The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Hoboken

HOBOKEN, a city of Hudson co., New Jersey, on the Hudson river, opposite New York, with which it is connected by two steam ferries, and at the terminus of the Morris and Essex division of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western railroad; pop. in 1850, 2,668; in 1860, 9,662; in 1870, 20,297, of whom 10,334 were foreigners. It joins Jersey City on the south, with which and with the adjoining places it is connected by horse cars, and extends about 1¾ m. N. and S., and 1 m. E. and W. It is regularly laid out, a portion of the streets running nearly parallel with the river, and the others crossing them at right angles, and is for the most part compactly built. There are three public squares, viz.: Hudson square, near the river; the “Public” square, near the centre of the city; and a smaller one in the S. part. The river frontage is only about ½ m., the N. portion of the city being separated from the Hudson by a narrow strip of land which was set off to Weehawken in 1859. At the S. end of this strip is Castle point, commanding a fine view of the river and New York harbor, and containing the Stevens mansion and grounds; and N. of the point are the “Elysian Fields,” formerly a favorite place of resort for New Yorkers, but now mostly sold for business purposes. From just below the point to a short distance above a walk has been constructed along the margin of the Hudson, which forms a magnificent promenade. The river front is lined with wharves, and here are two United States bonded warehouses, and the termini of four lines of steamers to Europe, viz.: to Bremen, to Hamburg (two), and to Stettin. Hoboken is included in the New York customs district. The residents chiefly do business or are employed in New York, and the local industry is not large. The city, however, contains the extensive works of the American lead pencil company, a large machine shop (manufacturing steam engines, &c.), the Hoboken iron works (foundery products), the machine shops of the Camden and Amboy railroad company, a national bank with a capital of $110,000, a fire insurance company with $100,000 capital, and a savings bank. It is divided into four wards, and is governed by a mayor and a common council of 12 members. The streets are paved and lighted with gas. Water is supplied from the Passaic river by the Jersey City water works, but it is proposed to erect separate works and supply the city from the Hackensack. The assessed value of property in 1873 (about 60 per cent. of the true value) was $13,135,400; taxation, $270,043 23, of which $116,675 23 was for state and county purposes; debt, $380,000; value of property belonging to the city, $500,000. The Stevens battery occupies a block near the river. (See Iron-clad Ships.) The principal charitable institutions of Hoboken are St. Mary's hospital (Roman Catholic) and the widows' home. The Stevens institute of technology is a large stone building, three stories high with a basement, and the grounds comprise a square immediately N. of Hudson square. It was founded by E. A. Stevens, who bequeathed the site, besides $150,000 for the building and $500,000 as an endowment. It was opened in 1871, and in 1873-'4 had 8 professors, 61 students, and a library of 5,000 volumes. It has extensive collections of apparatus in the various departments of physics, in engineering, and in chemistry, and cabinets of minerals, &c. The course is four years. The Stevens high school (preparatory department of the institute) in 1873-'4 had 6 instructors, of whom 2 were professors in the institute, and 36 pupils. The Martha institute, an elementary and classical school with a kindergarten department, occupies a fine brick building, and in 1874 had 8 instructors and 200 pupils. There are three large brick public school houses. The schools comprise primary and grammar grades, and in 1874 had 27 teachers and about 3,000 pupils. Evening schools are opened in the winter. There are also an academy, a female seminary, a Catholic school, four weekly newspapers (two German), and 11 churches.—Hoboken was settled by the Dutch in the early part of the 17th century, and named from a village on the Scheldt a few miles S. of Antwerp. It became a city in 1855.