City of Jersey City history

In 1831, in an attempt to stop urbanization, Bergen Township was split into three parts.

When an 1834 treaty settled the middle of the Hudson River as the boundary between New York and New Jersey, development of Jersey City began in earnest.

Bergen was eventually incorporated into Jersey City in 1838.

On February 22, 1840, it became part of the newly created Hudson County.

Old Bergen Reform Church is a Greek Revival structure built in 1841.

In 1853, a bridge was built across the Hudson River.

Saint Peter's was founded in 1872, and has a total enrollment of 3,282 and a full time enrollment of 1,926.

In 1874 the city became the first large city to establish a board of education.

A railway tube between Jersey City and New York City opened in 1910.

A three decade political era began in 1917, when Frank Hague became mayor; his Democratic machine remained in power for the next 30 years.

The Afro-American Historical Museum concentrates on the lives of prominent African American residents of New Jersey and contains an exhibit showing a typical African American household of the 1920s.

The clock was erected in 1924 and is still one of the largest clocks in the world.

Pictured: Harsimus Cove’s train yards in 1951

A campus at Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, primarily an adult education branch, opened in 1975.

The college’s first graduate program was offered in 1979.

The Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC), a nonprofit corporation formed in 1980 by the city council, is the main business proponent of the city and administers most of the business incentive monies and job training programs.

The Jersey City public school system, the state's second largest, was taken over by the state of New Jersey in 1989, when low test scores and high drop-out rates led officials to believe that poorer students were being disenfranchised.

United States rank in 1990: 67th (State rank: 2nd)

Opened in 1993, the Center also houses what is billed as the world's largest OMNIMAX theater.

Construction of the 20.5 mile Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System, which runs from Bayonne to Ridgefield, was completed in 2000 and has won national awards and recognition for creating an excellent and innovative transit system through a public-private partnership.

In 2002 the library automated its on-line catalog available from its own growing number of terminals or from the patrons's own homes.

In 2003 a huge new Visual Arts Building opened with a centerpiece of a sculpture by Maya Lin of Washington, D.C.'s Viet Nam Memorial fame.

In 2004, the EDA funded 10 projects in Hudson County, including three in Jersey City proper, with total funding exceeding $46 million.

In 2012 the school became known as Saint Peter’s University.