History of Bayonne - City of Bayonne, New Jersey

Before the arrival of Europeans, Bayonne was the home to Lenni Lenape Indians. Dutch settlers arrived in the 1600's after the explorer, Henry Hudson, sailed past the future site of Bayonne, and claimed the area for the Netherlands. Bayonne was known originally as Bergen Neck, located south of the Dutch settlement of Bergen, the predecessor of Jersey City. The area came under British rule in 1664 after they defeated the Dutch. During the American revolution, British and American forces clashed at Fort Delancey in what is now Bayonne.	Click For Bridge History
The completion of the Morris Canal in 1836 linked Bergen Neck with the rest of Northern New Jersey. Steamboats connected the peninsula with New York City as early as1846. Railroads came to Bayonne in the 1860's. Residents of Bergen Township living between the Morris Canal and the Kill Van Kull formed the independent Township of Bayonne with a township council form of government in 1861. The municipal name was taken from Bayonne Avenue, a cross-town road that is today's 33^rd Street. Bayonne united the villages of Bergen Point, Constable Hook, Centerville, Pamrapo and Saltersville. The township became the City of Bayonne with a mayor-council form of government in 1869. In that era, New York residents and America's gentry, including presidents and authors flocked to Bayonne to enjoy its resort hotels and beaches. The first mayor was Henry Meigs, Jr., President of the New York Stock Exchange. Bayonne was an early boat-building and yachting center. Its farmers, fishers and oystermen supplied the nearby New York market. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Bayonne urbanized and industrialized rapidly, becoming the home to thousands of European immigrants. The changing character of the community gradually eroded the resorts, farms and fisheries. IN 1877, the standard Oil Company took over a small refinery. By the 1920's, Standard Oil became the city's largest employer with over 6,000 workers. At that time, Bayonne was one of the largest oil refinery centers in the world.
25th Street & Broadway (1905)	During the progressive era Bayonne abolished the mayor-council form of government, and adopted the commission form in 1915. In 1962, Bayonne returned to a mayor-council form of government. During World War II, Bayonne became the home of a large shipping terminal,
built on man-made land jutting from the east side of the city into New York Bay. It was the site of the largest dry-dock on the Eastern seaboard and the location of vast naval supply center. Known as the Military Ocean Terminal (MOT), the facility became a US Army base in 1967. Ships carried goods from World War II to the Persian Gulf War and the Haiti mission in the 1990's. The City of Bayonne is planning the transformation of the base for new uses by early in the next century when the base is scheduled to close. Bayonne is a community that retains many of the elements of a small town. One and two family homes, small apartment buildings, and small business predominate. There is a population of 62,000 people who take pride in their hometown and its history. Bayonne residents and their ancestors moved to the city from many parts of the world. During colonial times and the first century of the American Republic, the Dutch, British, and Africans were the first groups to arrive after the Indians. Subsequent waves if immigrants came from all over Europe, especially between the 1880's and the 1920's. In recent decades, Latin American, the Middle East, and Asian and Pacific countries have also been sources of immigration to Bayonne. Each group has left its mark on the cultural, religious, and political life of the community. Bayonne homes are among the best urban housing stock in the state, with residents actively maintaining and improving their homes and property. Our schools, both public and private, are outstanding, and our youngsters achieve some of the highest scores and honors in New Jersey. In the decades since World War II, oil refining and other traditional industries have declined, and have been replaced by port operations and the service sector. The city once known as the Peninsula of Industry has restyled itself the Peninsula of Business and Technology. The city administration believes that Bayonne is set to begin a new era of economic development with new technology, new shopping malls and a civilianized ocean terminal. At the dawn of the 21st Century, Bayonne welcomed the arrival of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System. It has stations at 45th Street, 34th Street, and 22nd Street. The 8th Street Station is expected to open in 2009. Bayonne has had a colorful history, and can look forward to a bright future with new businesses and infrastructure.

For further information be sure to visit the
Bayonne Bridge Information | Bayonne Historical Society
Historical Postcards of Bayonne