place

Overpeck Creek

Hackensack RiverRivers of Bergen County, New JerseyRivers of New Jersey
Bridge at Overpeck County Park
Bridge at Overpeck County Park

Overpeck Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River, approximately 8 miles (13 km) long, in Bergen County in northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The lower broad mouth of the creek is part of the extended tidal estuary of the lower Hackensack and of the adjacent wetland region known as the New Jersey Meadowlands.The upper creek flows through suburban communities west of New York City. The creek rises in Tenafly, on the west side of the Palisades, approximately one mile (1.6 km) from the Hudson River. It flows south-southwest through Englewood, past Teaneck, Leonia, and Palisades Park, where it flows past the Overpeck County Park. It joins the Hackensack on the south side of Ridgefield Park and the east side of Little Ferry. In colonial times, the creek was called "Tantaqua" and was the site of a Hackensack village. An attempted European settlement, Achter Col, in 1642 was aborted after Lenape retaliations for the Pavonia Massacre. Later 17th and 18th century settlements were collectively known as the English Neighborhood. The creek lay along the main land route west of the Hudson and provided a consistently difficult barrier for transportation in the area until the construction of modern roads and bridges in the 19th century. Development of the region was facilitated by the New Jersey Midland Railway, the West Shore Railroad, and the Erie Railroad's Northern Branch, the latter of which partially runs parallel to the creek. Restoration of rail service is the object of the Northern Branch Corridor Project and the Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project. Although the creek is theoretically navigable, the mouth of the creek is blocked by the two bridges of the CSX River Line and NYS&W railroads. Federal law requires that these bridges be opened to water traffic on 24 hours' notice. The NYS&W bridge can still be opened manually, but the CSX bridge has been inoperable since being rebuilt in 2002, rendering the owning railroad liable to a fine of $25,000 per incident. Work to replace the bridge was funded in 2017 and work was scheduled to begin in 2018. The bridge collapsed under a train in August 2018.Like the other tributaries of the Hackensack in the Meadowlands, the creek has suffered from severe pollution in the 20th century during the era of heavy industrialization. During the 1950s, tide gates were installed on the creek that largely cut off the tidal flow into the surrounding wetlands. The restoration of the surrounding wetlands has been an ongoing project of several state and private agencies.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Overpeck Creek (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Overpeck Creek
Challenger Road,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Overpeck CreekContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 40.854916 ° E -74.007286 °
placeShow on map

Address

Challenger Road
07660
New Jersey, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Bridge at Overpeck County Park
Bridge at Overpeck County Park
Share experience

Nearby Places

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey
Ridgefield Park, New Jersey

Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the village's population was 13,224, an increase of 495 (+3.9%) from the 2010 census count of 12,729, which in turn reflected a decline of 144 (−1.1%) from the 12,873 counted in the 2000 census. Of the 564 municipalities in the state, Ridgefield Park is one of only four with a village type of government, though it operates a Walsh Act (city commission) form of government. Of the four New Jersey villages, Loch Arbour also uses the commission form of government, while Ridgewood operates under the council-manager form, and the Township of South Orange Village operates under a special charter form with many characteristics of village government.Ridgefield Park was formed as a village on June 15, 1892, within Ridgefield Township, based on the results of a referendum passed on June 6, 1892. Overpeck Township was formed on March 23, 1897, to be coextensive with Ridgefield Park village, and was created within Ridgefield Township for the purpose of administering a Board of Education. Portions of the village gained in both 1921 and 1926 were taken from Bogota and Teaneck. On May 31, 1938, Overpeck Township became Ridgefield Park Township. The village was named for the area's terrain.The village's Fourth of July Parade, first established in 1894, is said to be the longest continuously celebrated such event in New Jersey and one of the oldest in the country. The village eliminated its July 4 fireworks in 2009, citing the $50,000 cost in the face of the difficult economy, but committed to retain its parade.