Plentiful tamarack trees, which supplied a necessary raw material for leather tanning, led to Newark’s first industry. Shoe manufacturing began in 1790. Further growth was spurred in the 1830s by the arrival of rail and canal connections to the coast. Newark incorporated as a city in 1836, and by 1860 it had become the leading industrial center of New Jersey. Many inventions and new industrial processes were developed in Newark in the 19th century, and the city entered early into the manufacture of plastics, electrical goods, and chemicals. The influx of large numbers of immigrants, particularly from Germany and Ireland, provided the rapidly growing city with needed industrial workers. From 1840 to 1870, Newark’s population increased from 17,290 to 105,000.

In the early 20th century, transportation facilities were improved. Port Newark was developed during World War I (1914-1918), and Newark Airport was opened in 1929. By 1930 Newark had 442,000 inhabitants. The city’s industries were hard hit during the Great Depression in the 1930s, and unemployment resulted in housing deterioration. Although the economy recovered during World War II (1939-1945), a trend was established; middle-class whites were moving to the suburbs and blacks who were looking for jobs were moving into the city.

Port Newark, on Newark Bay, is among the nation’s largest ports for containerized cargo and is a major unit of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. One of Newark’s important functions as a transportation center is the transfer of goods from cargo vessels to the many railroads and truck lines that serve the city. In Newark is one of the largest truck terminals in the country, which serves as a transshipment point between long-distance and short-distance trucking operations.

By the 1960s blacks, while nearing a majority of the population, held little political power. In July 1967 the city’s black central district exploded in riots that left 26 people dead and drew national attention to Newark’s deteriorated housing, high unemployment, and corrupt municipal government. More riots followed in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1970 Newark became the first major northeastern city to elect a black mayor, Kenneth A. Gibson. Signs of a renaissance for the city began to be seen in the 1980s, notably new residential and commercial construction.

Newark covers a land area of 24 sq mi, with a mean elevation of 95 ft. According to the 2000 census, blacks are 53.5 percent of the population, whites 26.5 percent, Asians 1.2 percent, and Native Americans 0.4 percent. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders represent less than 0.1 percent of the population. The remainder are of mixed heritage or did not report ethnicity.

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Official Website of the City of Newark, New Jersey