The Bridge that Saved a Nation: Bergen County, New Bridge and the Hackensack Valley

Historian, Kevin Wright, and his wife, Deborah Powell, moved into the eighteenth-century Steuben House at New Bridge Landing in 1981 as part of his employment in the NJDEP.

They, together with other stakeholders, rejuvenated the Revolutionary War landmark and battleground into the historic gem it is today. Wright was writing A History of Bergen County, New Bridge and the Hackensack Valley when he passed away in 2016. Powell edited and illustrated the legacy project for publication and continues to be involved at the museum site.

The layered narrative begins with the geography that greatly shapes the history of the valley and continues with the story of the native communities and the colonial settlements that followed.

The turmoil of the American Revolution in Bergen is brought to life, including Thomas Paine’s account of the retreat through the area as told in The American Crisis (“These are the times that try men’s souls … ”).

The book concludes with twentieth-century efforts to preserve the Jersey-Dutch homes and Historic New Bridge Landing. All royalties from the sale of the book benefit the Bergen County Historical Society.