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Borough of Upper Saddle River

376 West Saddle River Road
201-327-2700

Upper Saddle River has come from a farming area to what is now a community of lovely landscaped homes, the finest schools and state of-the-art Library. With the inception of our new website, we sincerely hope to offer the most up-to-date information about Upper Saddle River's government, community and activities. Among many options, citizens will have an opportunity to check schedules of Council and Board meetings, obtain tax data and information on scavenger service. We invite everyone to visit and enjoy our website.

Archaeologists have found evidence that prehistoric cave-dwellers lived in the Saddle River Valley as far back as 7000 years ago. Later, Indian Tribes migrated here and, finding the area unpopulated (the cave-dwellers had long since disappeared), called themselves the Lenape, or original people.

In the 1600s, European settlers began to cross the Hudson from Manhattan Island and make their way up into our area. The first to put down roots in what is now Upper Saddle River was Isaiah Valleau who, in the early 1700s, took title to 300 acres where the schools and the Borough Hall are now. Others soon followed, carting their possessions up rough Indian trails along the river. They set about clearing the land for farms and building shelters of local materials, wood and stone.

There are a number of theories on the origin of the name Saddle River, but the most likely is that it came from two Scotsmen exploring the area in the 1600s who thought it resembled the Sadle Burn in their homeland.

George Washington marched his troops up the East Saddle River Road during the Revolution, and there are still a number of buildings in town that date from that era: the Hopper-Goetschius House (1730), which is now a museum; and three private residences: the Hopper-Taylor house on the corner of the West Road and Lake Street; the Hennion-Rudolph home on Pleasant Ave. and the Nicausie-Hopper house on Hopper Farm Road. Many other homes date from the early 1800s. The Old Stone Church, completed in 1819, replaced an earlier building built in 1787. The Van Riper-Tice Barn at the Hopper-Goetschius museum is a fine example of the New World Dutch Barns common in the area, and dates from 1800.

Industry came early to the area. In addition to the farms there were a number of mills situated along the branches of the Saddle River. These were needed to grind grain into feed and flour and to saw wood. Three still exist as private homes: John Post's mill on Hillside Avenue, another Post mill at 7 Old Stone Church Road, and the Bush mill off the West Saddle River Road. All were built about 1800.