Haledon, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Haledon, New Jersey
Borough
American Labor Museum
Seal
Map of Haledon in Passaic County. Inset: Location of Passaic County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Haledon, New Jersey
Haledon, New Jersey Location in Passaic County, New Jersey Show map of Passaic County, New Jersey Haledon, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Haledon, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Passaic
Incorporated	May 21, 1908
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	1.22 sq mi (3.15 km2)
• Land	1.22 sq mi (3.15 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0.08%
Area rank	484th of 565 in state 15th of 16 in county
Elevation	217 ft (66 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	9,052
• Estimate  (2023)	8,834
• Rank	262nd of 565 in state 13th of 16 in county
• Density	7,450.2/sq mi (2,876.5/km2)
• Density rank	60th of 565 in state 5th of 16 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Codes	07508, 07538
Area code(s)	973
FIPS code	3403129070
GNIS feature ID	0885240
Website

Haledon (/heɪldən/ hail-don) is a borough in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,052, an increase of 734 (+8.8%) from the 2010 census count of 8,318, which in turn reflected an increase of 66 (+0.8%) from the 8,252 counted in the 2000 census.

Haledon was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1908, replacing the now-defunct Manchester Township, based on the results of a referendum held on May 21, 1908.

History

Haledon developed along the northern side of the industrial city of Paterson, New Jersey. It was settled by farmers with colonial Dutch heritage including the Van Riper, Berdan, Banta, Post and Zabriskie families. Prior to the Civil War they were joined by the Roe, Leonard and Stansfield families, who helped establish St. Mary's Episcopal Church and leading businesses including a general store and the Leonard Wax Company.

The area became a streetcar suburb of Paterson in the years following the Civil War, with the central area known as Haledon, while the area surrounding the large pond along High Mountain Road was called Oldham. The Paterson and Haledon Horse Rail Road Company, formed in 1871, laid trolley tracks from Paterson along the current-day Belmont Avenue, which were electrified by 1888. Many of the trolley company's owners were among the founders of the Cedar Cliff Land Company, which bought up large portions of the area, and the street names in the borough reflect these industrialists and businessmen: Morrissee, Hoxey, Van Dyke, John Ryle and Barbour. The flat, lower part of the community was laid out in city-sized lots of 25' by 100' while the hillsides were plated as sites for larger Victorian "villas" for such individuals as Vice President Garret A. Hobart (now the location of William Paterson University) and the Barbour family of linen flax manufacturers. Haledon's villa development was always rather limited and throughout much of the 20th century Haledon was a typical blue-collar community set by the small property sizes planned by the Cedar Cliff Land Company. A never-constructed grand hotel was planned for the highest point of the community above the intersection of the current day Central and West Haledon Avenues. The Cedar Cliff Land Company ran newspaper advertisements targeted at upwardly mobile immigrants who worked in Paterson's silk industry, offering the city-sized lots for sale at auctions (with free lunches and brass bands) held at St. Mary's Parish Hall, and also opened the Cedar Cliff Silk Mill, which became one of several silk mills in the community. The residential appeal of Haledon was to escape the crowded industrial city and still have access to the textile mills by using the trolley. As a result of the land sales of Cedar Cliff Land Company and also of independent landowner William Bushmann, the town was settled by immigrants who came as skilled workers from textile centers in Europe.

Haledon was incorporated in 1908, having been the Oldham district of the former Passaic County municipality of Manchester Township.

Socialist William Bruekmann was elected mayor in 1912 by the borough's immigrant resident base of skilled silk workers. During the 1913 Paterson silk strike, Haledon's mayor offered the strikers the opportunity to hold meetings in Haledon, as worker meetings were prohibited in Paterson. The Pietro and Maria Botto House, located on the side of a hill surrounded by open spaces, provided a natural amphitheater for labor leaders of the day to address thousands of people who gathered to hear Big Bill Haywood, Carlo Tresca, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and John Reed. The Botto House is now a National Historic Landmark and the home of the American Labor Museum.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 1.156 square miles (2.993 km²), including 1.155 square miles (2.991 km²) of land and 0.001 square miles (0.003 km²) of water (0.08%). The borough is home of a Passaic River inlet known as Molly Ann Brook.

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bridges Pond and Valley View.

The borough borders the Passaic County communities of North Haledon, Paterson, Prospect Park, Totowa and Wayne.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 8,318 people, 2,778 households, and 2,028 families in the borough. The population density was 7,203.9 per square mile (2,781.4/km²). There were 2,932 housing units at an average density of 2,539.3 per square mile (980.4/km²). The racial makeup was 62.38% (5,189) White, 11.77% (979) Black or African American, 0.53% (44) Native American, 6.35% (528) Asian, 0.10% (8) Pacific Islander, 14.72% (1,224) from other races, and 4.16% (346) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 41.60% (3,460) of the population.

Of the 2,778 households, 39.0% had children under the age of 18; 44.1% were married couples living together; 22.0% had a female householder with no husband present and 27.0% were non-families. Of all households, 21.2% were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.48.

26.3% of the population were under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.7 years. For every 100 females, the population had 91.4 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 88.3 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $58,049 (with a margin of error of +/− $11,220) and the median family income was $65,833 (+/− $15,887). Males had a median income of $36,204 (+/− $9,406) versus $45,211 (+/− $6,778) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $20,317 (+/− $4,090). About 3.3% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.3% of those under age 18 and 2.3% of those age 65 or over.

Same-sex couples headed 20 households in 2010, an increase from the 13 counted in 2000.

Education

The Haledon School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at Haledon Public School. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 1,020 students and 96.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.6:1.

For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students attend Manchester Regional High School, which serves students from Haledon, North Haledon, and Prospect Park. The school is located in Haledon. The Manchester district participates in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which allows non-resident students to attend the district's schools without cost to their parents, with tuition paid by the state. Available slots are announced annually by grade. As of the 2021–22 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 748 students and 65.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1. Seats on the high school district's nine-member board of education are allocated based on the population of the constituent districts, with three seats assigned to Haledon.

Transportation

County Route 504 in Haledon

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 17.73 miles (28.53 km) of roadways, of which 11.71 miles (18.85 km) were maintained by the municipality and 6.02 miles (9.69 km) by Passaic County.

The only significant road passing through Haledon is County Route 504, which enters from Wayne, follows Pompton Road and Haledon Avenue eastward through the borough, then exits into Prospect Park and Paterson.

Public transportation

NJ Transit provides local bus service on the 703, 744 and the 748 routes.

In popular culture

Musical groups from Haledon include the rock band The Feelies.

Notable people

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

• John C. Barbour (1895–1962), politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1929 to 1932 and in the New Jersey Senate from 1933 to 1936
• Bruce Baumgartner (born 1960), two-time Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, three-time World champion, and record holder for most World or Olympic level medals won by an American wrestler with 13
• Bennie Borgmann (1900–1978), early pro basketball player inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961
• Jennie Tuttle Hobart (1849–1941), wife of the former U.S. Vice President Garret Hobart
• Bruce Huther (born 1954), former NFL linebacker who won Super Bowl XII while with the Dallas Cowboys
• Alex Morales (born 1997), college basketball player for the Wagner Seahawks

Points of interest

• The Pietro and Maria Botto House has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is home of the American Labor Museum, which tells the story of Italian immigration in the area, and of the Paterson Silk Strike of 1913.
• Kossuth Street School, constructed in 1894, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

See also

In Spanish: Haledon para niños