845. The Jersey City "Advertiser" of March 15th, 1845, gives the following description: "The loca- tion of the building we believe is generally known, being in North Bergen, a short distance from the brow of the hill, some- what central between that and the Five Corners. The building is constructed of trap rock, and has been raised as remarked by the overseer, as it were out of the very ground on which it stands, the stone being taken therefrom. The court room is 48 by 49 feet and is in the second story. On the ground floor are the offices of the county clerk, surrogate, State attorney and sheriff, and also the Grand Jury room. The court house in its design, manner of execution, etc., as far as we have heard, has given general satisfaction, and as we have remarked in our last, reflects becoming credit upon all who have contributed in any way toward its construction."
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The following extract from the address of Chief Justice Hornblower at the dedication of the Court House may be of in- terest:
When you first conceived the plan of being erected into a separate county, it met with my approbation and received my sup- port from no sinister motive. I remembered the old town of Bergen, when it had very few inhabitants except old-fashioned, honest Dutchmen, and very few houses except those not built for show, but for domestic com- fort and convenience, long, low and unpretending in appearance, but dur- able in materials and opening upon the streets, some two or three hospitable doors, into which the friend or stranger might enter and find a welcome, and from which they might retire and leave a blessing behind them. Hoboken then consisted of little else beside a well kept public house and a beautiful retreat from the noise and bustle of the neighboring metropolis. No Jersey City then adorned your shores-nothing but a large, long ferry house, occupied successively by an Ellsworth, a Smith and a Hunt, with here and there a boatman's or fisherman s cabin, stood upon the heap of sand, called Powles Hook. Your settlements were sparse, your occupations agricultural and industrial, and your population small, but healthy, peaceful and honest. You needed for many years within my recollection but one physician to administer to your physical necessities, but one man of God to supply your spiritual wants, and not even one law- yer to satisfy your litigious prospensities, for you had none to be satisfied. Peace reigned throughout your borders-simplicity of life and manners and honesty of purpose, were the prevailing characteristics of the good old Dutch who almost exclusively occupied your county in the days of my boyhood. A court at Hackensack and a few Dutch justices at home were all you wanted to punish the few offenders and settle the few lawsuits that troubled you in those days. But, alas, we fear those good old days have gone by, never to return. The rapidly increasing population of our country and the vast improvement in science and the arts, and the enter- prising spirit of the age in which we live, have wrought a mighty change within the period even of my memory. The facilities of steamboats and railroad cars and the increasing spirit of trade, and commerce, of manu- facturers and the arts, have brought the good old town of Bergen into contact with the world, cut up her territory into small localities, studded her shores with splendid buildings, turned her farms into country seats her cabbage ground into pleasure gardens and her dwelling places into workshops and manufactories. Such in fact, has been the change in ap- pearance and population of that part of the old county of Bergen that now constitutes the county of Hudson, that I can scarcely retrace the steps of my boyhood, when in my visits to my friends here or in the City of New York, I used to travel these hills. When, therefore, you first contemplated the formation of a new county, I favored the object because I was satisfied that if not then absolutely necessary, the time was rapidly approaching when the increased number of inhabitants, the diversified character of your population, the rapidly extending trade and commerce with the city
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of New York and other places, the consequent increase of bargains and contracts, of litigation and of crime, would call for a stronger police, for increased vigilance on the part of the magistrates and peace officers, and for a seat of justice nearer your own doors.
This building served its purpose until the completion in 1913 of our present magnificent structure, whose architectural beauty, and completeness of design, compels universal admiration.
At the time of the erection of Hudson County the territory was very sparsely settled. There were groupings of houses here and there, generally at some cross roads, and scattered widely apart farm houses appeared among the trees. The quaint houses of old Bergen town, still clustered about the square, in the center of which stood the Liberty Pole that marked the loca- tion of the well dug in Indian times. Communipaw nestled along the same shore line with contour unchanged since the savage launched his canoe, or Jensen's periaugua ferried over his infre- quent passenger to New Amsterdam. Hoboken was but a de- lightful summer resort frequented by many for the enjoyment of its healthful attractions, the subject of song and story, while Paulus Hook had just attained the dignity of a city with limits at Grove street, under the name of "The Mayor and Council of Jersey City," but in most cases still retaining its old familiar name. The northern part of the county was almost entirely woodland and was the source from whence many of the occupants of the lower part of the county obtained their firewood. All along the western slope a fringe of wood extended, separating the up- land from the marsh that reached to the river bank. Southward the little groups of Pamrepo, Saltersville, Centerville, Constable Hook and Bergen Point gathered in their immediate neighbor- hoods, and with the territory stretching from shore to shore, now forming the opulent City of Bayonne. From Weehawken to Bergen Point, broad, fertile farm lands yielded their abundance to the toiling husbandman, who at certain seasons abandoned his well tilled fields for the equally remunerative water farms, stocked with toothsome shad, delicious oysters and other shell fish, for which a ready sale was found in the markets of the neighboring city. At this time but two roads extending north and south afforded vehicular communication between the differ- ent sections (Bergen avenue and the Back Lane, now called West Side avenue.) At intervals narrow lanes leading from
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these gave access to the different farms. In the northern part of the County, what is now the Hackensack Plank Road, led to the Bergen County Court House at Hackensack.
The woods and marshes that covered the greater part of the county, at certain seasons abounded in game of many kinds and afforded a goodly recompense to the hunters who frequented them. Immense flocks of wild pigeons passed over in the early Fall and settled in the woods and grain fields on the western slope, and were ensnared in large numbers by the watchful sportsman who gathered in a goodly sum from their sale in the city markets.
From these rural beginnings our present populous county has grown within little over three-quarters of a century. Al- though the central ridge of high ground extending north and south throughout its center, presented unsurpassed opportunities for attractive homes, the difficulty of access because of interven- ing marshes, and the characteristic love of the Dutch land owner for his home acre, prevented its more rapid development. The casual wayfarer from the neighboring city, tired from its noise and bustle, often sought the quiet of our shores and lingered among its rural surroundings, inhaling the pure health-giving breezes that swept in from the sea. But the progressive influ- ences of the nearby city were felt, and the transforming of some of the old farms into building lots and gardens, opened up the opportunity for secluded home life. One by one more modern houses dotted the hilltop, and the advantages offered for manu- facturing and commercial purposes being recognized, the hum of busy industries soon displaced the old time quietude and echoed from the heights of Weehawken to the shores of Bergen Point.
As we have seen, Hudson County includes within its bounds not only the territory lying between the Hudson and the Hack- ensack, but also that between the Hackensack and Passaic rivers in addition. It hence secures an unusual water frontage which, if properly developed, would at once bestow upon it un- rivalled commercial and manufacturing facilities. Probably one reason for the delay in pushing these natural advantages to the utmost, was because of the marshy nature of the shores border- ing on these rivers, and the great expense attending their devel- opment. Hudson County is somewhat peculiarly situated. A
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ridge of land of varying width beginning at the Kill van Kull, where it is but a few feet above tide water, stretches out in a northerly direction with an increasing elevation until at the upper end of the county an altitude of over 300 feet is reached-the ridge here merging into the Palisades of the Hudson. The area between this upland and the rivers on both sides, as well as the territory west of the Hackensack to within a short distance of the banks of the Passaic, where the upland again appears, was composed of deep salt marsh, making the approach from the river banks as well as intercommunication very difficult. This diffi- culty is now being in a great measure overcome. The growing demand for manufacturing sites and the increase of population have compelled the improvement of these marshes, and they are fast being converted into dry land and appropriated for manu- facturing and business purposes, and ere long our county in the guise of a consolidated city, must assume its proper position among the important commercial centers of the world.
L6 D '78
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