Second Bergen Point Lighthouse
(1883) that replaced the earlier lighthouse (1859-1949): Courtesy of P. Gerard
Nowicki
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The Historical Society is collecting items for placement on the following timeline. The items are accurate to the extent of our current information, and we make no claim that all the data have been validated from extensive research by our volunteers. Links to postcards are courtesy of Bayonne Collection at Bayonne Free Public Library and Cultural Center Early Settlement to the Revolutionary War Era 1609 - Henry Hudson sailed through the Kill Van Kull (stream between bays) and saw Newark Bay. He is said to have dropped anchor at Birds' Point, now Constable Hook 1646 - Dutch West India Company gave John Jacobson Roy, chief gunner (konstapel) at Fort Amsterdam, a grant of land later known as Constable Hook ("gunner's point") 1654 - Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant gave a number of land grants or patents in the upper portion of the peninsula (to 30 Street), which was called Pamrapo 1661 - Township of Bergen was established by the Dutch between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers and extended southward to Bergen Point (now tip of Bayonne) 1664 - Dutch territory of New Netherlands taken over by the English ca. 1700 - Pieter Van Buskirk (Boskerck), born circa Jan. 1, 1665, built a house on Constable Hook at what became known as Van Buskirk's Point; the stone house overlooking New York Bay was demolished in 1906, the land having been purchased by Standard Oil 1714 - Township of Bergen became one of three townships in the new County of Bergen (until 1840) 1730s - Dietrich Cadmus built a farmhouse on New York Bay and 41st Street; it became the Pavonia Yacht Club in 1900 1736 - Pieter Van Buskirk began a burial site for family and friends; it was adjacent to the house on the north shore of Constable Hook near the present New York Bay; Van Buskirk buried his wife Tryntje in the graveyard that same year at the Van Buskirk homestead, which became a private burial site for family and friends; it was referred to as the Van Buskirk Burial Ground and was used for internment until 1905 1776 - Bergen Neck Fort (between 51st and 52nd Streets) was built by patriots and occupied during the Revolutionary War by Loyalists who renamed it Fort De Lancey 1798 - The Van Buskirk family sold a portion of Constable Hook to the Hazard Powder Co. that built a factory and dock Early National Period 1800 - Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and his family arrived at Bergen Point and set up residence in a house called "Good Stay" 1828 - The Dutch Reformed Church of Bergen Neck was the first congregation to be organized in Bayonne; in 1866 a building was constructed at 29 Street and Broadway and was relocated at Avenue C and 33 Street; it became the First Federated Church 1836 - The Morris Canal, from Phillipsburg to Newark, was extended to Bergen Neck between today's Mercer Park and Curries Woods to New York Bay (52 Street) 1840 - Villages of Salterville, Centreville, Constable Hook and Bergen Point formed the peninsula of Bergen Neck (south of present City Line) in the newly established County of Hudson 1845 - Captain David La Tourette purchased a mansion at Bergen Point, later making to create known as the La Tourette House Hotel 1849 - James J. Van Buskirk (1791-1856) laid out a cemetery on his property at Constable Hook off East 22 Street; it became known as the Constable Hook Cemetery and today is surrounded by property owned by IMTT 1849 - Bergen Point Light House was built at the junction of Newark and the Kill Van Kull 1850 - The Plank Road Company constructed a "plank" road from First Street to 31 Street on what became Avenue D, now Broadway 1854 - On May 16, the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Bergen Point was founded; in 1901, its name was changed to the Fifth Street Reformed Church; after a fire in 1969, it joined with the Bergen Point Baptist and Sixth Street Methodist churches; the three churches built a new church on Fifth Street and became the Bergen Point Community Church that opened in 1971 1859 - White's Hotel, a stagecoach and hitching post stop, opened; it was located behind Wigdor's at the corner of 21st Street and Broadway 1859 - Trinity (Episcopal) Church at Fifth Street and Avenue C was organized; the original church building was destroyed by fire in 1879 and a new church opened in 1881 1860 - The congregation for St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church held services on Evergreen Street near Hobart Avenue; the present church building was constructed at 14 Street and Avenue C in 1881; the congregation started ca. 1852; Civil War Era 1861 - On March 15, the New Jersey Legislature approved unification of Bergen Point, Centerville, Salterville, and Constable Hook into the Township of Bayonne 1861 - On April 8, Charter for Township of Bayonne signed by Governor Charles S. Olden 1866 - The Jersey Central Railroad began the Port Johnston Coal Docks at Constable Hook 1869 - Incorporation of the City of Bayonne approved by New Jersey Legislature on March 10 1869 - Special election held on March 19 for ratification of incorporation of City of Bayonne 1869 - First election for Mayor and City Council of Bayonne held on April 13 1869 - First meeting of Mayor and City Council of Bayonne at Carragan's Hall at Avenue D and 27 Street (now Broadway and 22nd Street at the site of the Bergoff Building) held on April 26; this initiated the City of Bayonne with a mayor-coucil form of government 1869 - The City Council met for the first time in another temporary "city hall" facility above George Carragan's grocery store (Avenue D and Maple Avenue), now Hendrickson's Restaurant (Broadway and 31 Street) on December 14 1869 - On July 29, the first Jersey Central RR trains traveled from Elizabethport across the "swing-type" drawbridge to Bayonne over the Newark Bay 1869 - In December The Bayonne Herald and Greenville Register became the city's first newspaper; it lasted until 1920 1869 - Bayonne Yacht Club established on New York Bay at 49th Street 1869 - The Pavonia Yacht Yacht Club was organized and later in 1873 was incorporated; it moved to Bayonne in the early 1900s at the foot of 41 Street and New York Bay; it eventually moved to the foot of Eleven Street and Newark Bay at what became Pavonia Court 1870 - On November 15, the
City Council approved the establishment of a Fire Department: it consisted
of the formation of the Bayonne Hook and Ladder No. 1, a volunteer group
on West 47 Street; a full-time paid fire department began in 1906 1870 - Bayonne's first volunteer fire company was started at the fire house on 47 Street; it served as a fire house until 1928 when it was given to the Bayonne Exempt Firemen's Association; today it is the Chief John Brennan Fire Museum 1871 - Mary J. Donohue School on Lord Avenue opened, one of the City's first elementary schools 1872 - Standard Oil bought land at Constable Hook 1872 - On February 29, newly installed gas lamps were lit in the city for the first time with 22 candlepower streetlights; they were lit, extinguished and maintained by "lamplighters" 1873 - John Donovan opened the first shoe store on Orient Street 1874 - In June, the renovated Carragan's Hall at 22nd Street (then 27th Street) became Bayonne's City Hall and police headquarters; the building was then leased to the Free Public Library of Bayonne in 1894 1875 - Firehouse at 10 West 47th Street opened; it was made available to the Association of Exempt Firemen in 1928; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and rededicated as the Chief John T. Brennan Fire Museum in 1988 1875 - Prentice Oil Company established at Constable Hook; later it was sold to a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad called Empire Transportation Company, a competitor of Standard Oil Age of Industrial Development 1878 - Tide Water Oil Company of Pennsylvania moved to Bayonne 1881 - St. Mary's Star of the Sea R.C. Church, the first Roman Catholic Church in Bayonne, opened at 14 Street and Avenue C; a convent that was built in 1890 is now renovated as a residential condominium called Convent House; it retains the original door of the convent with the stained glass door transom and stone cross; a school was also constructed on 14 Street 1883 - construction of Second Bergen Point Lighthouse (1883) that replaced the earlier lighthouse (1859-1949) 1886 - Mechanic's Trust Company bank building was constructed at Eighth Street and Depot Square in Bergen Point; it was incorporated in 1872 and closed on January 2, 1934 ca. 1886 - First Jewish congregation founded at home of Jacob Cohen on Cottage Street; their first synagogue Temple Beth Abraham was constructed on 21 Street in 1905 1887 - Charles G. Hendrickson bought Wulf's Hall liquor license and tavern business; he purchased the property, the former Carragan building on Broadway and 31 Street, from John H. Cadugan on November 1, 1893 1887 - Pamrapo Saving Bank was founded as a building and loan association; it converted to a savings bank in 1990 and went public on the NASDAQ in 1889 1889 - Isaac Wigdor, a watch inspector for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, opened Wigdor's Jewelers on East 21st Street; in 1894 the business moved to 450 Broadway; the building was formerly White's Hotel and storefronts made at street level; the Art Deco style storefront was installed in 1937; Wigdor Diamond Jewelers closed in 1996 1889 - The parish of St. Henry's R.C. Church was organized; the limestone English Gothic church in cruciform on Avenue C and 29 Street was dedicated in May 1915 1890 - The Bayonne Hospital and Dispensary opened on East 30th Street; it was incorporated in 1888 by the Bayonne Hospital Association; the property was donated by the two youngest daughters, Alice Story Rowland and Abbey Story Marshall, of Rufus Story, a councilman from the First Ward of the new Bayonne City, who died on October 6, 1887; the daughters purchased three lots 75 x 100 feet adjoining the city-owned property desired by the Hospital Association to erect a building that became the Rufus Story Memorial Hospital 1890 - The Newark Bay Boat Club was built on Newark Bay at West 24th Street 1890 - Bergen Point Methodist Church was incorporated 1891 - O'Brien's Funeral Home at 240 Broadway (then Avenue D), one of the city's oldest funeral home, was founded by Thomas M. O'Brien; it had a branch office at 656 Broadway (then Avenue D) 1892 - A new City Hall was constructed on Avenue E and East 30th Street and opened on October 21 1892 - the West 8th Street Station of the Jersey Central Railroad re-opened; the Victorian-style station was designed by architect Frank V. Bodine; it replaced an earlier station of wood construction 1892 - The Bayonne City Electric Light and Power Company was authorized to install the poles and electric wiring to "electrify" the city 1893 - Trolley car transportation was approved by the City Council to run along Avenue C 1893 - On November 7, William A. Eddy, of 32 East Third Street, launched his box-type kite to an altitude of 5,595 feet; in December 1895 a telephone and telegraph message was sent by wires attached to his kites 1893 - Pamrapo Savings Bank was started 1894 - The congregation of St. Vincent de Paul RC Church was incorporated and the first mass was celebrated in a converted hall on Centre Street; evidence of this first church can be seen as the upper floor of Altamura's Bakery at 12 West 48 Street; the second church of wood construction, built on Avenue C between 46 and 47 Street, was dedicated on January 28, 1906; it was torn down in 1927 and ground was broken that year for the construction of the third and present church; the Lombard-Romanesque "Basilica" (in architectural design only) by architects Mc Ginnis and Walsh of Boston was dedicated on November 30, 1930; it features a Venetian "Campanile" copied from the one near San Lorenzo Church in Venice; the stained glass windows were produced by the famed Henry Clarke Studio in Dublin; a few of the windows are signed "Henry Clarke Stained Glass"; they are the only Clarke windows of their size in a church in the US; the Hinners Company, a historic organ company from Peoria, Illinois, built the manual organ in 1929; it has three manual keyboards, a pedal board and approximately 1,700 pipes. It has been documented by the Organ Historical Society as being one of the last remaining Hinners organs of its size. 1898 - St. Luke's Hospital on East 22 Street opened on December 3; it closed after a fire in 1902 damaged it 1898 - Our Lady of Mt. Carmel R.C. Church was incorporated; the present church at West 22 Street opened in 1926; the original church building, also on 22 Street, became a school 1900 - On July 4th and 5th, a fire raged at the Standard Oil Company and almost destroyed sites on Constable Hook 1900 (or 1902) - Pavonia
Yacht Club took over the Cadmus mansion at 41st Street; in
1913 it moved to the Jacob R. Schuyler mansion at Pavonia Court 1900 - one of the bridges connecting Bayonne and Greenville over the Morris Canal was completed 1901 - The Fifth Street Reformed
Church congregation was formed from a consolidation of the Bergen Point
Reformed Church 1903 (or 1906) - Robbins
Reef Yacht Club began at an old mansion at East 47th Street;
it eventually took over the Pavonia clubhouse
1904 - An Andrew Carnegie grant of $50,000 made possible the construction of the central portion of Bayonne Public Library on Avenue C and 31 Street; it was expanded in 1913 and 1933; a fire in 1959 caused extensive damage and the building was refurbished 1904 - Police Headquarters at northeast corner of Avenue C and 26th Street opened; it was a four-story brick structure 1905 - Frank Melville built an amusement park, Melville Park ; it opened in 1907 with a variety of amusements, restaurants, theater, dance and roller skating rink facilities; it is now the site of the Boulevard Garden apartments 1906 -
Bayonne Fire Department started on September 3 1907 - Bayonne Opera House opened; it was noted for entertainment by visiting stock companies 1907-11 - Bayonne resident David Horsley founded the Centaur/Nestor Film Company at 900 Broadway, the first independent movie studio in America, and began to make motion pictures in New Jersey; in 1911 Horsley with brother William moved to Hollywood and eventually merged their studio with other studios to form the Universal Film Company 1911 - The Bayonne Daily Times became known as The Bayonne Times; Hyman Lazarus became its editor and published at 579 Avenue C; it ceased publication on July 3, 1971 1912 - The Hiker, sculpted by Allen George Newman, was dedicated to commemorate the American infantry men who fought during the Spanish-American War in 1898 at the traffic triangle at 36 Street and the Boulevard; it is now in Heroes' Square at the Stephen R. Gregg Bayonne Park and was rededicated in 1997 1913 - Jerry Mahoney (1890-1969), who lived at 17 East 16th Street, was the manufacturer, with his brother, of diners; the business started with the construction of two lunch wagons in a garage; named the Jerry O'Mahoney Company, it was incorporated in 1917 and created what became known as the "Jersey" diner, a prefabricated dining car that looked like a train; it is not known when the use of the word "diner" replaced lunch car or wagon in the early 1920s 1913 - The congregation of Temple Emanu'el at 735 Kennedy Boulevard celebrated the high holy days for the first time 1914 - The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument designed by Eleanor "Nellie" Eadie was dedicated; it is in the Stephen R. Gregg Park between 39 and 40 Street along Avenue B; the monument is a bronze bas relief plaque on a granite base; it was cleaned by the Bayonne Historical Society and rededicated in 1997 ca. 1914 - Pearl Bergoff constructed a building that is named for him at 22 Street and Broadway; the four-story office building was at the time the largest in Hudson County; it bears his initials "P.L.B." in large Gothic letters at the top of the structure on 22 Street 1915 - The City of Bayonne adopted a commission form of government based on the Galveston (Texas) Plan and allowed under the Walsh Act of New Jersey; it replaced the mayor-city council form of government until 1962 1915 - Workers at Standard Oil of New Jersey in Bayonne went on strike over wages and union organization, lasting from July 15 to July 29, over wages and union organization; they struck again October 10-20, 1916 1915 - Construction of the Bayonne YWCA on 33rd Street; it was converted into a condominium in the 1990s 1916 - Hudson County Park, now the Stephen R. Gregg Hudson County Bayonne Park, was completed; it is owned by the County of Hudson and is maintained by both the City of Bayonne and the county; its entrance is on Avenue C between 40 and 41 Streets and extends on Kennedy Boulevard from 37 to 48 Streets; it was designed by the landscape architect Charles N. Lowrie World War I and the Depression 1918 - Florence L. Athay of Bayonne died of meningitis in England while serving in the Army Nurses Corps during World War I 1919-1920 - The South Boulevard bus line began its route through Bayonne as did the Broadway bus line; they were known as "jitneys" for the five cent fare 1921 - The Industrial YMCA was organized on Avenue E at 22nd with the support of John D. Rockefeller and other captains of local industry and opened on May 16; John D. Rockefeller, Jr. attended the ceremony 1925 - Enid Manufacturing Company occupied the Schwarzenbach-Huber Silk Mill on Avenue E between 17th and 18th Streets; it became the Maiden Form Brassiere Company in 1930 1925 - On September 28, the cornerstone for the YWCA. at 44 West 32 Street was laid and the building dedicated on March 16, 1926; the red brick building of English colonial architecture was donated by Alice Mahnken and her sister in memory of their brother John Herman Mahnken, a president of the Bayonne Trust Company; today the building has been converted to a senior residence 1925 - Temple Ohab Sholem (sic), known as the Uptown Temple, was constructed on Avenue C near 49 Street by an Orthodox Jewish congregation; they were Litvak Jewish immigrants from Russia and Lithuania who founded the community in Bayonne in 1916; the extension constructed in the 1930s served as a religious school; the property was sold in 2003 and the proceeds were donated to charities including the Jewish Community Center 1926 - The Masonic Hall at 888 Avenue C was completed; it was designed by Henry F. Warren and is North Italian or "Genovese" style 1926 - The O'Brien Funeral Home, founded in 1891, purchased property at 984 Avenue C; in 1955 a wing was added to the original building; G. Keenan O'Brien, grandson of founder Thomas M. O'Brien, is the present owner 1926 - Friendship Baptist Church was founded at 47 West 19 Street; in 1928, it moved to 90-92 West 20 Street and in 1937 to 22-24 West 20 Street; in 2007, the Friendship Baptist Church relocated to 41-45 West 20 Street to the former Congregation Talmud Torah 1926-1937 - Expansion of Bayonne High School complex on Avenue A 1928 - On September 18, ground was broken for the Bayonne Bridge; the steel-arch structure was designed by Othmar H. Ammann, chief engineer of the Port Authority; Gov. A. Harry Moore, born in Jersey City, was present at the ground breaking 1930 - On May 8, a fire at the Oak Street facility of Gulf Refining Company burned at the facility for 121 hours, one of the longest fires in the history of the city 1930 - The present church building of St. Vincent de Paul RC Church was completed 1931 - The Bayonne Bridge between Bayonne and Staten Island was dedicated on November 14 and opened to the public on November 15; a Rolls Royce owned by Mayor Lucius F. Donohoe, 1931-1939, was the first automobile to cross the bridge on November 15; designed by Othmar H. Ammann, the bridge has a mid-span clearance of 151 feet and arch span of 1,675; it was awarded a "Most Beautiful Steel Arch Bridge" prize by the American Institute for Steel Construction in 1931; Ammann also designed the Lincoln Tunnel as well as the George Washington Bridge and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, among other bridges in New York 1932 - Frank A. Gunther helped create short-wave, two-way and FM radio systems and built the first two-way police radio system; the Bayonne Police Department was the first to use the radio 1933 - Clarence Hendrickson renovated his father's tavern and restaurant property to its familiar "old world" decor 1935 - The first Bayonne Historical Society was organized 1938 - In May, the current church of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Parish of Bayonne was completed; the congregation dates back to the St. John the Baptist Society of the Russian Brotherhood Organizations in 1906 World War II and Post-War Eras 1941 - St. Vincent's Drum and Bugle Corps was started and continued to compete until 1961; it was formed by the Rev. Msgr. Wojtycha; it won ten National Championships and twenty-two State Championships 1942 - The US Navy took possession of the 160-acre site that became known as the US Naval Supply Depot or Bayonne Naval Base on June 20th 1943 - On September 11, the
USS Bayonne was christened at the Cleveland yards of the American
Shipbuilding Company; the next day the $1.74 million ship was feted
in Bayonne; it was commissioned by the Navy on February 14, 1945 1944/45 - Stephen R. Gregg
(Second Lieutenant, US Army, 143d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division)
and Nicholas Oresko (Master Sargeant, US Army, Company C, 302d Infantry,
94th Infantry Division) of Bayonne were two of a total of 464 recipients
of the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II; Gregg received
the Medal of Honor on April 17, 1945, for his actions on August 27,
1944, and Nicholas Oresko received the Medal of Honor on October 30,
1945, for his actions on January 23, 1945; a total of sixteen men associated
with New Jersey merited this award for valor during the war; a memorial
plaque to Gregg is in Hudson County Bayonne Park that has been named
for him 1947 - Bayonne residents needed to cope with a record 25.8 inches of snow that began to fall on the morning of Friday, December 26; the snowfall led to the founding of the "Blizzard Club" to remember how several individuals helped to shovel out the city Post World War II-to-mid-1960s - Maidenform, located in Bayonne, conducted its "I dreamed . . ." series that become one of the most successful advertising campaigns in the marketing industry 1953 - The first Bayonne Historical Society placed a bronze memorial plaque honoring Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer at the entrance to Mercer Park at City Line; General Mercer was a close friend of General George Washington and was killed at the Battle of Princeton in 1777 1956 - The New Jersey Turnpike Authority completed the "Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension" from Exit 14 at Newark Airport to the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City; the 8.2 mile spur included an exit to Avenue E in Bayonne; Exit 14A in Bayonne opened in April 1958 - On September 15th, a Jersey Central Railroad passenger train plunged through the open lift of Newark Bay Bridge that connected Bayonne and Port Elizabeth, over Newark Bay; the accident killed 48 people; among the deceased was baseball player Snuffy Stirnweiss, a second baseman who won the American League batting title in 1945; the accident was probably caused by a heart attack or stroke of the motorman as the train approached an open lift bridge that connected Elizabethport, NJ, and Bayonne 1959 - A fire occurred at the Bayonne Public Library on Avenue C and 31 Street 1960 - The Bayonne-born actress Sandra Dee (Alexandra Zuck, 1942-2005) visited Bayonne on March 22; Mayor Alfred Brady declared the date "Sandra Dee Day," which was celebrated at the DeWitt Theater on Broadway (now Mc Donald's); she appeared in films Gidget, Tammy Tell Me True, and A Summer Place, among others 1962 - City of Bayonne returned to a Mayor-City Council form of government that is used to this day 1963 - A fire on April 20th destroyed a majority of the buildings at the Electro Dynamic Works of the General Dynamics Corporation, a World War II defense plant that had been in Bayonne since 1904; the Englander Mattress Company and the Polytex Plastics Corporation were also affected by the general alarm fire; it is considered one of the worst fires in the history of the city and took nineteen hours to extinguish 1964 - Denise O'Connor was a member of the US Olympic Fencing Team in the October Olympics in Tokyo Contemporary Society 1965 - Chuck Wepner, the "Bayonne Bleeder," began his professional boxing career, which lasted to 1978 with a record of 31 wins (17 by knockouts), 14 losses and two draws; he fought Sonny Liston at the Jersey City Armory in 1970 and lost to George Foreman and Sonny Liston; at age 35, Wepner fought heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali on March 24, 1975, and in the fifteenth round was ruled the loser in a technical knockout in a title bout; Wepner's career inspired the character Rocky Balboa in the series of "Rocky" movies by actor Sylvester Stallone 1965 - St. Andrew's Bridgemen, a drum and bugle corps was founded; they won the Drum Corps International championship in Whitewater, Wisconsin, in 1972; after disbanding in 1988, they have reorganized as the Bridgemen Alumni Drum and Bugle Corps of Bayonne, NJ 1966 - On June 16, the British-owned Alva Cape containing naphtha, headed to Bayway Refinery in Linden, collided with the American tanker Texaco Massachusetts at the tip of Bergen Point; the empty American tanker had deposited a shipment of gasoline at the Texaco Marine terminal at First Street and Avenue A; 33 seamen lost their lives in the accident 1967 - The US Army took over the Bayonne Naval Base and renamed it the Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne (MOTBY) 1969 - Ground breaking for the current Municipal Building at 630 Avenue C and the City's Centennial 1991 - The new Bayonne Historical Society, Inc., held its first public program on April 17; an organizational meeting for the society was held in the fall of 1990 1995 - In September, the Hudson County park in Bayonne was named for Stephen R. Gregg, World War II Congressional Medal of Honor recipient 1995 - The Turnpike bridge
over Newark Bay was renamed the Vincent R. Casciano Bridge to honor
the New Jersey assemblyman who petitioned for the turnpike extension;
the bridge is over 7,000 feet long and 400 feet above Newark Bay
1999 - Military Ocean Terminal
Bayonne (MOTBY) was closed by Defense Department in September 2000 - In April, New Jersey Transit opened the first segment of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail passenger service starting from Bayonne, at 34th and 45th Streets stations, through Jersey City. When the 20.5-mile railway service is completed in 2010, it will make its way to Bergen County 2002 - The former Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne (MOTBY) was renamed "The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor" 2002 - On April 23, a dedication ceremony opened the portrait gallery of Bayonne Mayors since 1869 and Bayonne Council Presidents since 1962 2003 - The 22nd Street Station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Station opened in Bayonne in November 2004 - Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines began passenger service from the former Military Ocean Terminal under the corporate name Cape Liberty Cruise Port 2005 - On May 12, Steven V. Roberts, a graduate of Bayonne High School and Harvard University, spoke at the Bayonne Jewish Community Center about his remembrances of Bayonne found in his publication My Father's Houses: Memoir of a Family; Roberts was with the New York Times for 25 years and a contributing editor for US News and World Report 2005 - On May 18, a midnight show of the movie "Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith" (Episode III) was the feature film at the opening of the South Cove Stadium 12 Theatres (part of Frank Family chain) at LeFante Way off Route 440 2005 - On September 15, ground was broken for the memorial monument "To the Struggle against World Terrorism" in honor of the victims of September 11, 2001, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It was placed at The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor (northeast corner of former Military Ocean Terminal); the 100 foot-high, 172 ton monument, made of steel and sheathed in bronze on a granite base, was designed by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli; it faces the site of the former World Trade Center and was donated by the Russian people to the people of the United States; Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin and the sculptor were present at the ceremony; the installation of the monument is to be completed by September 2006. 2005 - A plaque was placed at the former Electric Launch Company (Elco) property (now The Boatworks at Baynne); Elco manufactured the Patrol Torpedo (PT) boats during World War II, including the "PT 109" used by John F. Kennedy during the war 2006 - On May 2, the Richard A. Rutkowski Park (formerly North 40 Park) was dedicated; it is located at the northwest section of Bayonne along Newark Bay; the purpose of the park is to protect approximately 32 upland acres and 10 acres of wetlands there; it features a walking path and lookout shelters at the nature preserve; Rutkowski was city mayor from 1990 to 1994 2006 - On June 3, the Bayonne Golf Club opened on Constable Hook peninsula, the former location of the old Van Buskirk homestead and family burial ground; it is described as a Scottish-style 60-acre, par 72 course 2006 - On August 29, Bayonne's Municipal Council Chamber was dedicated to Dorothy "Dot" E. Harrington; she was appointed to the Bayonne Board of Education in 1981 and was elected to the City Council from the First Ward in 1986 and served until 1998; she was a proponent of the extension of the Bergen-Hudson Light Rail to Bayonne and campaigned for the extension of Route 169 to Route 440 southward to the Bayonne Bridge; she was Bayonne's first woman council member and founding chairwoman of the Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority 2006 - On September 9, the community celebrated the centennial of the Bayonne Fire Department with a parade and the rededication of the Chief John Brennan Fire Museum at West 47 Street, near Broadway; in 1906 the fire department developed from a volunteer force; the Brennan museum dates back to 1875 and has a collection of fire fighting equipment 2006 - At a formal ceremony on September 11 at The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, marking the fifth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center towers, the memorial monument "To the Struggle against World Terrorism" designed by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli and a gift from the people of Russia to Bayonne; the 110-foot bronze-colored steel rectangle encloses a 40-foot tear drop in the jagged break in the center of the monument; the sculptor Tsereteli claims that the tear of sorrow over 9/11 may some day represent a tear of joy after terrorism no longer threatens the world; the monument is dedicated to the people killed on 9/11 and victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; their names appear on the granite base of the monument 2006 - The Elco crane was reassembled in Rutkowski Park; the crane was formerly located at the site of the Elco (Electric Launch Company) at Eighth Street and Avenue A; Elco manufactured electric boats since circa 1892 to the World War II period; it produced the PT (patrol torpedo) 109, a submarine chasing boat used in the Pacific Theater during World War II that is associated with the military career of John F. Kennedy, later president of the United States 2006 - The USS Intrepid
arrived at the Bayonne Dry Dock Company to undergo repairs; the 42,298-ton
warship was launched in 1943 and served in the Pacific theater of war
during World War II; in 1965, the Intrepid was over hauled for
service during the Vietnam conflict; decommissioned in 1974, the warship
became a museum at Pier 86 in New York as the Intrepid Sea, Air and
Space Museum; after renovations in Bayonne, the Intrepid will
travel to Staten Island for improvements to the interior exhibition
areas; it will then return to a rebuilt facility at Pier 86 and reopen
to the public for Fleet Week 2008 2007 - On June 6, the USS Intrepid left the Bayonne Dry Dock for the Stapleton Pier in Staten Island for interior renovation. While in Bayonne, the exterior of the ship was refurbished and painted using over 5600 gallons of paint. |
