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River
Vale is a township in Bergen County,
New Jersey,
United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was
9,449. The community was ranked #29 on the 100 Best Places to Live
2007 survey published by CNN/Money
magazine.
River
Vale was formed as a township on April 30, 1906, from portions of
Hillsdale Township (now the Borough of Hillsdale) and Washington
Township
.
Before
1841, the area comprising River Vale was part of Harrington
Township. It used to be known as the "Over Kill Neighborhood" or
just "Over Kill" — it being over the kill (Hackensack
River) from Tappan. Its southern part, known as Eastwood (named in
contrast to Westwood), became an independent borough from 1894 to
1896, but was later re-absorbed into Washington
Township
.
River
Vale was incorporated as a Bergen
County
township in 1906. It was formed from portions of both Hillsdale and
Washington
Township. On July 15, 1929, part of River Vale was ceded to Park Ridge. On May 20, 1959, territory was acquired from Montvale.
A
River Vale resident, Henry Hoffman, directed the scrapping of the
USS Enterprise
in Kearny from 1958 to 1960. Following Hoffman's death in 1965, the stern
plate of the Enterprise
was placed on a Little League baseball field as a memorial. The
field was later named Hoffman
Field. On October 2, 2000, the stern plate was moved to the
township's Veterans' Memorial Park.
In
1967, a mass grave site was discovered in River Vale from an event
in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, the Baylor Massacre.
This became widely known due to a February 1968 report to the Bergen
County Board of Chosen Freeholders, "1778 - The Massacre of
Baylor's Dragoons". The burial site was made into a county park
that was dedicated on October 15, 1972
As
of the census of 2000, there were 9,449 people, 3,275 households,
and 2,675 families residing in the township. The population density
was 2,317.7 people per square mile (894.2/km˛). There were 3,312
housing units at an average density of 812.4/sq mi (313.4/km˛).
The racial makeup of the township was 92.33% White, 0.58% African
American, 5.89% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other
races, and 0.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any
race were 3.22% of the population.
River
Vale has three schools operated under the aegis of the River Vale
Public Schools.
Roberge
Elementary School
encompasses Kindergarten to 5. Woodside
Elementary School
has students in grades Kindergarten to 5.
Holdrum
Middle School
has students in grades 6 - 8.
River
Vale's high school students for public school attend
Pascack
Valley
High School
in Hillsdale, together with students from Hillsdale, as part of the
Pascack
Valley
Regional
High
School District
.
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