Bayonne, industrial city in Hudson County, northeastern New Jersey, a port on a peninsula between Newark Bay and Upper New York Bay, south of Jersey City. It is linked with Staten Island by a bridge across the narrow Kill Van Kull channel. As a terminus of petroleum pipelines from the southwestern United States, it was an important oil-refining center. Since the departure of major petrochemical companies from the area in the 1980s, Bayonne's petroleum facilities are used primarily for storage. Other manufactures include chemicals, motors, paint, textiles, and machinery. The Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal, an army depot and dry dock, is here. Settled in the 1650s and incorporated as a city in 1869, the community became a resort and boatbuilding center after the American Civil War (1861-1865). Its chief industrial growth began with the construction of its first oil refinery in 1875; during World War I (1914-1918), and World War II (1939-1945), Bayonne was an important center of shipbuilding, shipping, and embarkation. It is named for the French port of Bayonne; until 1861 it was known as Bergen Neck. Population 65,047 (1980); 61,444 (1990); 61,842 (2000).
