Overpeck County Park

Overpeck County Park
Henry Hoebel Area of Overpeck Park.
Type	County park (Bergen County, New Jersey)
Location	Leonia, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park, and Teaneck
Area	811 acres (3.28 km²) (1.27 mi²)

Overpeck County Park is an 811-acre (3.28 km²) county park in Bergen County, New Jersey, with major sections in Leonia, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park, and Teaneck, surrounding Overpeck Creek, a tributary of the Hackensack River.

The Overpeck Creek flows to the west of the Henry Hoebel Area and the South Area of the park.

The first inhabitants of the area were Ashkineshacky Native Americans, who lived around Leonia. Approximately a thousand Native Americans had their seasonal activities, collecting shells for wampum and hosting their bath festivals in Overpeck Creek.

In 1954, the president of the Bergen County Park Commission, A. Thornton Bishop, proposed a plan to build a county park. This park was originally planned to rival Central Park in New York City.

In the 1950s, Leonia, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park, and Teaneck donated municipal land for the development of the Overpeck County Park. Henry Hoebel Area was the first area to undergo development; the other areas remained undeveloped and were used as dumping sites for garbage and car tires until they posed environmental hazards to their surroundings. The park vicinity was notable being filled with solid waste. Ridgefield Park and Teaneck filed a lawsuit against Bergen County because the park land was not developed and used properly. The project began in 2003 and the expanded park opened in 2010.

In 2002, the Teaneck Creek Conservancy and the Bergen County Parks Department began to establish a 46-acre (190,000 m²) environmental and cultural park as part of Overpeck Park.

Area in Leonia alongside Fort Lee Road.

The Henry Hoebel Area consists of a small playground, a 9/11 World Trade Center Memorial, bicycle and jogging path, and track and field. There are four tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields, and a practice backstop. The bicycle-pedestrian path is approximately one and a quarter-mile long and it forms a figure-8, dividing the Henry Hoebel Area into two sections, separated by a tributary of the Overpeck Creek.