[26] Edgewater was incorporated as a municipality on December 7, 1894, from portions of Ridgefield Township as the Borough of Undercliff, based on the results of a referendum that passed two days earlier.

Parts of Vriessendael were destroyed in 1643 during Kieft's War in reprisal for the massacres of Lenape people taking refuge at Pavonia and Corlears Hook.

[35] While Oxen Hill Road still exists as a thoroughfare, another Colonial hallmark and major local industry[35] has only recently disappeared: shad fishing.

[36] In the 1980s there were still about 100 commercial fishermen in New Jersey harvesting shad from their annual spring run from the Atlantic Ocean up the Hudson River to spawn.

[38] The ferry service at Burdett's Landing, which was located at the southern base of the bluff of Fort Lee, proved valuable to the American cause during the Revolutionary War.

[25] It was in the 19th century that Burdett's Landing became known as "Old Stone Dock", as cobblestones quarried from the Palisades Cliffs by Russell & Read were shipped across the Hudson to fill the demand for paving Manhattan streets.

[40] Concern over the destruction caused by quarrying operations led to the formation of the Palisades Interstate Park in 1900, which was effective in preserving the cliffs.

[43] The 20th century brought great change to Edgewater with industrialization, which overwhelmed the borough[44] and filled 3 miles (4.8 km) of the shoreline with its operations.

Transportation of factory goods was facilitated when the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway cut the Edgewater Tunnel through the Palisades in 1894 to connect the borough to its main line.

[45] Edgewater was also well situated for shipping, with deep water piers on the Hudson River and access to abundant labor from Manhattan.

[46] By 1918, there were 8,044 workers employed by Edgewater's manufacturing facilities, producing primarily chemicals, dyes, and confectionery products such as oils and sugars.

[45] Joseph Mitchell's essay The Rivermen, which was published in The New Yorker and is included in his book The Bottom of the Harbor, provides an evocative portrait of life in Edgewater in the early 20th century.

[26][45] With the transition from industrial to residential, crime statistics were down, with the police chief describing how bar fights between factory workers were commonplace in the early 1970s,[45] while real estate values are up.

[42] A photographic history of Edgewater describes the population and demographics change and its possible consequence this way: Now a good number of residents live on the river in condominiums and rental apartments and town houses on land that was once the province of heavy industry.

When the old Alcoa plant site from 1916 began to be converted to condominiums, construction was forced to halt for cleanup of industrial contaminants, including excessively high concentrations of PCBs.

[45] In another case, construction of a condominium/shopping center in south Edgewater was interrupted for six months by safety measures to protect workers from chemical exposure in the lead- and arsenic-riddled soil.

[42] Operational Hess Oil tanks, beside the derelict Alcoa rolling mill, once the second-largest in the world, are a reminder of the borough's industrial phase.

From north to south they are Town Centre, the Binghamton Shopping Plaza, Mitsuwa Marketplace, Edgewater Commons and City Place.

In 1988, construction of a waterfront walkway was mandated by state law that would allow walkers a path along the Hudson River from Bayonne up to the George Washington Bridge.

[88][89] 22-acre (89,000 m2) Veterans' Field[26] offers residents recreational opportunities and provides space for a Community Center and American Legion Post 116.

A plaque commemorating the New Netherland plantation of David Pietersen de Vries, Vriessendael, is located at the entrance to the field on the west.

In 1922, landfill was dumped into the Hudson River from the construction site of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, which gives Veteran's Field its current dimensions.

[3] Members of the Edgewater Borough Council are Anthony Bartolomeo (D, 2024), Rinaldy "Ray" Gutierrez (D, 2026), Dolores Lawlor (D, 2024), Donald A. Martin (D, 2025), Vincent J. Monte (D, 2025) and Jose Luis Vidal (D, 2026).

[102] Democrat Agnes "Nancy" Merse, whose term as mayor was to expire on December 31, 2011, died due to complications from cancer on March 10, 2011.

[108] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 9th congressional district is represented by Nellie Pou (D, North Haledon)[109] New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027) and Andy Kim (Moorestown, term ends 2031).

[110] For the 2024-2025 session, the 36th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Paul Sarlo (D, Wood-Ridge) and in the General Assembly by Clinton Calabrese (D, Cliffside Park) and Gary Schaer (D, Passaic).

As of 2025[update], the county executive is James J. Tedesco III (D, Paramus), whose four-year term of office ends December 31, 2026.

[112] Bergen County's Commissioners are: Thomas J. Sullivan Jr. (D, Montvale, 2025),[113] Chair Germaine M. Ortiz (D, Emerson, 2025),[114] Joan Voss (D, Fort Lee, 2026),[115] Vice Chair Mary J. Amoroso (D, Mahwah, 2025),[116] Rafael Marte (D, Bergenfield, 2026),[117] Steven A. Tanelli (D, North Arlington, 2027)[118] and Tracy Silna Zur (D, Franklin Lakes, 2027).

[119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126] Bergen County's constitutional officials are: Clerk John S. Hogan (D, Northvale, 2026),[127][128] Sheriff Anthony Cureton (D, Englewood, 2027)[129][130] and Surrogate Michael R. Dressler (D, Cresskill, 2026).

[181] On November 16, 2020, Mayor Michael McPartland proclaimed a sister city relationship with Loma De Cabrera, Dominican Republic.