Cresskill, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cresskill, New Jersey
Borough
Downtown Cresskill
Seal
Location of Cresskill in Bergen County highlighted in red (left). Inset map: Location of Bergen County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (right).
Census Bureau map of Cresskill, New Jersey
Cresskill, New Jersey Location in Bergen County, New Jersey Show map of Bergen County, New Jersey Cresskill, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Cresskill, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Bergen
Incorporated	May 8, 1894
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	2.07 sq mi (5.36 km2)
• Land	2.06 sq mi (5.35 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.01 km2)  0.24%
Area rank	407th of 565 in state 47th of 70 in county
Elevation	46 ft (14 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	9,155
• Estimate  (2023)	9,118
• Rank	259th of 565 in state 44th of 70 in county
• Density	4,433.4/sq mi (1,711.7/km2)
• Density rank	140th of 565 in state 36th of 70 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	07626
Area code(s)	201
FIPS code	3400315820
GNIS feature ID	0875723

Cresskill is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,155, an increase of 582 (+6.8%) from the 2010 census count of 8,573, which in turn reflected an increase of 827 (+10.7%) from the 7,746 counted in the 2000 census. This town got its name from "Cress", referring to the watercress that grew in its streams, and "Kill", referring to the stream passing through.

History

Cresskill was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 8, 1894, from portions of Palisades Township. The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. A portion of the borough was annexed by Alpine in 1904.

Railroads provided access from Cresskill to customers in New York City, including a chicken hatchery that was the world's largest by 1897. Railroad access established the former Camp Merritt as a major debarkation point for more than a million American troops being sent abroad to fight in World War I. To commemorate the fact, a large obelisk memorial (referred to by locals as "The Monument"), or "The Circle Monument" was dedicated in 1924, set in the center of the Camp Merritt Memorial Circle at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Knickerbocker Road (CR 505).

Historic sites

Sites in the borough listed on the National Register of Historic Places include:

• Blackledge-Gair House (at 111 Madison Avenue; added January 9, 1983)
• Demarest-Atwood House (at 84 Jefferson Avenue; added July 24, 1984)
• Peter Huyler House (50 County Road; added January 9, 1983)
• Benjamin P. Westervelt House (at 235 County Road; added January 9, 1983)

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.07 square miles (5.36 km²), including 2.07 square miles (5.35 km²) of land and 0.01 square miles (0.01 km²) of water (0.24%).

It rests on land originally inhabited by the Munsee-Delaware.

The borough, a suburb of New York City, borders the Bergen County municipalities of Alpine, Bergenfield, Demarest, Dumont and Tenafly.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 8,573 people, 3,002 households, and 2,318 families in the borough. The population density was 4,154.5 per square mile (1,604.1/km²). There were 3,114 housing units at an average density of 1,509.0 per square mile (582.6/km²). The racial makeup was 68.95% (5,911) White, 0.73% (63) Black or African American, 0.03% (3) Native American, 27.64% (2,370) Asian, 0.01% (1) Pacific Islander, 1.07% (92) from other races, and 1.55% (133) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.26% (537) of the population. Korean Americans accounted for 17.8% of the population.

Of the 3,002 households, 40.5% had children under the age of 18; 66.2% were married couples living together; 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present and 22.8% were non-families. Of all households, 21.1% were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.32. Same-sex couples headed 7 households in 2010, an increase from the 5 counted in 2000.

26.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 20.6% from 25 to 44, 29.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.7 years. For every 100 females, the population had 88.6 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 85.7 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $105,625 (with a margin of error of +/− $14,945) and the median family income was $128,382 (+/− $16,732). Males had a median income of $95,795 (+/− $24,665) versus $72,188 (+/− $16,155) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $56,485 (+/− $6,202). About 2.4% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Cresskill Public Schools serve students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade The district is governed by a board of education and administered by a superintendent of schools, a school business administrator / board secretary, and principals, as part of the district's staff of more than 320 employees. Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Edward H. Bryan School with 531 students grades PreK-5, Merritt Memorial School with 276 students in grades PreK-5 and Cresskill Middle School / Cresskill High School with 398 students in middle school for grades 6-8 and 474 in high school for grades 9-12.

Public school students from the borough, and all of Bergen County, are eligible to attend the secondary education programs offered by the Bergen County Technical Schools, which include the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, and the Bergen Tech campus in Teterboro or Paramus. The district offers programs on a shared-time or full-time basis, with admission based on a selective application process and tuition covered by the student's home school district.

Despite efforts by parents, the Academy of Saint Therese of Lisieux, which opened in 1957, was shuttered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark at the end of the 2019–20 school year, in the wake of declining enrollment and an unsustainable subsidy from the diocese of more than $300,000 per year.

Transportation

County Route 501 northbound in Cresskill

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 37.02 miles (59.58 km) of roadways, of which 33.65 miles (54.15 km) were maintained by the municipality and 3.37 miles (5.42 km) by Bergen County.

County Route 505 and County Route 501 travel through Cresskill.

Public transportation

The NJ Transit 166 bus route provides service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, and local service is available on the 753 route.

Bus service to Rockland County and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC is also provided by Rockland Coaches route 20/20T.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Cresskill include:

See also

In Spanish: Cresskill para niños