In the Beginning...
Little Ferry was first a part of New Barbados. Little Ferry later was a part of Lodi Township when the Township was formed in 1825. Incorporated in 1894, the Borough was named after the rope-drawn Little Ferry that crossed the Hackensack River between 1659 and 1826. A bridge was built in 1828 connecting Little Ferry and Ridgefield Park via Bergen Turnpike, a toll road. One of the four tollhouses along its route is the present location of Tracey's Restaurant.
The Ferry played an important part in the revolution. It was used on November 20, 1776, by a detachment of Washington's troops who were fleeing the advancing British Army. The troops marched up what is now Washington Avenue and Liberty Street, into Hackensack to join the other troops.
Until the 1860's, Little Ferry was sparsely settled. The 1839 Coast Guard map and the 1861 G.M. Hopkins map show very few buildings and only four streets: LIBERTY STREET, WASHINGTON AVENUE, RIVERSIDE AVENUE AND BERGEN PIKE. There doesn't appear to be any building from this era still standing.