Jackson Hill, Jersey City

Jackson Hill is a neighborhood in the Bergen-Lafayette and Greenville sections of Jersey City, New Jersey.[1] It is part of the city's Ward F.[2] The neighborhood is situated on Bergen Hill (the lower end of the Hudson Palisades) which also lends its name to the Bergen Hill Historic District just north of Communipaw Avenue.[3][4]

Madison Avenue in Jackson Hill
St Patrick's at Grand St

The district has long been the heart of the African American community in Jersey City.[5] Its name is in part inspired by Thomas and John Vreeland Jackson, brothers born in 1800 and 1803, who were freed slaves who bought land in current day Greenville in 1831 and in 1857 laid out Jackson Lane between their houses. In 1900, the former Jackson Lane became Winfield Avenue, the name it bears today. During the Civil War the Jackson property became a safe house and critical link of the Underground Railroad.[6][7]

Martin Luther King Drive was once called Jackson Avenue.[8][5][9] with a short block not included in a street realignment still bearing the name.[10] In 1976 it was renamed in honor of the slain civil right leader Martin Luther King, Jr.,[11] who had twice spoken in the city.[12] At the time of the renaming there was discussion whether the street had originally been named for the Jackson brothers or for US President Andrew Jackson. A 1924 Jersey Journal newspaper article ascribes it to Jeremiah Jackson, a local landowner in the mid-19th century.[13][14] Historically, the avenue was one of the city's major shopping districts. but went into decline.[5][15][16][17] In 2011, the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency created Jackson Hill Main Street special improvement district along the commercial corridors of MLK Drive and its northern continuation, Monticello Avenue.[18][19]

Among the notable sites in the Jackson Hill are two listed on National Register of Historic Places, St. Patrick's Parish and Buildings and Ficken's Warehouse, both on Grand Street.[4] Sacred Heart Church and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial are other area landmarks.

Claremont
The Claremont section (center) was laid out as early as 1860 and roughly corresponds with Jackson Hill.

The name Claremont appears in mid-19th century maps of Greenville Township, neighboring Bergen City, and Jersey City, which were consolidated by 1872.[20][21] The area was laid out on Bergen Hill west of Bergen Point Plank Road, now Garfield Avenue. Today's Claremont Avenue created the border of what has become known as the Greenville and Bergen-Lafayette sections of the city. The Central Railroad of New Jersey maintained a station by the name south of the junction of its main and Newark branch line[22][23] until service was discontinued in 1967.[24][25] Claremont Bank, which later become part of the Trust Company of New Jersey, began in the area.[26] The Claremont Branch of the Jersey City Free Public Library opened in 1954, and was replaced the Cunningham Branch in 2004.[27] Claremont Terminal east of the neighbourhood is a maritime facility created from tidal flats in the Upper New York Bay opened in 1923.

Jackson Square
Originally the Hub, now Jackson Square

Jackson Square, originally known as the Hub, is a shopping center just south of Martin Luther King Drive station of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail[28] which has been the traditional border between Bergen-Lafayette and Greenville.[11] It has since been renamed Jackson Square. It is the site of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

Over the years MLK Drive and some adjacent residential side streets deteriorated as a result of economic disinvestment. Since 1975 the Municipal Council of Jersey City has adopted a number of resolutions and ordinances aimed at revitalizing sections of avenue. They include Jackson Avenue Renewal Plan (1975), original MLK Plan (1979), the Turnkey Redevelopment Plan (1980), and the Green Villa Plan (1983). The current MLK Redevelopment Plan was first adopted in 1993.[29]

MLK Drive is runs for 26 blocks south of Communipaw Avenue and the Hub has been the center piece of revitalisation efforts.[30][31] Open in 2000, is one of city's most ambitious economic revitalization projects. Primarily funded by the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation, a significant investment of public capital has been the catalyst for private investment in the area. The success of the project is questionable since rentals have been erratic.[32]

Other projects along the MLK corridor have included the Cunningham Branch of the Jersey City Public Library, the city's newest named for former and only African-American Mayor of Jersey City, Glenn Dale Cunningham,[33] and Jackson Greene, a new urbanism townhouse complex.[34][35][36][37] In 2014, a new postal facility at the Hub was designated in honour of Shirley Tolentino.[38][39]

The Hudson County Urban League is the 100th affiliate of the National Urban League operating from two locations in Hudson County, New Jersey.[40][41][42] The building at 236 Martin Luther King Drive in Jackson Hill neighbourhood of Jersey City was listed on New Jersey Register of Historic Places designation (ID#2863) as the First Fidelity Bank on September 19, 1995.[4] The headquarters, renovated in 2002,[43] also houses the Jersey City office of Donald Milford Payne, Jr., the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 10th congressional district since 2012.[44] Nearby is Fishers Confections, opened in 1919, a city landmark.[45]

City Hall Annex and Public Safety Building
City Hall Annex and Public Safety Building (2021)

In 2009, the city's divisions of Community Development, Tenant/Landlord Relations and Housing Code Enforcement moved satellite offices of the Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce at the Hub[46]

In 2013 Jersey City established a ‘banking development district’, at the Hub which creates incentives for banks to establish full service branches within it, including the opening of accounts with municipal funds.[47]

The Jersey City Employment & Training Program (JCETP), headed by former governor Jim McGreevey opened a new center called Matin's Place in September 2014.[48][49][50] Among those at the opening of the facility were Brendan Byrne, Thomas Kean, Steve Fulop, Chris Christie, Robert Menendez and Nancy Pelosi.[51]

In August 2014, the city initially approved a plan to enter an agreement with the Brandywine Corporation, which owns and manages the Hub, to build an annex to Jersey City City Hall. Brandywine would pay for construction, which the city estimates would cost between $14 million and $20 million, while the city would take care of maintenance and pay a rent of about $45 million over a period of twenty years. The city, which would lease the 60,000-square-foot facility from developer would then have the option to buy the annex for $1.[52][53][54] A plan was approved in March 2015.[55] The city hall annex opened in April 2018.[56]

The Department of Public Safety, which oversees the police and fire departments, opened offices at the Hub in Fall 2014.[5][32] The city in agreed with Brandywine to build an eleven-story public safety building consolidating many services.[57][58] Ground was broken in 2020.[59][60]

In 2016, zoning was changed to encourage a "restaurant row" around Communipaw Junction.[61]

Transportation
MLK Drive HBLR station

In addition to the Hudson Bergen Light Rail station at Martin Luther King Drive the Garfield Avenue station is nearby. The line runs along the right-of-way that was originally part of the Newark and New York Railroad and had a station on Jackson Avenue until 1946, when service was discontinued. Until 1947 Public Service Railway's # 7 Jackson streetcar line ran along it.[62] In 2005 the New Jersey Legislature designated the stop the "Thomas and John Jackson Station."[63]

A sculpture honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is located at the station. A plaque installed by New Jersey Transit (NJT) in 2001, honors the Jackson's role in the 19th-century Underground Railroad.[7]

Bus service is provided by New Jersey Transit bus routes NJT 6, NJT 81 and NJT 87.[64][65][66] through Greenville to Merritt Street, with the NJT81 continuing to Bayonne. Northbound the NJT6 and NJT87 travel to Journal Square, with the NJT87 continuing through Jersey City Heights to Hudson Place (Hoboken). The NJT81 travels through Downtown Jersey City to Exchange Place. Service is also provided on Ocean Avenue and Bergen Avenue by A&C Bus Corporation.

See also

References
  1. "Neighborhood". Jackson Green Townhomes. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  2. "Jersey City Ward Map". openjerseycity.org. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  3. Bergen Hill Historic District map
  4. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Hudson County". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  5. Thorbourne, Ken (June 23, 2014). "Signs of despair -- and hope on MLK Drive in Jersey City". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  6. Karnoutsos, Carmela. "Underground Railroad". Jersey City Past and Present. New Jersey City University. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  7. "Jackson History A Proud Past". Jersey City Redevelopment Agency. 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2014. We are proud to have associated our Jackson Hill name with that of Jackson Avenue and the 19th century brothers Thomas and John Vreeland Jackson.
  8. "New Jersey's Martin Luther King boulevards: Hope fulfilled or dream deferred?".
  9. "Black History Month: Remembering when MLK Drive in Jersey City was Jackson Avenue". February 17, 2022.
  10. Hudson County New Jersey Street Map. Hagstrom Map Company, Inc. 2008. ISBN 978-0-88097-763-0.
  11. Gabrielan, Randall (1999), Jersey City in Vintage Postcards, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 9780752413648
  12. "Martin Luther King, Jr. speeches in Jersey City". Cityofjerseycity.org. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  13. "Was Jackson a president or a slave". The Jersey Journal. January 5, 1976.
  14. Heck, John W. (November 11, 1924). "Jeremiah Jackson, the patron saint of Jackson Avenue". The Jersey Journal.
  15. Thorbourne, Ken (June 24, 2014). "Tough sledding for commercial development on Jersey City's MLK Drive". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  16. "JC Shoppring Districts". Jerseycityonline.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  17. "Jackson Hill Proud Past". Jersey City Redevelopment Agency. 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  18. Hortillosa, Dawn (June 5, 2012). "Jackson Hill Main Street Special Improvement District Opens". Jersey City Independent. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  19. McDonald, Terrence (December 14, 2011). "Jersey City creates new SID for Monticello Avenue/Martin Luther King Drive area". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  20. Gannett, Henry (January 28, 1895). "A Geographic Dictionary of New Jersey". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  21. "Greenville". Jersey City A to Z. New Jersey City University. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  22. "Central Railroad of New Jersey". www.stationreporter.net. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  23. "COSTLY FREIGHT COLLISION; One Train Dashes Into Another at Claremont, N.J., in Spite of Signals". The New York Times. October 1897. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  24. Adams, Arthur G. (1996), The Hudson Through the Years, Fordham University Press, ISBN 0823216772
  25. Adams, Arthur G. (1996), The Hudson River Guidebook, Fordham University Press, ISBN 0823216799
  26. Gabrielan, Randall (1999), Jersey City in Vintage Postcards, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 9780752413648
  27. "Glenn D. Cunningham Branch". Jersey City Free Public Library. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  28. "The Hub, at the Heart of Jackson Hill". Jackson Hill Main Street. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  29. "MLK Redevelopment Plan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  30. "Lighting a Candle or Cursing the Dark" (PDF). MLK Plaza Lifeline. February–March 2006. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  31. Ben-Ali, Russel (July 28, 2002). "Jersey City residents have a hand in Hub". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  32. Thorbourne, Ken (June 24, 2014). "Hub shopping center's revolving door of tenants keeps spinning in Jersey City". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  33. "Glenn D. Cunningham Branch". Jersey City Free Public Library. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  34. "Prefab Lives!". May 23, 2013.
  35. Reyes, Daniel (January 18, 2013). "First affordable townhome of planned 22 lowered on foundation in Jackson Hill ceremony". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  36. Thorbourne, Ken (June 27, 2014). "Affordable housing complex near completion on Jersey City's MLK Drive". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  37. "Jackson Green". www.jacksongreenhomes. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  38. McDonald, Terrence T (March 22, 2013). "Bill introduced to name MLK Drive post office after late, 'trailblazing' Judge Shirley A. Tolentino". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  39. House of Representatives (March 24, 2014). "Judge shirley a. tolentino post office building". beta.congress.gov/. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  40. "National Urban League of Hudson County". Ulohc.org. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  41. Tolk, Prescott (April 12, 2002). "Home at last Urban League of Hudson County is ready to move into Greenville". Hudson Reporter. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  42. Thorbourne, Ken (June 28, 2014). "Urban League of Hudson County takes cue from its tireless leader". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  43. "Urban League of Hudson County Headquarters Building". NJ Future. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  44. "Jersey City Office". payne.house.gov/. December 19, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  45. Bhattacharya, Sudip (December 20, 2014). "Long-time Jersey City chocolatier dies, leaves behind legacy of sweet memories". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  46. Clark, Sara (September 22, 2009). "Jersey City brings new services to the HUB shopping plaza". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  47. Wright, E. Assata (April 9, 2013). "Jersey City Council poised to declare the HUB a 'banking development district'; declaration may finally attract bank to unserved community". Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  48. Thorbourne, Ken (June 28, 2014). "Former NJ Gov. McGreevey and Jersey City community leader helping ex-offenders". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  49. Patrick Villanova, of The Jersey Journal (September 11, 2014). "Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Christie to be there when Jersey City opens prisoner re-entry center". NJ.com. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  50. Terrence T. McDonald, of The Jersey Journal (September 15, 2014). "Christie joins 3 ex-governors, Jersey City mayor, Nancy Pelosi at opening of prisoner re-entry center". NJ.com. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  51. "Chris Christie holds hands with Nancy Pelosi: The Auditor". The Jersey Journal. September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  52. McDonald, Terrence T. (August 21, 2014). "Jersey City would pay $45M in rent over 25 years for proposed City Hall annex". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  53. Melissa Hayes (September 15, 2014). "Christie, Pelosi attend prisoner re-entry center ceremony - News". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  54. "Plan introduced for separate". Hudson Reporter. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  55. Terrence T. McDonald, of The Jersey Journal (March 12, 2015). "Jersey City council approves $36M plan to build City Hall annex". NJ.com. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  56. "City Hall Annex at Hub in Jersey City to be part of rebranded 'Jackson Square'". April 21, 2018.
  57. "Jersey City wants to build a 10-story public safety HQ on MLK Drive". September 9, 2019.
  58. "New public safety headquarters planned for Jersey City". September 13, 2019.
  59. "Jersey City Breaks Ground on $120 Million Public Safety Headquarters". September 21, 2020.
  60. "Jersey City breaks ground on new Public Safety Headquarters". September 16, 2020.
  61. "Jersey City Paves the Way for a Restaurant Row in Bergen-Lafayette". August 31, 2016.
  62. French, Kenneth (February 24, 2002). Images of America: Railroads of Hoboken and Jersey City. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 25–29. ISBN 978-0-7385-0966-2. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  63. "Assembly 577 Directs NJ Transit to designate a Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System station in Jersey City the Thomas and John Jackson Station" (PDF). New Jersey Legislature. March 8, 2005. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  64. NJT 6 schedule
  65. NJT 81 schedule Archived July 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  66. NJT 87 schedule

40.7121°N 74.0773°W / 40.7121; -74.0773

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