Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades.
As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 40,191, an increase of 4,846 (+13.7%) from the 2010 census count of 35,345, which in turn reflected a decline of 116 (−0.3%) from the 35,461 counted in the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023. Along with other communities in Bergen County, it is one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnic Korean enclaves outside of Korea.
Fort Lee is named for the site of an American Revolutionary War military encampment, named after controversial Continental Army general Charles Lee.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 31, 2015. At the turn of the 20th century, it became the birthplace of the American film industry. In 1931, the borough became the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge, which crosses the Hudson River and connects to the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Fort Lee's population and housing density has increased considerably since the 1960s and 1970s with the construction of highrise apartment buildings.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, Fort Lee borough had a total area of 2.87 square miles (7.44 km2), including 2.52 square miles (6.52 km2) of land and 0.35 square miles (0.92 km2) of water (12.33%).
The borough is situated atop the escarpment of the Hudson Palisades on the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson rivers. The borough is bisected by the confluence of roads at the George Washington Bridge Plaza leading to the George Washington Bridge.
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Coytesville, Linwood,"Housing Colony In Fort Lee Sold; Linwood Park Development is Bought by Investors", The New York Times, May 28, 1964. Accessed January 6, 2024.Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey No, 118, United States Government Printing Office, 1894. Accessed January 6, 2024. "Linwood; village in Ridgefield township, Bergen County, on Hudson River." Palisade and Taylorville.Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed May 21, 2015.Leahy, Michael. If You're Thinking of Living In...: All About 115 Great Neighborhoods In & Around New York, p. 392. Crown Publishing Group, 2007. . Accessed May 27, 2015.
The borough borders Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Leonia, Palisades Park, and Ridgefield in Bergen County, along with the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City.Areas touching Fort Lee, MapIt. Accessed March 25, 2020.Bergen County Map of Municipalities, Bergen County, New Jersey. Accessed March 25, 2020.New Jersey Municipal Boundaries, New Jersey Department of Transportation. Accessed November 15, 2019. Given its evolving cosmopolitan ambiance and adjacency to Manhattan across the George Washington Bridge, Fort Lee, one of the Hudson Waterfront communities of northern New Jersey, has been called a sixth borough of New York City.Tat, Linh. "Fort Lee grapples with questions on future development", The Record, June 12, 2012. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Accessed December 7, 2013. "Fort Lee - Bedroom community. Sixth borough of New York City. Gateway to Bergen County."Haller, Vera. "Close to the City, but With a Life of Its Own", The New York Times, September 7, 2012. Accessed December 7, 2013. "Fort Lee has the suburban feel of a New Jersey town with the ethnic diversity of a New York City neighborhood. Some residents call it the city's sixth borough."
History Early settlement The Lenape peoples were inhabiting the area when Captain Henry Hudson was the first European to record the area in 1609. In 1756 Stephen Bourdette acquired 400 acres of land which included modern-day Fort Lee.
Colonial era
Originally known as Fort Constitution, Fort Lee was named for General Charles LeeLefkowitz, Melanie. Bergen County's Fort Lee: Town With a View, The Wall Street Journal. April 30, 2011. Accessed July 8, 2014. "The cliff-top 33-acre Fort Lee Historic Park, on a Revolutionary War fort site named for Gen. Charles Lee from whom the borough also takes its name, offers educational programs as well as bridge and river views." after George Washington and his troops had camped at Mount Constitution overlooking Burdett's Landing, in defense of New York City. It was during Washington's retreat in November 1776 (beginning along a road which is now Main Street) that Thomas Paine composed his pamphlet, The American Crisis, which began with the recognized phrase, "These are the times that try men's souls." These events are recalled at Monument Park and Fort Lee Historic Park.
Formation Fort Lee was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 29, 1904, from the remaining portions of Ridgefield Township.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 78. Accessed February 14, 2012."History of Bergen County", Vol. 1, pp. 361–364 shows a creation date of April 18, 1904, for Fort Lee. With the creation of Fort Lee, Ridgefield Township became defunct and was dissolved as of March 29, 1904.Municipal Incorporations, Extinct List p. 81. The Fort Lee Police Department was formed under borough ordinance on August 9, 1904, and originally consisted of six marshals.History, Fort Lee Police Department. Accessed December 7, 2013. "The Fort Lee Police Department was originally formed by ordinance on August 9, 1904. During this time, the council appointed six marshalls."
America's first motion picture industry
The history of cinema in the United States can trace its roots to the East Coast, where, at one time, Fort Lee was the motion picture capital of America. The industry got its start in the state at the end of the 19th century with the construction of Thomas Edison's "Black Maria", the first motion picture studio, in West Orange, New Jersey. New Jersey offered land at costs considerably less than New York City, and the cities and towns along the Hudson River and the Palisades benefited greatly as a result of the phenomenal growth of the film industry at the turn of the 20th century.Kannapell, Andrea. "Getting the Big Picture; The Film Industry Started Here and Left. Now It's Back, and the State Says the Sequel Is Huge.", The New York Times, October 4, 1998. Accessed December 7, 2013.Amith, Dennis. "Before Hollywood There Was Fort Lee, N.J.: Early Movie Making in New Jersey (a J!-ENT DVD Review)", J!-ENTonline.com, January 1, 2011. Accessed December 7, 2013. "When Hollywood, California, was mostly orange groves, Fort Lee, New Jersey, was a center of American film production."Rose, Lisa."100 years ago, Fort Lee was the first town to bask in movie magic", The Star-Ledger, April 29, 2012. Accessed December 7, 2013. "Back in 1912, when Hollywood had more cattle than cameras, Fort Lee was the center of the cinematic universe. Icons from the silent era like Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and Lillian Gish crossed the Hudson River via ferry to emote on Fort Lee back lots." A large number of early films were shot in Fort Lee.
Filmmaking began attracting both capital and an innovative workforce, and when the Kalem Company began using Fort Lee in 1907 as a location for filming in the area, other filmmakers quickly followed. In 1909, a forerunner of Universal Studios, the Champion Film Company, built the first studio.Before Hollywood, There Was Fort Lee , Fort Lee Film Commission. Accessed April 16, 2011. They were quickly followed by others who either built new studios or who leased facilities in Fort Lee. In the 1910s and 1920s, film companies such as the Independent Moving Pictures Company, Peerless Studios, The Solax Company, Éclair Studios, Goldwyn Picture Corporation, American Méliès (Star Films), World Film Company, Biograph Studios, Fox Film Corporation, Pathé Frères, Metro Pictures Corporation, Victor Film Company, and Selznick Pictures Corporation were all making pictures in Fort Lee. Such notables as Mary Pickford got their start at Biograph Studios.Koszarski, Richard. Fort Lee: The Film Town, Indiana University Press, 2004. . Accessed May 27, 2015.Studios and Films , Fort Lee Film Commission. Accessed December 7, 2013.
With the offshoot businesses that sprang up to service the film studios, Fort Lee experienced unrivaled prosperity for nearly two decades. However, just as the development of Fort Lee production facilities was gaining strength, Nestor Studios of Bayonne, New Jersey, built the first studio in Hollywood in 1911.Staff. "Memorial at First Studio Site Will Be Unveiled Today", Los Angeles Times, September 29, 1940. Accessed July 8, 2014. "The site of the Nestor Studios today is the Hollywood home of the Columbia Broadcasting System." Nestor Studios, owned by David and William Horsley, later merged with Universal Studios; and William Horsley's other company, Hollywood Film Laboratory, is now the oldest existing company in Hollywood, now called the Hollywood Digital Laboratory. The Influenza pandemic and brutally cold weather led some film studios to start heading west by 1920; California's more temperate climate enabled year-round filming and led to the eventual shift of virtually all filmmaking to the West Coast by the 1930s.Edgington, Eloise. "Staff Film & video Before Hollywood, There Was Fort Lee", Domestika. Accessed November 29, 2025. "While Hollywood’s first film studio opened in 1911, it wasn't until the 20s that Tinseltown took off. Fort Lee’s film industry suffered as a result of the US’ joining the First World War in 1917, the 1918 influenza pandemic, the Hudson River freezing over in 1918, and a coal shortage that left studios unheated during a brutally cold New Jersey winter, which forced studios to shutter. East Coast studios eventually left for sunnier climes and set up in Hollywood."
At the time, Thomas Edison owned almost all the patents relevant to motion picture production. Movie producers on the East Coast acting independently of Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company were often sued or enjoined by Edison and his agents, while movie makers working on the West Coast could work independently of Edison's control, in part due to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals–which was headquartered in San Francisco and covered most of Southern California–being well known for not enforcing patents claims.Bishop, Jim. "How movies got moving...", The Lewiston Journal, November 27, 1979. Accessed February 14, 2012. "Movies were unheard of in Hollywood, even in 1900. The flickering shadows were devised in a place called Fort Lee, N.J. It had forests, rocks cliffs for the cliff-hangers and the Hudson River. The movie industry had two problems. The weather was unpredictable, and Thomas Edison sued producers who used his invention. [...] It was not until 1911 that David Horsley moved his Nestor Co. west."