"My Hometown!" a Hoboken Travel Page by nicolettart

History of Hoboken

Hoboken is a small town across the Hudson River from Manhattan in New Jersey. Hoboken's modern history began when Henry Hudson's navigator made note of the area's green-veined rock during the 1609 voyage up the river that now bears the explorer's name. The men on the ship Half Moon were the first Europeans known to have seen the island. They were followed by Dutchmen, who visited the future Hoboken in those early years calling it "Hoebuck," meaning "high bluff." Today we call the elevation Castle Point.

The Lenni Lenape camped seasonally on the island, and were not permanent residents. They called the spot "Hopoghan Hackingh," or "Land of the Tobacco Pipe," for they used the green-colored serpentine rock abundant in the area to carve pipes for smoking tobacco. In 1658 Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch Governor of Manhattan, bought all the land between the Hackensack and the Hudson Rivers from the Lenni Lenape for 80 fathoms of wampum, 20 fathoms of cloth, 12 kettles, 6 guns, 2 blankets, 1 double kettle and half a barrel of beer.

Subsequently the land came into the possession of William Bayard. Because he chose to be a Loyalist Tory in 1776, his land was confiscated by the Revolutionary Government of New Jersey. In 1784 Colonel John Stevens, Colonial Treasurer of New Jersey and Patriot bought the island at public auction for 18,360 pounds sterling, then about $90,000. Stevens envisioned this marshy island's possibilities. He settled on the name "Hoboken" and the Stevens family began to be an inseparable part of the city's history.

Stevens developed Hoboken as a resort, with the people of New York City his market. As early as 1820 he began transforming the wild but beautiful waterfront into a recreation area. He constructed a riverfront walk and a park space in today's downtown Hoboken. Weekends, the city-to-be accommodated as many as 20,000 New Yorkers out for their Sunday picnics.

On June 19, 1846 Hoboken played host to the first organized game of baseball. The New York Nine defeated the Knickerbockers, 23 to 1 in four innings at Hoboken's Elysian Fields near the current site of Elysian Park and the former Maxwell House facility.
Hoboken's rapid growth from 1860 to 1910 and its role as a gateway to America brought many immigrants from Europe to the city. The Germans were the first, and German became a dominant language throughout Hoboken. After World War I, the city's ethnic character changed. Germans were followed by Irish, Italians, Yugoslavs, Latinos and Asian Indians. Hoboken's ethnic vitality enriches the city's contemporary life.

Famous People Born in Hoboken:

Alfred Stieglitz
Dorothea Lange
Stephen Foster
Frank Sinatra

Movies Filmed In Hoboken:

On the Waterfront
Bruce's "Glory Days " video
Crossing Delancey
something with Danny Aiello
something with Sly Stallone
...and countless others I can't think of right now! I know of most of these from having been there. Not "On the Waterfront", of course!

I will be adding more, feel free to add to this list!

Baseball
On June 19, 1846 the first officially recorded, organized game of baseball was played on Hoboken's Elysian Fields. The New York Base Ball Club defeated the Knickerbockers 23-1. Learn more at HobokenBaseball.com. Read a June 8, 2001 New York Times article that chronicles the game's development before and after the famous Hoboken match.

America's First Brewery
On February 5, 1663 Nicholas Varlett obtained from Peter Stuyvesant a patent for the first brewery in America, located on Castle Point.

Zipper
That's right, the zipper was invented in Hoboken and first manufactured by Hoboken's Automatic Hook & Eye Co. For more on the Zipper, check out Museum lecturer Dr. Robert Friedel's book Zipper.

Blimpie
The fast food restaurant Blimpie was started by students from Stevens Institute of Technology, with its first "sub base" on Hoboken's Washington Street.

Clock Towers
The first conversion of industrial space to residential use, a practice known today as adaptive reuse. Located at 300 Adams Street.

The first electrified train was driven by Thomas Edison from Hoboken's DL&W Terminal to Montclair, New Jersey.

Central Air
The first central air cooling system in the United States was housed in Hoboken's DL&W Terminal.

Wireless Phone
The first wireless phone, operable between Hoboken and Manhattan, was situated in Hoboken's DL&W Terminal.

Colonel John Stevens
The inventor of many significant firsts including the first steam ferry and the nation's first steam locomotive. Colonel Stevens also received the first American railroad charter and designed the "T" rail.

Soft Ice Cream
...according to a submission by Janet Tunick. Ms Tunick writes:

I heard from my cousin, Norman Woods, of Jacksonville Florida. He said Schortmeier's Ice Cream Parlor was at 726 Washington Street. It was run by his mother, Catherine Agnes Woods, and all the ice cream was made on site by his father, Irving Leonard Woods. He said the "soft ice cream" happened by mistake one time, when the ice cream maker failed resulting in a soft ice cream that became an instant hit that attracted people from all over the area. This probably occurred in the late 1930's, early 1940's.

Ice Cream Cone
The ice cream cone was invented and patented in Hoboken.

Oreo Cookies
...the first Oreo cookie was sold in Hoboken.

Yacht Club...the first yacht club in America was situated in Hoboken

General Foods Maxwell House
The coffee plant at 9th St. - 12th St. and Hudson St. (closed in the 80's) was at one time the largest coffee plant in the world.

Titanic Propeller
Hoboken's Fugerson Propeller Works made the Titanic's propellers.