Text from William Wade

On the west is the Jersey shore, with its beautiful settlements and cultivated fields,-its quiet contrasting oddly with the busy hum arising from the magnificent city on the east,-with its great forests of masts, and its architectural masses, here and there relieved by towering spires. On leaving the wharves, Jersey city, directly opposite the lower part of New York, attracts the attention. It is a beautiful town, of about three thousand one hundred inhabitants. Here commences the New Jersey railroad, which is continued to Philadelphia; and the Paterson and Hudson railroad, with its fine depot; and the Morris canal, one hundred and one miles long, connecting the Delaware and Hudson rivers, terminates here with a large basin.

Settlements in what is today Jersey City go back to 1616 when a village was created by the Dutch East India Company. Jersey City was known in Revolutionary times as the site of a British fort at Paulus Hook which was captured in 1779 by Henry Lee also known as Lighthorse Harry. The city was incorporated in 1820. The population of the city as of 1990 is 228,537.