The
history of
Ridgefield
dates back before explorers from
Europe
discovered the area. The first "residents" of the borough
were members of the Eastern Algonquian Confederacy. The Lenni
Lenape, or the Original People, were part of that Confederacy and
had called this area "home" for generations.
Ridgefield
Township
, from which the Borough of Ridgefield originated, was created from
the southern portion of the old Hackensack
Township
about 270 years after the first white men came to the area.
English immigrants reportedly settled in what is now the Borough of
Ridgefield as early as 1603. Within several years all of what we now
know as
East Bergen
was dubbed the English Neighborhood.
Ridgefield
was the center of the Neighborhood, which covered about 10 square
miles from the
Hackensack
River
to the Hudson River and from what is now
Hudson
County
line, north to
Englewood
.
Nothing is recorded about the very early settlers to the area. They
probably moved about the area, seeking the company and protection of
other settlers in other settlements.
The earliest known English settler to Ridgefield
was Robert Earle. In 1650 he bought a tract of land between the two
rivers. He planned to give parcels of land to other English
immigrants so a permanent English settlement could be carved out of
the marsh and woods.
Suburban
development started for this area when the Northern Railroad of New
Jersey began service in 1859. The line ran west of Grand Avenue, making Ridgefield, with its hilly terrain, a scenic wonder for the riders.
In March of 1871, the
Township
of
Ridgefield
was formed from
Hackensack
Township
. The Township
of
Ridgefield
was one of three townships created from
Hackensack
Township
(the other two were Palisades and Englewood). Towns and villages in the Township included: Fort Lee,
Coytesville, Edgewater,
Pleasant
Valley, Sunnyside, Bull's Ferry,
Fairview,
Ridgefield, Leonia, Walton,
Teaneck,
Ridgefield
Park, and Bogota
.
While
the
Township
of
Ridgefield
was growing, the residents of the
Village
of
Ridgefield
were agitated. Some residents, mostly businessmen, wanted to
separate from the township and start their own borough. They claimed
that the Township government had not done anything for the village
in several years, when the township widened, graded and straightened
the
English Neighborhood Road
from where it joined Bergen Turnpike to
Englewood
. The road was renamed
Grand Avenue
.
At
the turn of the 20th Century, Ridgefield
had a population of 584. At the beginning of the 21st Century, the
Borough's population was almost 10,000 and growing.
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