English Neighborhood

The English Neighborhood was the colonial-era name for the towns in eastern Bergen County, New Jersey, along the Hudson Palisades between the Hudson River and the Hackensack River, particularly around its main tributary, Overpeck Creek. The region had been part of the Dutch New Netherland colony of Bergen, whose main town was located at Bergen Square in modern Jersey City. The name refers to the geography of the region, bergen being the Dutch word for hills. Earlier attempts at settlement at Achter Col (after (the) hill) and Vriessendael had been compromised in conflicts with the precolonial population, bands of the Lenape known by their exonyms, the Hackensacks and the Tappans.