Hamlet of Little Boston

North Bergen bordered by Bergen Swamp

Little Boston, in the southern part of North Bergen, bordered on the Bergen Swamp. Here, hops were a big crop until the fields were stricken by blight. A hop barn, complete with drying louvers, stood in the area until recently. Hop growers Nelson Temple and Hugh Gillespie began raising sheep. It is said a woolen mill along Black Creek was the source of the name, Little Boston. Only fieldstone foundations mark the location of the homes and buildings that once stood so close to the old swamp. The land, composed of layers of sand and marl, was used to grow strawberries and broccoli but is owned privately and by the Bergen Swamp Society which has returned it to beautiful meadowland.

 

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