Hudson County, New Jersey
Hudson County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the Hudson River, the county is part of the state's Gateway Region and the New York metropolitan area. Its county seat is Jersey City, the county's largest city in terms of both population and area. Established in 1840, it is named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's fourth-most-populous and fastest-growing county in the previous decade, with a population of 724,854, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 90,588 from the 2010 census count of 634,266, which in turn reflected an increase of 25,291 from the 2000 census population of 608,975. The United States Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program estimated a 2024 population of 736,185, an increase of 11,331 from the 2020 decennial census.
Home to in 2020 and covering of land, Hudson County is New Jersey's geographically smallest and most densely populated county. Hudson County shares extensive mass transit connections with Manhattan, located across the Hudson River, as well as with most of Northern and Central New Jersey.
Geography and climate
Climate
The average temperature of Hudson County is 51.89 °F, which is approximately the same as the state average of 51.93 °F, and lower than the national average of 54.45 °F.The county is located on the U.S. East Coast, approximately halfway between the Equator and the North Pole, which results in climate that is influenced by wet, dry, hot, and cold airstreams, and highly variable daily weather. Of New Jersey's five distinct climate regions, Hudson County is located in the Central region, which runs from New York Harbor and the Lower Hudson River to the great bend of the Delaware River near the state capital of Trenton. The high number of urban areas in this region are characterized by a high volume of industry and vehicular traffic that produce large amounts of pollutants. These substances, along with the large amounts of asphalt, brick, and concrete that compose buildings in the area, retain more atmospheric heat, which make it a regularly warmer "heat island" than surrounding suburban and rural areas. The northern border of the Central Zone is often the boundary between freezing and non-freezing precipitation in the winter, and between comfortable and uncomfortable sleeping conditions in the summer.
Hudson County experiences precipitation an average of 116 days a year, during which it receives an annual average of 48 inches of rain, compared to the national average of 38, and 26 inches of snow, compared to the national average of 28. The summer high temperature in July is about 86 degrees, and its winter low in January is 25. On average, there are 219 sunny days per year in the county, compared with the national average of 205.
Average temperatures in the county seat of Jersey City have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1934 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.
Landforms and borders
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of the 2020 Census, the county had a total area of, of which was land and was water. Based on land area, it is the smallest of New Jersey's 21 counties, less than half the size of the next smallest and the eighth-smallest of all counties in the United States.Hudson is located in the heart of New York metropolitan area in northeastern New Jersey.
It is bordered by the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay to the east; Kill Van Kull to the south; Newark Bay and the Hackensack River or the Passaic River to the west; its only land border is shared with Bergen County to the north.
The topography is marked by the New Jersey Palisades in the north with cliffs overlooking the Hudson River to the east and less severe cuesta, or slope, to the west. They gradually level off to the southern peninsula, which is coastal and flat. The western region, around the Hackensack and Passaic is part of the New Jersey Meadowlands. Much of the land along the county's extensive shoreline and littoral zone was created by land reclamation.
Image:HudsonRiverJavitsCenter.agr.JPG|thumb|Hudson County and the Palisades, viewed across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The glass building visible is the Javits Center.
The highest point, at 260 feet above sea level, is in West New York; the lowest point is at sea level. North Bergen is the city with the second most hills per square mile in the United States behind San Francisco.
Ellis Island and Liberty Island, opposite Liberty State Park, lie entirely within Hudson County's waters, which extend to the New York state line. Liberty Island is part of New York. Largely created through land reclamation, Ellis Island covers a land area of, with the natural island and contiguous areas comprising a exclave of New York. Shooters Island, in the Kill van Kull, is also shared with New York. Robbins Reef Light sits atop a reef which runs parallel the Bayonne and Jersey City waterfront.
File:Midtown from Hoboken.jpg|thumb|right|Midtown Manhattan, seen across the Hudson River from Hoboken at night
Much of the county lies between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers on a geographically long narrow peninsula,, which is a contiguous urban area where it is often difficult to know when one's crossed a civic boundary. These boundaries and the topography-including many hills and inlets-create very distinct neighborhoods. Kennedy Boulevard runs the entire length of the peninsula. Numerous cuts for rail and vehicular traffic cross Bergen Hill.
Given its proximity to Manhattan, it is sometimes referred to as New York City's sixth borough.
History
Etymology
Hudson County is named after the explorer Henry Hudson, who charted much of the region in 1609.The Lenape and New Netherland
At the time of European contact in the 17th century, Hudson County was the territory of the Lenape, namely the bands known as the Hackensack, the Tappan, the Raritan, and the Manhattan. They were a seasonally migrational people who practiced small-scale agriculture augmented by hunting and gathering which likely, given the topography of the area, included much fishing and trapping. These groups had early and frequent trading contact with Europeans. Their Algonquian language can still be inferred in many local place names such as Communipaw, Harsimus, Hackensack, Hoboken, Weehawken, Secaucus, and Pamrapo.Henry Hudson, for whom the county and river on which it sits are named, established a claim for the area in 1609 when anchoring his ship the Halve Maen at Harsimus Cove and Weehawken Cove. The west bank of the North River and the cliffs, hills, and marshlands abutting and beyond it, were settled by Europeans from the Lowlands around the same time as New Amsterdam. In 1630, Michiel Pauw received a land patent, or patroonship and purchased the land between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers, giving it the Latinized form of his name, Pavonia. He failed to settle the area and was forced to return his holdings to the Dutch West India Company. Homesteads were established at Communipaw, Harsimus, Paulus Hook, and Hoebuck. Relations were tenuous with the Lenape, and eventually led to Kieft's War, which began as a slaughter by the Dutch at Communipaw and is considered to be one of the first genocides of Native Americans by Europeans. A series of raids and reprisals across the province lasted two years and ended in an uneasy truce. Other homesteads were established at Constable Hook, Awiehaken, and other lands at Achter Col on Bergen Neck. In 1658, Director-General Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherland negotiated a deal with the Lenape to re-purchase the area named Bergen, "by the great rock above Wiehacken," including the whole peninsula from Sikakes south to Bergen Point/Constable Hook. In 1661, a charter was granted the new village/garrison at the site of present-day Bergen Square, establishing what is considered to be the oldest self-governing municipality in New Jersey. The British gained control of the area in 1664, and the Dutch finally ceded formal control of the province to the English in 1674.