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Area History

Northern Valley was inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. The Dutch arrived in the early 17th century, with records dating back to 1669 showing that Balthaser De Hart was granted a property by Governor Philip Carteret between the Hudson River and the Tiena Kill (perhaps the Tenakill Brook). What is now Northern Valley was part of property between the Hudson and the Hackensack River that was deeded by the Tappan tribe to David Des Marets in 1677. In November 1776, a local farmer witnessed British troops landing at Closter Dock on the Hudson River and rode to Fort Lee to warn Continental Army General Nathaniel Greene, allowing the Americans the opportunity to retreat to Hackensack at New Bridge Landing ahead of the British along with the remnants of General George Washington's troops after the failed Battle of Fort Washington. During the American Revolutionary War, no battles took place in present-day Northern Valley, though the residents were seen largely as supporters of the rebels and became the target of British foraging and reprisal raids.
The arrival of the Northern Branch in the late 1850s, followed by additional train service from what became the West Shore Railroad, brought residents to the Northern Valley who could commute to Manhattan via the ferry across the Hudson River at the railroad's Weehawken depot.