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A
little over 300 years ago the entire northern area of
New Jersey
was Indian country and for that reason Bergen
County
was settled later than some locations.
The Indians, primarily the Lenni Lenape, a branch of the Algonquin
family, had migrated eastward across the
Mississippi. Spending part of the year near
Delaware
and the southern shores of New Jersey, they took advantage of the warm summers by fishing, clamming, and
farming.
The Board of East
Jersey Proprieters had been established by the English in 1665. On
November 18, 1709 they purchased a parcel of land known as the
Ramapough Tract for £123, or about $175, from the Indians. Trade
goods for that amount were brought up the Hudson River to a place
near Tappan,
NY. The tract consisted of 42,000 acres of land along the
Ramapo
River
eastward, north into New York
state and south towards Pompton. The boundaries were under much
dispute, for at the time of the sale, the province line between
New York
and New Jersey
had not been settled. Gradually, however, parcels of land were still
sold to the new immigrants by the Proprietors as they moved
northward.
At
this time also, the eastern side of the Saddle
River
was known by the Indians as Weerommensa, or "Land of the
Grapes," and inhabited by them. The Indians conveyed this land
by deed to one Albrecht Zaborowsky who was a Polish immigrant.
Originally the transaction was to have taken place in the year 1675,
but for some unknown reason was delayed until 1702. In the interim
the Indian principals had died and the proposed transaction was
forgotten.
Saddle
River
was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey
Legislature on November 22, 1894, from portions of
Orvil
Township, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier, at
the height of the Boroughitis phenomenon sweeping through Bergen
County
at the time.
The
borough is named after the
Saddle
River, which flows through the borough and is a tributary of the Passaic
River.
West Saddle River Road
and East Saddle River Road
runs through this borough.
The
Wandell
School, part of the Saddle
River
School District, serves students in kindergarten through grade
5. Saddle River
students in grades 6 through 8 attend Eric
S.
Smith
Middle School
in Ramsey as part of a sending/receiving relationship.
For
high school, students (and their parents) may choose to attend
either of the following public high schools, which students attend
as part of sending/receiving relationships with each of the
respective districts.
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Northern
Highlands
Regional
High School
is in Allendale and is attended by students from Allendale, Upper
Saddle
River, and Ho-Ho-Kus.
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Ramsey
High School
is in Ramsey and is part of the
Ramsey
Public
School District, which also serves all Saddle
River
students attending public middle school.
There
is also a K-12 private school in town, Saddle
River
Day School.
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