Bergen, New Netherlands

Bergen was a part of the 17th century province of New Netherland, in the area in northeastern New Jersey along the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers that would become contemporary Hudson and Bergen Counties. Though it only officially existed as an independent municipality from 1661, with the founding of a village at Bergen Square, Bergen began as a factory at Communipaw circa 1615 and was first settled in 1630 as Pavonia. These early settlements were along the banks of the North River (Hudson River) across from New Amsterdam, under whose jurisdiction they fell.

''Halve Maen''

Explored to The Narrows by Giovanni da Verrazzano, sailing on a French expedition in 1524, the area was visited by Spanish and English seafarers during the next century. It was again visited in 1609 by the Englishman Henry Hudson, who had been commissioned by the Dutch East India Company to find a navigable passage to Asia. During this journey his ship, the ''Halve Maen'' (Half Moon), laid anchor at Sandy Hook, Harsimus Cove, and Weehawken Cove, and other places along the river which now bears his name.

At the time of his exploration the shoreline was considerably different from today, consisting of huge tidal marshes and oyster beds. Several other expeditions to the coast of North America were made between 1610 and 1614; surveys and charts from them were incorporated in a map made by Adriaen Block which named New Netherland for the first time.

Lenape

At the time the existing population were bands of seasonally migrational Algonquian people, the Lenape. The area that would become Bergen was the territory of Unami, or Turtle Clan, called the Hackensack Indians and the Tappan.Ruttenber,E.M.,''Indian Tribes of Hudson's River'', (Hope Farm Press, 3rd ed, 2001) While the Hackensack tended to camp on the tidal lands (Upper New York Bay and Meadowlands), the Tappan moved in the highlands ( North Hudson to Palisades Interstate Park). Other closely related peoples circulated in the region: the Acquackanonk, the Manhattan, the Raritan, the Haverstraw, the Rockaway, and the Wecquaesgeek. Some were later called Delaware Indians (after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr).

Their larger communities were palisaded villages where they practiced companion planting (of the three sisters) to supplement foraging, hunting, and fishing. Shellfishing in the vast oyster beds spread throughout the entire estuary was essential to their diet. The trapping of beaver and rodents for pelts played a crucial role in their interaction with the ''Swannukens'' or ''Salt Water People'', who procured the land from them through "purchases" that were misconstrued by both parties. A basic misconception was that while Europeans thought they were buying land in perpetuity, the Lenape believed they were entering into defense alliances with farming, hunting, and fishing rights. The Tappan and Hackensack had early and frequent contact with the settlers, and their sagamore, Oratam, negotiated many agreements and treaties with them.

Pavonia

In 1621, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) was founded to exploit trade in the Western Hemisphere, and by 1625 had established a colony at New Amsterdam (Lower Manhattan). In the hope of encouraging settlement the company, in 1629, started to offer vast land grants and the feudal title of patroon.Johan van Hartskamp, De Westindische Compangnie en haar Belangen in Niuew-Nederland, een overzicht (1621–1664)http://stuyvesant.library.uu.nl In 1630, Michiel Pauw, a burgemeester of Amsterdam and a director of the company, purchased two tracts from the native population at Hopoghan Hackingh (Castle Point) and at Ashasimus (Harsimus), though the patroonship likely included the entire peninsula between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers, and possibly his holdings on Staten Eylandt (Staten Island). It was given the Latinized form of his surname (which means "peacock"), Pavonia.

It is said it was sold to him by the Manhattans after they had retreated there after the sale of their home island to Peter Minuit some years before. Initially, a small hut and ferry landing were built at Arresick, called Powles Hoek (Paulus Hook), but Pauw failed to fulfill the other conditions set forth by the company (which included populating the area with at least fifty adults), and was later required to sell his interests back to it. In 1633, the WIC commissioned a house to be built for an appointed superintendent, Jan Everts Bout (aka Jan de Lacher), at Communipaw. Another homestead was built at Ahasimus by his replacement, Hendrick Van Vorst, in 1634. Abraham Isaac Planck (aka Verplank) received a land patent for Paulus Hook on May 1, 1638.

In 1640, David Pietersen de Vries bought from the Tappan a tract of about and established Vriessendael ( Edgewater), about an hour's walk north of Communipaw. In 1643, Hoebuk (Hoboken), was leased by Aert Van Putten, where he built North America's first brewery. These homesteads grew into small, mostly agricultural, communities as the land around them was sold or leased and " bouweries" (home farms) and " plantages" (outlying fields) were developed. Trade between the indigenous and settling populations consisted mostly of wampum, European manufactured goods, and beaver pelts. Though the settlements were small, they were strategic trading posts with a good harbor and foothold on the west bank of what had been named the Noort Rivier (Hudson River).

Achter Col

Place naming in 17th century Europe was frequently influenced by location in reference to other places, shape, age, topography, or geographic features. Such was the case with Achter Kol ( Meadowlands/Newark Bay). "Achter", meaning behind, and "kol", meaning ridge or pass, can be translated as the "behind the ridge", in this case Bergen Neck. The appeal of Achter Kol would have been great:
Close to Fort Amsterdam, the tidal flats were similar to those of Lowlands, while the riparian lands surrounding them were abundant with beavers, whose pelts represented the potential for great profit.

The river valleys to the north would allow access to the interior. The term Achter Col was used by the New Netherlanders, and later the English colonials, to describe the entire region around Newark Bay and the waters that flow in and out of it. Its name eventually evolved to Arthur Kill, given to the channel that separates Staten Island from the mainland. The Kill Van Kull is the channel from the ridge or mountain pass behind it.

In 1642, Myndert Myndertsen, who bore the title Heer van Nederhorst, received a large land grant (including much of contemporary Bergen and Passaic

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