Bergen

Formed March 7, 1683 (1^st county)

Bergen County (955,746), Hackensack (46,027)

The American Renaissance masonry courthouse was built in 1911.  There was also an 1819 version.  The courthouse is on Main Street at Court Street.  Interstate Highway 80 passes 15 blocks southwest of the location.  J. Riely Gordon is the building architect.  Golden eagles sit on top of the structure.  A 1933 Annex and a 2013 Justice Center augment the courthouse.  The county was an original county established on March 7, 1683.  Perth Amboy was the first county seat followed by Hackensack 1710.  Bergen County is named for the Dutch word meaning “hill.”  The county seat is Native American for “mouth of the river.” 

Bergen County government consists of an executive, a sheriff, an administrator and a clerk (executive).  It has 7 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-five Superior Court Judges and a prosecutor serve Bergen County (judicial.)  The county is in the northeast corner of the state.  New York is on its north and east borders.  Newark, New Jersey is southwest and Yonkers, New York is east of the county.  The county center is 4.9 miles Northwest of Hackensack in Paramus.  The county is surrounded clockwise by New York and Hudson, Essex, and Passaic counties. 

The area of the county is 234 square miles.  It is 15 out of 21 in the state.  It ranks 1 out of 21 in population in the state.  It has a density of 4084.4 persons per square mile making it 4 out of 21 in the state.  Bergen County has 84.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 80 crosses from east to west in the county from New York to Passaic County.  Interstate Highway 95 is joined with Interstate Highway 80 from New York, splits and continues south into Hudson County.  United States Highways 1/9 are joined with Interstate Highways 80/95 east from New York, split and go south into Hudson County.  United States Highway 9W enters from New York, north, and terminates.  United States Highway 46 originates and travels west, Passaic County.  The county looks like a rocking chair tipped forward.  Hackensack is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Hackensack is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 4.8% of the county population.  This county is in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Wood-Ridge