Kearny, town, Hudson County, northeastern New Jersey, between the Passaic and Hackensack rivers, near the head of Newark Bay, adjacent to Newark and Jersey City; incorporated 1899. It is a port and manufacturing center; major products include communications equipment, floor coverings, machinery, chemicals, and metal. Settled by Scots in 1668, the community was originally known as New Barbadoes Neck. The settlement subsequently became part of the adjoining town of Harrison, from which it was separated in 1867. In the 1890s, it was named for Major General Philip Kearny, a Union officer killed in the American Civil War. During World War II the town was an important shipbuilding center. Population 35,735 (1980); 34,874 (1990); 40,513 (2000).
