Riverview-Fisk Park Jersey City November 2021 002

The Heights or Jersey City Heights is a district in the north end of

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.New Jersey Palisades The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs s ...

overlooking

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

to the east and Croxton in the Meadowlands to the west. The southern border of The Heights is generally considered to be north of

Bergen Arches Bergen Arches is an abandoned railroad right of way through Bergen Hill (the lower New Jersey Palisades) in Jersey City, New Jersey. History Bergen Arches is the common name for the Erie Cut, the Erie Railroad's mile-long, four-track cut whic ...

and The Divided Highway, while Paterson Plank Road in Washington Park near Transfer Station is its main northern boundary. Its postal area ZIP code is 07307.

Neighborhoods and thoroughfares

Central Avenue is The Heights' primary commercial thoroughfare, with more than 240 businesses serving the area.

Pershing Field Pershing Field is a city square and park in the Heights of Jersey City, New Jersey in the United States. Approximately it is adjacent to Jersey City Reservoir No. 3, with which it creates a large open recreational and nature area bounded by ...

(named for General John J Pershing is a memorial park in the center of the district that was built on a military training ground. It offers a green space, baseball fields, a swimming pool and ice-skating rink. The adjacent

Jersey City Reservoir No. 3 Jersey City Reservoir No. 3 is a decommissioned reservoir atop Bergen Hill in the Heights of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated on approximately just south of Pershing Field. It was built between 1871 and 1874 as p ...

has been preserved as a state designated wetland and park. Many stately Victorian and

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

homes distinguish the Heights, particularly along Summit Avenue and Sherman Place.

Transportation

An elevator at Congress Street and Paterson Plank Road descends to the 9th Street-Congress Street station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. Mountain Ave and New York Ave are among the streets that run through the ara.

History

The Heights was part of the colony of

Pavonia, New Netherland Pavonia was the first European settlement on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River) that was part of the seventeenth-century province of New Netherland in what would become the present Hudson County, New Jersey. Hudson and the Hackens ...

, the superintendent of which was the American patriarch of the Van Vorst family. A

Van Vorst House The Van Vorst House is a colonial-era residence in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, located at 531 Palisade Avenue in The Heights. The stone house was built c.1740–1742 by descendants of the first settlers in the region. It is arguably the oldest ...

built in 1742 by the family (now on Palisade Avenue) is considered to be the oldest building in Hudson County. Summit Avenue, slightly to the west follows an Hackensack Indian trail that became the main road from the villages of

Communipaw Communipaw is a neighborhood in Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It is located west of Liberty State Park and east of Bergen Hill, and the site of one of the earliest European settlements in North America. It gives its nam ...

and

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

and eventually connected to the Paterson and Hackensack Plank Roads. E.R.V Wright was the first Mayor of Hudson City. The United States' motion picture industry originated in the early 20th century in towns along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

, including Jersey City. Among the companies that were a part of this was the France-based

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipment ...

, the largest film equipment and production company in the world, whose American factory and studio facility was established in The Heights in 1910. That building of still stands overlooking Paterson Plank Road. It also established the Eclectic Film Company as a subsidiary distribution company for both its American and European product. Although the Jersey City plant produced moderately popular comedies, dramas, and newsreels largely directed at the US market, '' Perils of Pauline'' was the first American-made Pathé effort to achieve worldwide success under the Eclectic banner.

Education

Jersey City Public Schools The Jersey City Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district located in Jersey City, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant ...

operates public schools in the Heights. The

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jer ...

operates area Catholic Schools. St. Anne School was located in Jersey City Heights, and opened in 1904. Its enrollment declined by 33 in 2011 and increased by 22 in 2012. James Carroll, a member of the Jersey City Police Department and a member of the school board, Carroll stated that the 2011 decline was due to parents being afraid that the school would close. In 2011 the archdiocese considered closing the school, but a fundraising generated sufficient money to keep it open. It closed in 2012. That year the building housed the K-8 grades of the

Hoboken Charter School Hoboken Charter School is a K-12 charter school in Hoboken, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 298 students and 28.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a studen ...

on a temporary basis as the regular K-8 building of the charter school had a fire.

References

General references

Inline citations

External links

The Heights Section of Jersey City

Congregation Mount Sinai

Walking Tour of Riverview

Neighborhood Spotlight: The Heights (Jersey City Independent)

Aerial view of mid Hudson County showing Jersey City Heights
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heights, Jersey City, The Neighborhoods in Jersey City, New Jersey