Bergan-Lafayette (Ward F)
Bergen was the earliest and first permanent settlement in the state of New Jersey as well as the first to establish a civic government in the new Colony. It was named after Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and military officer who fought on the American side during the Revolutionary War. The “Bergen” portion roughly corresponds to the former town of Bergen City, which existed from 1855 to 1870. In 1870, along with the former Hudson City, it merged with the larger Jersey City. Lafayette Park is in the eastern section of the neighborhood, in the area closest to Historic Downtown Jersey City. It has a “city-square design”, also noticeable in Van Vorst Park and Hamilton Park. The Bergen-Lafayette area is mostly residential, but has small pockets of commercial strips on some of the main access routes which serve local residents with their day-to-day needs.
The neighborhoods in Bergen-Lafayette are Beacon, Bergen Hill, Communipaw, The Junction, and Jackson Hill.