The first road built in this county was from Communipaw to Bergen in the fall of 1660. It ran along the present Communipaw avenue to Summit avenue, then northerly along Summit avenue to Academy street; thence westerly to Bergen. It was called the "Off-fall" road, from the stream that ran from Tuers pond and fell over a ledge of rock-at the present intersection of Grand street and Communipaw avenue. Until Grand street was extended across the marsh in 1848 the people from Communipaw and along to Bergen Point could only reach Jersey City by way of Bergen, and the Priors Mill road or Newark Avenue; where Monticello avenue now is was a marsh until comparatively recent times. On November 24th, 1790, the Legislature appointed five commissioners to locate and build bridges across, the Hackensack and Passaic and lay out a road four rods wide from the Newark Court House to Paulus Hook. They were authorized to raise by lottery £27,000, part of which was to aid in completing the road, part to build a bridge over the Raritan, and part in providing suitable buildings for the Legislature.

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