Weehawken, which may mean, "End of the Palisades" or "Place of Gulls", dates its incorporation as a township from 1859, but its written history began in 1609, when Henry Hudson, on his third voyage to the New World, sailed up what was later named The North River on the Half Moon and weighed anchor in Weehawken Cove.
The earliest residents were the Lenni Lenape Native Americans. They were displaced by the Dutch, who came to settle there in the mid-1600s. In 1658, Governor Peter Stuyvesant of New Amsterdam negotiated a deal with the Lenape for the area named Bergen, "by the great rock above Wiehacken," then taking in the sweep of land on the peninsula west of the Hudson and east of the Hackensack River extending down to the Kill Van Kull in Bayonne. A number of English people joined the Dutch as they settled Manhattan Island and the surrounding areas, after the New Netherlands territory was transferred to the British in 1663. Most habitation was along the top of the cliffs since much of the low-lying areas were marshland. Descriptions from the period speak of the dense foliage and forests along atop the Palisades and excellent land for growing vegetables and orchard fruits. In 1752, Weehawken was given a its first official grant for ferry service (although boats had been crossing the river long before that); the ferry house was north of Hoboken and was primarily used for farm produce.
During the American Revolutionary War, Weehawken was used as a lookout for the patriots to check on the British, who were in situated in New York and controlled the surrounding waterways. In fact, in July 1778, Lord Stirling asked Aaron Burr, in a letter written on behalf of General George Washington, to employ several persons to "go to the Bergen heights, Weehawk, Hoebuck or other heights to observe the motions of the enemy's shipping" and to gather any other possible intelligence.
Alexander Hamilton fights his fatal duel with Aaron Burr.
Early documented inhabitants included a Captain Deas, whose "cozy home at Dea's Point, was located upon a knoll or elevation near the river and may have overlooked the infamous dueling grounds, a grassy shelf about 20 ft (6.1 m) above sea level and attached to the Palisades. This ledge, long gone, hosted 18 documented duels and many unknown ones between the years 1798–1845, the most famous being that between General Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury, and Colonel Aaron Burr, sitting third Vice President of the United States, which took place on July 11, 1804. The duel was re-enacted on July 11, 2004, the 200th anniversary of the fatal duel, by descendants of Hamilton and Burr.[2]
With the ferry, the Hackensack Plank Road, (a toll road that was a main artery from Weehawken to Hackensack), and later, the West Shore Railroad, built during the early 1870s, the waterfront became a transportation hub. The wealthy built homes along the top of the New Jersey Palisades, where they might flee from the sweltering heat of New York, and breathe the fresh air of the heights and Weehawken became the playground of the rich during the middle to late 1800s. A series of wagon lifts, stairs, and even an elevator designed by famed Frenchman Gustave Eiffel, which at the time was the world's largest, were put in place to accommodate the tourists and summer dwellers.
The turn of the century saw the end of the large estates, casinos, hotels, and theaters as tourism gave way to subdivision and the construction of many of the private homes still seen in town, and coincided with the influx of the Germans, Austrians, and Swiss, who built them and the breweries and embroidery factories in nearby Union City and West New York. While remaining essentially residential, Weehawken continued to grow as Hudson County became more industrial and more populated. Many Irish families (with roots in New York City's Hell's Kitchen) and Italian families (who had started out in Hoboken) made it their home, and Weehawken saw its highest census numbers in the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, approaching but never quite reaching 15,000. In the 1970's, Cuban emigree families (many of whom had established themselves in North Hudson's "Havana on the Hudson") chose Weehawken as the place to live. Since the 1990's a growing population of individuals and childless families (often retirees, gay men and women, or newlyweds), have taken up residency in town.
