History of New York City (1784–1854) as the financial and mercantile capital of the western hemisphere. The Great New York City Fire of 1845 destroyed 345 wooden buildings in the Financial District. The Hudson River Railroad (which grew into the New York Central) opened October 3, 1851; it extended the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, the first railroad built in the state, south to New York City. The city and its nearby suburbs grew rapidly for several reasons. The natural harbor at the base of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the New Jersey ports at Newark and Elizabeth provided almost unlimited capacity for trading ships and protection from storms.
Jersey City, New Jersey Vietnamese Americans enumerated in the 2010 United States Census. There were an estimated 56,101 non-Hispanic whites in Jersey City, according to the 2016 American Community Survey, representing a 5.4% increase from 53,236 non-Hispanic whites enumerated in the 2010 United States Census. Many non-Hispanic whites have settled in the newer developments in the Newport and Exchange Place neighborhoods along the Jersey City waterfront. Ever since the settling of New Netherland in the 1600s, comprising what is now the Gateway Region of northeastern New Jersey as well as portions of Downstate New York in the New York City metropolitan area, the Dutch