During their annual fall celebration, the merchants in the Bergen Point section of Bayonne had every reason to celebrate. Changes are on the horizon that have been envisioned for years. Street improvements – long promised by the city – are about to get underway. Perhaps more importantly, work on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line is already underway to expand operations to Eighth Street and will open up one of the oldest parts of Bayonne to the rest of the city and metropolitan area.
Once known as the Village of Bergen Point, the southernmost section of Bayonne has been trying for several years to capitalize on its rich history.
Called “Bird’s Point” in 1609 when discovered by sailor Henry Hudson, Bergen Point still retains some of the Victorian flavor that made Bayonne an attractive resort to businesspeople, authors, and public officials.
American author Mark Twain is said to have spent vacations in Bayonne.
Eddie O’Rourke, the former president of the association, said this year’s celebrations on Oct. 6 seem to have caught on with the public.
“People found out we are here and came out,” he said.
While the association, when founded in 2003, had designed their yearly schedule around three events – one in spring, fall and winter – the spring and fall festivals seem to have caught on.
“I don’t see anything much happening for around Christmas, but the fall event was very successful,” he said.
Streets came alive
Diane Curtis of Brennan’s Irish Gifts, who currently serves as spokesperson for the association, said the fall event seemed to bring people out, and that the streets of the village-like setting came alive for the festival.
Although the Bergen Point Merchants Association is best known for the seasonal festivals they put on to celebrate the business district, the members are very involved with the practical things necessary to keep the district appealing, such as instituting an anti-litter campaign and installing historic signs to distinguish Bergen Point from other sections of town.
Past and future
Bergen Point is trying to take advantage of its historic past by rebuilding its shopping district to resemble a 19th century village, and installing pavers, new sidewalks, and lamp posts. Previous work converted several blocks along lower Broadway from Seventh Street to the Route 440 overpass. The new work would convert the remaining shopping-district blocks from Fifth to Seventh streets.
With the Light Rail poised to deliver people from throughout Hudson County, Bergen Point may indeed find a niche in the public mind as an attractive and quaint place to come to shop and dine
The rail-line construction could be complete by 2009, according to city officials.
Although not yet fully implemented, the group hopes to promote some of the historic Victorian structures that exist in Bergen Point
O’Rourke said celebrations of the history using costumed characters similar to some of the actor/tour guides prominent in Cape May, such as women walking through the streets in Victorian costumes and parasols and men dressed up in policemen’s uniforms of the time period, is possible.
The geographic boundaries of Bergen Point, O’Rourke said, are a little hazy because the village goes back before the town was incorporated, so there are no precise records of where Bergen Point ended.
Generally speaking, Bergen Point is bounded by 10th Street on the north and on First in the south, extending from Newark Bay on the west to New York Harbor on the east.