Page:History of Hudson County and of the Old Village of Bergen.djvu/52

44 the race track and ferries. Northern Jersey City's water-front was practically empty save for a ferry house. Hoboken's Elysian Fields held unmarred the beauty which had won the high-sounding title, and a single little tavern sufficed to entertain holiday makers there. The placid population made barely enough employment for the single Court at Hackensack and for a few local Dutch justices of the peace. It was a happy land that made no history.

Steam was winning, however, and soon its early demands gave a great impetus to the mechanical hand-crafts that it was destined to destroy. Jersey City, which had only about 300 inhabitants at the time of its incorporation in 1820, is credited in a record of 1845 with having 4000 population at that date. Among its larger industries were the works of the American Pottery Company, the Jersey City Glass Company employing about a hundred men, a famous fireworks establishment, a candle factory and many shops owned by individual mechanics. There were two foundries. One was Fulton's at the

The Monitor, 1862