Best Web Design in Union City, NJ (2026)

Web Design for Union City, New Jersey

Union City is a tightly packed, immigrant-built city atop the Hudson Palisades, famous first for German-run embroidery mills and later as one of the largest Cuban American communities in the country. Squeezed into just 1.29 square miles, it is among the most densely populated cities in the United States, with Bergenline Avenue's storefronts and Cuban restaurants forming its beating heart. Waves of Germans and then Cubans gave it two enduring nicknames and a culture where the nation's longest-running passion play shares the calendar with the annual Cuban Day Parade.

AppWT works with Union City, NJ businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Union City

Also known as. Embroidery Capital of the United States. Havana on the Hudson. Little Havana on the Hudson.

History. Union City was incorporated on June 1, 1925, through the merger of two older municipalities, West Hoboken and Union Hill. German immigrants began arriving in 1851, crossing the Hudson from Manhattan for cheaper land, and built the Schiffli lace and embroidery industry that made the area the 'Embroidery Capital of the United States.' Cuban immigration began in the late 1940s, with newcomers drawn by jobs in the embroidery factories. Cuban migration surged after Fidel Castro took power, making Union City for many years the U.S. city with the largest Cuban population after Miami.

Local economy. The historic economic engine was embroidery, lace-making, and textiles, powered by imported Schiffli machines. Bergenline Avenue, a commercial corridor running roughly 90 blocks through Union City and neighboring towns, is one of the longest shopping districts in the region and the spine of the local retail economy. As of the 2010 Census, Union City ranked as the most densely populated U.S. city among those with 50,000-plus residents, at roughly 54,138 people per square mile. The 2020 population of about 68,589 had the highest share of Hispanic/Latino residents of any New Jersey municipality, around 82 percent.

Culture and community. The Park Performing Arts Center hosts the nation's longest-running passion play, presented annually since 1915, earning the city the nickname 'America's Oberammergau.' In 1997 the passion play cast a Black actor as Jesus, drawing a standing ovation and a roughly 20 percent jump in ticket sales. Cuban cuisine defines the food scene, with landmark restaurants like El Artesano (serving Cuban food since 1974) on Bergenline Avenue and cafes pouring cortaditos and Cuban sandwiches. The annual Cuban Day Parade, established in 2000, runs through the North Hudson community. Washington Park, a 22-acre green space, once hosted Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in 1908.

What makes Union City distinct. The entire city fits into just 1.29 square miles and is completely surrounded by other Hudson County municipalities. Its population density makes it one of the most crowded cities in the entire United States. Mallomars, the chocolate-and-marshmallow cookie, were first sold by Nabisco to a grocer in what is now Union City. The first modern lunch wagon (a diner ancestor) was built here in 1912 at the Transfer Station by Jerry and Daniel O'Mahoney, helping launch New Jersey's golden age of diner manufacturing.

Union City Landmarks and Local Life

• Park Performing Arts Center (the former Park Theatre - built 1931 at 32nd Street and Central Avenue as part of the Holy Family Church complex)
• Bergenline Avenue - the multi-mile commercial and cultural spine of the city
• Washington Park - the city's main 22-acre recreational park
• Cuban restaurants and bakeries clustered along Bergenline and Summit Avenues that anchor 'Havana on the Hudson.'