Hackensack Plank Road
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The Hackensack Plank Road, also known as Bergen Turnpike, was a major artery which connected the cities of
Hoboken Hoboken ( ; ) is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's popula ...
and Hackensack,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. Like its cousin routes, the
Newark Plank Road The Newark Plank Road was a major artery between Hudson Waterfront at Paulus Hook (in today's Jersey City) and city of Newark, New Jersey, Newark further inland across the New Jersey Meadowlands, New Jersey Meadows. As its name suggests, a plank ...
and
Paterson Plank Road Paterson Plank Road is a road that runs through Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic, Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen and Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson Counties in northeastern New Jersey. The route, originally laid in the colonial era, conn ...
, it travelled over
Bergen Hill Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet. Rai ...
and across the Hackensack Meadows from the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
waterfront to the city for which it was named. It was originally built as a colonial
turnpike road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and maintenance ...
as Hackensack and Hoboken Turnpike. The route mostly still exists today, though some segments are now called the Bergen Turnpike. It was during the 19th century that
plank road A plank road is a road composed of Plank (wood), wooden planks or wikt:puncheon#Noun, puncheon logs, as an efficient technology for traversing soft, marshy, or otherwise difficult ground. Plank roads have been built since antiquity, and were comm ...
s were developed, often by private companies which charged a toll. As the name suggests, wooden boards were laid on a roadbed in order to prevent horse-drawn carriages and wagons from sinking into softer ground on the portions of the road that passed through
wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
. The company that built the road received its charter on November 30, 1802. The road followed the route road from Hackensack to Communipaw that was described in 1679 as a "fine broad wagon-road."


Hoboken and North Hudson

Today there is little or nothing to be seen of the plank road in Hoboken, the urban grid of the city having expanded westward across landfilled marshes; the alignment used to stretch from what is now the intersection of Washington and Eighth, to Park Avenue between 13th and 14th streets, to old 17th street between Grand and Adams streets. In North Hudson, the route begins today in lower
Weehawken Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...
at the town line and rail tracks now used by the
Hudson Bergen Light Rail Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian ...
. A short street connects it to Willow Avenue, which functions as a local entrance to the
Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and the unsigned N ...
. The only segment that retains the name Hackensack Plank Road (and locally called the High Road), ascends the face of the
Hudson 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 ...
to Weehawken Heights and upon reaching the top is designated County Route 691. It travels on a northwest diagonal across Union City as 32nd Street, passing over the Lincoln Tunnel Approach and Helix, intersecting
Bergenline Avenue Bergenline Avenue is a major commercial district in the North Hudson section of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The north–south streets passes through Union City, West New York, Guttenberg, and North Bergen. Its southern end is ...
, and creating the terminus of Summit Avenue. Crossing Kennedy Boulevard at Schuetzen Park it enters
North Bergen, New Jersey North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 63,361, an increase of 2,588 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 60,773, ...
, and as Bergen Turnpike descends to pass
Weehawken Cemetery The Weehawken Cemetery, like neighboring Hoboken Cemetery, is not located in its namesake town of Weehawken but rather on the western slope of the Hudson Palisades in North Bergen, New Jersey, with its main entrance on Bergen Turnpike. At its east ...
, Palisade Cemetery, and near the site of the colonial-era
Three Pigeons The Three Pigeons was a prominent and famous meeting place in Bergen Township, New Jersey, during the revolutionary period, and was used historically as a landmark as well as a popular place for hosting special occasions. Location and name Th ...
joins Tonnelle Ave. There the route heads north through New Durham and Bergenwood between the western slope of the palisades and the border of what has become the
New Jersey Meadowlands District New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
. The portion called Hackensack Plank Road is one of few roads which travel along the face of the
Hudson 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 ...
escarpment, other being the
Paterson Plank Road Paterson Plank Road is a road that runs through Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic, Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen and Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson Counties in northeastern New Jersey. The route, originally laid in the colonial era, conn ...
, the Wing Viaduct, Pershing Road, and Bulls Ferry Road. It is joined at its midpoint by what some have called the Lombard Street of the East Coast, Shippen Street, which has double
hairpin turn A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal ha ...
descending to the plank road. A similar street, Mountain Road, is a single
hairpin A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the ha ...
between
Jersey City Heights The Heights or Jersey City Heights is a neighborhood in Jersey City, New Jersey, located atop the New Jersey Palisades, along the west side of the Hudson River. It is bound by Paterson Plank Road on the north, Highway 139 on the south, Ho ...
and
Hoboken Hoboken ( ; ) is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's popula ...
. In 1854, Nicholas Goelz and Peter Melcher changed the starting point of their stage coaches from West Hoboken, to the new settlement of Union Hill, north of West Hoboken, in order to meet the demand created by that new settlement, and used the Hackensack Plank Road as the route to the Hoboken ferry.


Fairview and The Ridgefields

Crossing the
Bergen line The Bergen Line, or the Bergen Railway ( or ), is a long scenic overlook, scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied to the entire route from Bergen to Oslo, including the Randsfjord Line ...
at the Fairview Cemetery, the road becomes County Route S124 and is named Broad Avenue. In Ridgefield the route travels west on Hendricks Causeway, which was built in the 1930s, and runs parallel to Edgewater Avenue, the original Bergen Turnpike. A short stretch, Motel Avenue, connects it to Bergen Turnpike which crosses
Overpeck Creek Overpeck Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River, approximately long, in Bergen County in northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The lower broad mouth of the creek is part of the extended tidal estuary of the lower Hackensack and of t ...
into Ridgefield Park, where it ends at the river at the site of ferry landing and bridge, neither of which any longer exists.


Little Ferry and Hackensack

Little Ferry takes its name from a colonial river crossing of the
Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...
. In 1828, the first bridge over the Hackensack River was built. A wooden structure, it was replaced at the turn of the 20th century by the bridge which still stood before the erection of the present span. It was necessary to pay tolls on both the bridge and Bergen Turnpike until the start of the World War. In 1915, the Board of Chosen Freeholders took over the entire stretch of roadway from Fairview to Main Street, Hackensack. Public Service later became the owners of the bridge and retained the right of way along the turnpike for the operation of its trolleys. In 1934, after the present structure was completed the old historic bridge was torn down despite efforts of the local government and residents of Little Ferry to have it remain. Through the town the route retains the name Bergen Turnpike and its designation of County Route 124. At the city line, it becomes Hudson Street, where it continues north into downtown Hackensack, ending at the
Bergen County Court House Bergen County, the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, has had a series of courthouses. The current one stands in Hackensack. History The current Bergen County Courthouse is not the first courthouse but actually the sixth cour ...
. Nearby is The Green, site of the colonial First Reformed Dutch Church and heart of the colonial city.


See also

* Jersey City and Bergen Point Plank Road *
List of turnpikes in New Jersey This is a list of turnpike roads, built and operated by private companies in exchange for the privilege of collecting a toll, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, mainly in the 19th century. While most of the roads are now maintained as free public ...
*
New Jersey Route 18N Route 18N was a state highway in New Jersey from 1923 to 1929, when it was renumbered as Route 1 and Route S1A. Route 18-N was defined in 1923 to run "from Hoboken to New York State line by way of Weehawken, West Hoboken, town of Union, North B ...
* Fairview Quarry


References

{{coord, 40.762259, -74.026372, display=title History of New Jersey Roads in New Jersey Streets in Hudson County, New Jersey Streets in Bergen County, New Jersey North Hudson, New Jersey Transportation in Bergen County, New Jersey Transportation in Hudson County, New Jersey Turnpikes in New Jersey Plank road Historic trails and roads in New Jersey