Hackensack

Hackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey and is near Teaneck. Originally named New Barbadoes Township, it’s been known as Hackensack since the 1700s. The population of the city has been steadily growing since the 1990s. 

Hackensack is only a few minute’s drive from Manhattan, New York, and is an inner suburb of the city. 

The original inhabitants of Hackensack were an Algonquian people, the Lenni Lenape. They named a river in the region ‘Ackingsah-sack,’ which was anglicized to create the region’s current name.  

The Dutch took ownership of the land in the mid 1600s. It was called New Barbadoes by Captain John Berry, who took over the land after the Dutch. In 1921, the region was officially renamed what it is called today.

The area of Hackensack has a total area of 4.35 square miles. A total of .16 square miles of the region is composed of water. 

The city is exceptionally diverse, with nearly 40 percent of the population being foreign born. 

There are many cultural places of interest in the area. The Hackensack Cultural Arts Center is the area’s leading theater arts institution and hosts the Hudson Shakespeare Company.

The town was the home of the original Van Gelder recording studio. Jazz musicians Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk recorded some of their most notable work here.