Wortendyke is a residential and commercial

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located within Midland Park, in

Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.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 ...

, United States.

History

Wortendyke was established in 1796, originally named "Newtown", and then "Godwinville". A Methodist church was organized in 1805. A cotton mill was opened in 1812 by Cornelius Wortendyke. In 1875, his grandson, Cornelius A. Wortendyke, oversaw an extensive enlargement to the mill, as well as the addition of the largest silk mill in New Jersey. The mills were located along

Goffle Brook Goffle Brook is a tributary of the Passaic River which flows south through a section of Passaic County and Bergen County in New Jersey and drains the eastern side of the First Watchung Mountain. Heading up the brook from the confluence with th ...

, and employed more than 500 people, many of them immigrants from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The cost of the workers' transportation to the United States, as well as their housing costs, was deducted from their pay. By the early 1880s, Wortendyke had the largest school in the Township, and a population of 300. When the

New Jersey Midland Railway The New Jersey Midland Railway was a 19th-century predecessor to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) that operated in Northern New Jersey and Orange County, New York. Formation and construction The New Jersey Midland Railway ...

was built in the 1880s, Cornelius A. Wortendyke was its president, and had the railway's principal shops located in Wortendyke. The Wortendyke Railroad Station is still located in the area.

Historic sites

The

Wortendyke-Demund House Wortendyke-Demund House is located in Midland Park, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The house was built in 1797 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 10, 1983. See also *National Register of Historic ...

, constructed in 1797, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on January 10, 1983.NEW JERSEY - Bergen County

. Accessed May 19, 2015.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Wortendyke include: * Isaac Wortendyke, New Jersey state senator from 1880-83.

References

{{Bergen County, New Jersey Midland Park, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Bergen County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey