JERSEY (jneii) CITY, N. J., the most important suburb of New York since the an nexation of Brooklyn, the second largest city in New Jersey, and seat of Hudson County. It occupies about five miles of the Hudson River frontage opposite lower New York: Paulus Hook, its starting point, is exactly opposite the Battery. It lies on a peninsula between the Hudson and New York Bay on one side, and the Hackensack and Newark Bay on the other; and is limited on the south by Bayonne, which takes up the lower end of the peninsula, and on the north by Hoboken. It has several ferry lines to different portions of New York, operated by the great railroads which have their terminals here — all the roads from the south and west: the Pennsylvania, Erie, Baltimore and Ohio, Lehigh Valley, Delaware, Lacka wanna and Western, New York, Susquehanna and Western, Central of New Jersey, and the West Shore line of the New York Central.
The Morris Canal ends here. Jersey City is also the terminal of several of the most important steamship lines between New York and Europe. Its area is 12,228 acres, or 19.1 square miles.
The city lies on a flat meadow about a mile wide from the river back to a sharp bluff; the business section occupies the former, the resi dence district the latter, with some very hand some streets of costly dwellings. The munic ipal improvements are of a high and thorough grade: paving (nearly all the streets are paved, largely with granite and asphalt), sewerage, water supply, etc. The trolley service extends to all the neighboring section of New Jersey. The parks are few and very small, less than in almost any other large American city; but along the ridge in the western part extends the magnificent Hudson County boulevard, 19 miles long (the entire length of that county from Bayonne up, and five miles of Bergen County), 100 feet wide, and with a noble view of the river and upper New York, as well as the country west. The city hall with the soldiers' monument, the public library, the courthouse, the Dickinson high school and the Fourth Regi ment armory, are among the conspicuous build ings. The intellectual facilities of the city are good, aside from its proximity to New York. It has 37 public schools, besides 16 Roman Catholic parochial schools, and for higher edu cation two public high schools, Hasbrouck In stitute (1856), Saint Peter's (Roman Catholic) College (1878), Saint Aloysius Academy. There is a public library with over 100,000 vol umes. The hospitals are the City, Saint Francis, German and Christ; there are several homes and asylums, and some convents.
The immense commercial and shipping inter ests of the city, though second only to those of New York, have no separate statistics, the cus toms report being included in that of the latter city. Its position on the great river, with Newark Bay in the rear and the entrance of Kill van Kull on the south, give it a most favor able commercial position, which has been im proved by properly equipped wharves. There is a steady and corrcerted movement to increase still further these port facilities by co-ordina tion of railroads, piers and terminal yards and buildings, with a belt line railroad. The Penn sylvania and Erie roads have large grain ele vators here. Among the leading industries are
those of slaughtering and meat-packing: Jer sey City is the meat depot of New York, and has several huge abattoirs on the river front on the Hackensack meadows in the northwest. Its slaughter-house products in 1910 amounted to $22,314,000. Its other manufactures are enormous, the total amounting to $128,775,000 in 1910. They are exceedingly varied, no one having a great predominance except slaughter ing and meat packing and tobacco manufacture with over $11,065,000 a year; other important branches are iron and steel goods, locomotives, boilers and heating apparatus; bridges, ships and windmills; planing-mill products, cars, car riages, boxes and cooperage; brass, copper and zinc goods, electrical and scientific apparatus; pottery and glass; lead-pencils and famous crucibles used in all chemical laboratories and smelting works; watches, jewelry and musical instruments ; sugar and confectionery; mineral waters and patent medicines; soap and candles (a natural annex to the abattoirs), and per fumes; compressed gas; chemicals, paints and roofing materials; paper and window-shades; rubber goods; silk thread and goods; oakum; fireworks; printing and writing inks and var nish; and hundreds of others. There are three national banks, and 10 State and private banks, with loan and trust companies. The city has an active and progressive Chamber of Com merce of the modern type.
Since June 1913 the city has had a com mission form of government with five com missioners; most of the other officials are ap pointed by the commission except the school board which is appointed by the mayor. The assessed valuation in 1915 was $292,796,827; the total public debt, excluding the water.debt, 30 Nov. 1915 was $10,350,625; the sinking fund is above $5,000,000. The expenditures are about $6,000,000 a year. The largest single item is $1,809,402.65 for schools.
The population in 1850 was 6,856; 1860, 29,226; 1870, 82,546; 1880, 120,722 ; 1890, 163,003; 1900, 206,433; 1910, 267,779. Of these 3,704 were colored, 58,224 foreign-born, 19,314 Irish, 18,820 German, 4,642 English, 3,832 Italian.
The site of the city was used only as farm ing land till into the 19th century despite its remarkable position. In 1802 the entire popu lation was 13 in one house with outbuildings; this was on Paulus Hook, the point opposite the Battery, named after the Dutchman Michael Pauw, who formerly owned it. Here in the Revolution the American fortifications had been taken by the British, and retaken and destroyed in a most brilliant action by "Light Horse Harry" Lee. In 1804 the "Associates of the Jersey Company" bought the land, and laid it out in streets, incorporating it as a vil lage with a board of selectmen. In 1820 it was incorporated as the "City of Jersey," still with a board of seleitmen; in 1838 it was reincor porated as Jersey City, with a mayor and alder men. Repeated annexations have brought it to its present territory: Van Vorst in 1851, Hud son City and Bergen in 1869, Greenville in 1873.. It obtained a new charter in 1889. Con sult McLean, 'History of Jersey City' (1895) ; Eaton, City and its Historic Sites' (1899).