Bergen County Court House Complex

About this property

Bergen County, the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, has had a series of courthouses. The current one stands in Hackensack. The current Bergen County Courthouse is not the first courthouse but actually the sixth courthouse built for Bergen County. In 1683, four counties were created in East Jersey—Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth. In 1710, Hackensack became the county seat of Bergen. In 1715, the first courthouse was built three blocks from the current courthouse. The courthouse also housed a jail. The second courthouse was built in 1734 near the “Green”, but was burned by the British in 1780 during the Revolutionary War. The third courthouse, a log building, was then built in Oakland. This was considered a temporary location and the courthouse later moved to the home of John Hopper in Ho-Ho-Kus. After the war, the courthouse was moved to the house of Archibald Campbell of Hackensack. Freeholder Peter Zabriskie later donated land near his Hackensack home located at the northeast corner of Main and Bridge Streets, and in 1786, a new courthouse and jail opened. Peter Zabriskie's home, called “The Mansion” was also called “Washington’s Headquarters” because George Washington frequently was a guest there. Years later the Mansion became a hotel. The Mansion was then torn down in 1945. In 1822, due to space limitations, a new courthouse was built at the location of the current courthouse and it was utilized for over 90 years. The current courthouse is the sixth Bergen County courthouse. James Riely Gordon, a civil engineer, born in Winchester, Virginia, won a competition to design the Bergen County courthouse. The style of the courthouse building is known as American Renaissance. Construction began in 1910 and was completed in 1912 at a cost of one million dollars. The jail was also completed in 1912, the style of the jail being Medieval Revival. The courthouse was placed on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1982 and 1983, respectively. The Green is a public square located across the street from the courthouse at the corner of Main Street and Court Street. On the west side of the green is a marker showing where the second courthouse stood before it was burned by the British in 1780. A bronze statue is located at the intersection of Court Street and Washington Place. This statue is of General Enoch Poor. General Poor, a New Hampshire native, was a hero at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. General Poor served under General Washington. He was in New Jersey organizing an army to raid New York City. General Poor died in 1780 and is buried across the street from the Green at the Dutch Reformed Church. General Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette attended General Poor's funeral.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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