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Saddle Brook Township formerly
Saddle River Township
Saddle Brook is one of the oldest
townships in Bergen County. The area was first settled by the Dutch as part of New Amsterdam. After the English takeover in the early 1700's, it became part
of New Barbadoes. Barbadoes is an island in the British West
Indies, and New Barbadoes was the name chosen by the English settlers in that area.) New Barbadoes had as its boundaries the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers
to the east and west, and Sussex County and Newark Bay to the
north and south. Most of the history of the township is, of course, the history of Saddle River Township, which is one of the oldest townships in Bergen County.
Historians do not always agree on the dates in our local
history, but quite a few of them write that the township was created in March of 1716. In 1724, the township seceded from New Barbadoes. As time passed, other
towns were carved from Saddle River Township until it became the
2.7 square miles it is today. Among the towns that were part of the
original community were Ridgewood, Ho-Ho-Kus, Franklin, Garfield, East Paterson, and Fair Lawn. Like
many parts of New Jersey, our township felt the marching feet of our
Revolutionary heroes on its soil. What is today Outwater Lane,
but was then called Tours Lane, was used by our army to march to the Passaic River, there to ford the river. A stone monument stands there today to attest to the
fact that our soldiers crossed the river at that point. It is
known as Post's Ford. Around 1840, our township was known for the very fine and large crops of melons and strawberries it produced. In 1875, it began growing
potatoes and produced many fine crops. Agriculture and dairying
predominated in the first half of the twentieth century. There were poultry farms, four greenhouses, three pasteurizing plants, a plant where a nationally known
ice cream was manufactured, a celluloid novelty factory, and a
tulip farm. In the early 1950's, Saddle River Township's population was growing rapidly; and the town fathers wanted to establish a post office to serve the
private homes and attract new business. A Post Office Committee
was formed by the Chamber of Commerce in 1953, and its members learned
that a name change was necessary since there were two other towns with similar names in Bergen
County (Upper Saddle River and Saddle River). The citizens voted to
change the name of the township November 8, 1955. The Saddle
Brook Township Post Office was dedicated January 9, 1960. During the early part of its history, Saddle Brook was primarily an agricultural community. In
the twentieth century, the township has undergone changes along
with the rest of the county. Industries and businesses have found homes in the community, and in recent years a cluster of high rise buildings was erected
that forms a conference center for northern New Jersey. The
population of Saddle Brook Township has grown from 2,424 in 1930 to more than 13,000. Many of the streets in Saddle Brook Township, however, are still
tree-lined residential avenues.
