A People's Timeline of Englewood History

1776 - In November, George Washington’s army passed by Liberty Pole (at today's Englewood Monument) in retreat, barely escaping encirclement by advancing British troops.

1859 - The Northern Railroad was extended to Englewood and Englewood was founded.

1890 - The Englewood Hospital opened and admitted its first patient.

1899 - Englewood was officially incorporated as a City.

1929 - May 27 - Anne Morrow and world famous aviator Charles Lindbergh were married at the newly constructed Morrow residence, Next Day Hill.

1931 - The George Washington Bridge was opened, facilitating rapid population expansion in Bergen County

1932 - The Englewood Community Chest was founded at the depth of the Great Depression. Its first Chair was Elizabeth Cutter Morrow.

1948 - Englewood resident Dick Button won an Olympic gold medal for figure skating (repeated in 1952).

1951 - The first direct dialed long-distance telephone call was made from Englewood to California.

1966 - Rev. Martin Luther King addressed the Englewood community on school segregation.

1967 - A "racial disturbance" in July shocked the community, getting Englewood into the national headlines.

1971 - Englewood elected its only African-American mayor, Rev. Walter Taylor, with 38% of the vote in a three-party contest. Democrats gained permanent political control and implemented a comprehensive public housing program.

1973 - The Englewood Nature Association (later renamed Flat Rock Brook Nature Association) was founded to supervise undeveloped largely woodland acreage in
Englewood’s southeast corner.

1976 - Impresario John Harms acquired the Englewood Plaza movie theater, permitting the growth of what is today the Bergen Performing Arts Center.

1978 - The Englewood Economic Development Corporation was founded, sparking a revival of the City’s then depressed downtown.

1979 - Englewood’s voters approved a new City Charter providing for a City Manager form of government.

1990 - Construction started on the Palisades Court shopping center, giving a major impetus to downtown revival.

2000 - Englewood’s voters approved a change from an appointed Board of Education to an elected one.

2002 - The Academies@Englewood was founded by Schools Superintendent Dr. John Grieco, triggering a major turnaround in the image and reality of Englewood’s Public
Schools.