About Guttenberg

The Town of Guttenberg is a vibrant community located in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey. In recent years the town has experienced a renaissance of sorts with a developing arts community, modern buildings and facilities, expanded school system, a diverse shopping corridor and one of the best public transportation locations in the U.S.. 

Guttenberg is located atop the Hudson Palisades, south of Woodcliff and the Racetrack Section in North Bergen and north of West New York. To the east the town shares a border with the New York City borough of Manhattan (Upper West Side) in the Hudson River. Its western border is Kennedy Boulevard. Bergenline Avenue, the commercial corridor of North Hudson, runs north and south through the town, and is the heart of "Havana on the Hudson".

As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 11,176. In the 2010 Census, it was the most densely populated incorporated municipality in the United States, as well as one of the most densely populated municipalities worldwide, with 57,116 people per square mile of land area. Only four blocks wide, Guttenberg has been variously ranked as the ninth-smallest municipality in the state.

Guttenberg was formerly a farm owned by William Cooper, sold in 1853 to a group of New Yorkers, who had formed the Weehawken Land and Ferry Association. Like nearby Union Hill, it was subdivided and lots were sold mostly to Germans. The company ran two ferries, the Hultz and the Flora, which crossed the Hudson from the landings at the foot of Bulls Ferry Road, Pleasant Valley, Fort Lee, and Spring Street in Manhattan.

Guttenberg was formed as a town on March 9, 1859, from portions of North Bergen Township, but remained as a part of the township that was not fully independent. Guttenberg became part of Union Township when it was formed on February 28, 1861, and became fully independent as of April 1, 1878. The municipality takes its name from Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the European version of the printing press, though other sources indicate that the name derives from "good village" in German.

In Guttenberg and throughout north Hudson County, printing shops and embroidery businesses were major industries. Both industries required strong foundations to minimize vibrations during production. The strong rock formation along the Palisades made for perfect conditions to install heavy printing and embroidery equipment. In fact, north Hudson was named the Embroidery capital of the world until the 1970’s when the U.S. began to export most of that and other manufacturing industries to China and the far east.

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