Bergen County

Identifier
NJS-PLC-00092
Place Type
County or Parish
Description
Bergen County is located in Northern New Jersey across the Hudson River from New York City. Hackensack serves as the county seat. During the slavery era, Bergen County was larger than it is today and included the entire area of present-day Hudson County and a portion of present-day Passaic County (those areas separated from Bergen County in the mid-19th century). Bergen was the stronghold of slavery in New Jersey.

County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak:

In 1800, Bergen County had the highest figures in all categories related to Black people and enslavement: the largest Black population (3,027), highest percentage of Black residents (20%, i.e. 1 in 5 residents were Black), largest number of enslaved persons (2,825), highest enslaved population percentage (18.6% of the total population), and highest rate of enslavement for Black residents (93.3% of Black residents living in slavery). Bergen had 202 free Black residents (6.7% of the Black population or 1.3% of the total population of the county). The total population of the county was 15,156, ranking 9th among New Jersey's 13 counties by population.
County (Modern)
Bergen County
State or Province
New Jersey
Country
United States of America
Related Place
New Barbadoes Neck
Latitude
40.877521
Longitude
-74.042694
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen_County,_New_Jersey
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Linked Places

Places located in Bergen County:

Places that were historically in Bergen County, but are now associated with a different county:

Places formed from a portion of Bergen County or formerly associated with this place:
Linked Events

To see all events that occurred in this county, visit the Events browsing page and filter the records by county.
Resource class
Location