Federal Hill is a

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

nestled in the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

of the

New Jersey Highlands New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. It is located in the town of Bloomingdale in

Passaic County Passaic County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Passaic County was enumerated at 524,118, an increase of 22,892 (4.6%) from t ...

, in the U.S. state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Geography

The hill is in the northern part of the state, in the New Jersey Highlands region, which is known for its rugged terrain, forests, and lakes. The ridgeline rises approximately above sea level, and is surrounded by other rugged hills and ridges, including Pompton Mountain and the

Ramapo Mountains The Ramapo Mountains are a forested chain of the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York, in the United States. They range in height from in New Jersey, and in New York. Several parks and forest preserves en ...

to the west. Following a generally northeastern course, Federal Hill and the NJ Highlands area are part of the same

orogen An orogenic belt, or orogen, is a zone of Earth's crust affected by orogeny. An orogenic belt develops when a continental plate crumples and is Tectonic uplift, uplifted to form one or more mountain ranges; this involves a series of geological pr ...

as the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

further west in the state. The area is part of the

Passaic River Passaic River ( ) is a river, approximately long, in Northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, ...

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

, which collects water from a number of NJ highlands streams and lakes in the region. The

Pompton River The Pompton River is a tributary of the Passaic River, approximately long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. It is formed south of the borough of Pompton Lakes by the confluence of the Ramapo and Pequannock rivers. It flows south ...

, which flows northward from the Ramapo Mountains, passes through the valley to the east of Federal Hill and provided water power for mills and other industries in the area. The

Pequannock River The Pequannock River is a tributary of the Pompton River, approximately long, located in northern New Jersey in the United States. It rises in eastern Sussex County, near Highland Lakes on the north side of Hamburg Mountain. It flows southeas ...

also runs south of the ridge and is a popular destination for fishing.

History

Revolutionary War

The ridge has been referenced as having served as part of a beacon network, consisting of a series of signal stations located at strategic points along the coast and on high ground, where fires could be lit and seen from a great distance. Set up by

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

, the " Blue Hills Beacons" were used by both sides and played an important role in many key battles and campaigns, including the Battle of Long Island and the

Siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular town ...

. The area was the site of the

Pompton Mutiny The Pompton Mutiny, also referred to as the Federal Hill Rebellion, was a revolt of Continental Army troops at Pompton Camp in what was then Pompton Township, New Jersey, present-day Bloomingdale, New Jersey, that occurred on January 20, 1781, b ...

, an insurrection of American soldiers in the winter of 1781. Caused by a number of grievances, including lack of pay, poor living conditions, and a lack of provisions, the soldiers, who were mostly from

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

mutinied Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among members ...

against their officers and demanded better treatment and payment. The mutiny was later solved through negotiations, however some perpetrators were later prosecuted and punished for their actions on Federal Hill.

Contemporary history

In the twentieth century, the Amnerika-Deutscher Volksbund, or

German-American Bund The German American Bund, or the German American Federation (german: Amerikadeutscher Bund; Amerikadeutscher Volksbund, AV), was a German-American Nazi organization which was established in 1936 as a successor to the Friends of New Germany (FoN ...

as it is commonly referred to, constructed a youth camp on Federal Hill called Camp Bergwald. The camp was active during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, amidst a resurgence in German

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

in the United States due to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's ascent to power in Germany in 1934. Activities of the German-American Bund continued there until American involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1941, when it was shut down by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

. The area has also been the site of the Riverdale Quarry, a

granite gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

quarry that has been in operation since the early 1900s owned by Tilcon. Producing crushed stone and other materials for construction, it has been an important source of jobs and economic activity in the region for over 100 years. Stone from the quarry on Federal Hill has provided rock for the entrance steps and atriums of several national landmarks in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

{{Cite web , title=Tilcon Quarry-Riverdale Quarry, Riverdale, Morris Co., New Jersey, USA , url=https://www.mindat.org/loc-223154.html

References

Bloomingdale, New Jersey Geography of Passaic County, New Jersey Wikipedia Student Program