Air Duct Cleaning in Leonia, NJ

The original inhabitants of Leonia were the Hackensack tribe (Ashkineshacky) of Native Americans. The population was about 1,000 before the Europeans settled in the area. At the time of the American Revolutionary War, Leonia was known as part of the English Neighborhood, a name that survives in neighboring Englewood. It was settled in 1668 mainly by Dutch and English farmers, making it one of the oldest communities in the state and county. A third of the population was African slaves. It was located on the western slope of the Palisades, and started as a quiet farming community. Leonia’s proximity to New York City and its major universities, theaters and performing venues contributed to Leonia’s place in the world of art and academics, with many artists and leading thinkers finding a home there in the twentieth century.

The local economy that had been focused on agriculture underwent economic and cultural growth during the late nineteenth century, marked by the introduction of train service and was originally called West Fort Lee. J. Vreeland Moore and other town leaders chose the name “Leonia” in 1865 in honor of American Revolutionary War General Charles Lee, for whom Fort Lee was named.

After traveling through Leonia upon arriving in New Jersey by ferry at Edgewater in 1899, advertising executive Artemus Ward purchased a large piece of land and established the Leonia Heights Land Company to develop and market housing in the community. His advertising attracted many academics and artists who were drawn to Leonia’s small size, culture, and location, earning the town’s nickname of the “Athens of New Jersey”.