Harrison NJ: A Town Named for a President & Visited by Another

Every Presidents’ Day, Americans look back on the nation’s leaders, the familiar faces on currency, the iconic speeches, the big turning points in Washington. In Harrison, NJ, the holiday lands a little differently. This mile-square town in Hudson County bears a presidential name, and it also has a documented moment when a sitting U.S. president didn’t just pass nearby; he stopped, looked around, and linked Harrison’s identity to a phrase that still follows the town more than a century later.

Harrison is widely understood to have been named for William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, elected in 1840 and inaugurated in 1841.

His time in office was famously brief, the shortest presidency in American history. ending with his death on April 4, 1841, just one month after taking office.

The name “Harrison” became part of local civic identity early on, tying the community to the nation’s leadership story even before the town rose as an industrial powerhouse.

But the town’s most vivid presidential connection isn’t just symbolic, it’s on the ground.

1912: When President Taft Came to Harrison

In 1912, President William Howard Taft visited Harrison during a trip connected to a Newark event, and local accounts describe a striking reception: decorations along Harrison Avenue and a large crowd lining the route. The welcome was strong enough that Taft toured Harrison’s industrial area and delivered remarks that linked the town to a phrase still part of the town’s flag, but sharing the Harrison town logo space with an image of Harrison’s Redevelopment Zone's new residential community.

Town histories and local narratives consistently credit Taft with calling Harrison a “Hive of Industry” — language that became the basis for the town’s enduring motto, “Beehive of Industry.” That phrase matters because it reflects what Harrison was in the early 20th century: not a resort town, not a “day trip” destination, but a dense, rail-and-river-adjacent manufacturing engine that helped fuel regional and national growth. Scholars writing about Harrison’s industrial legacy also reference Taft’s 1912 remarks in that context, reinforcing how deeply the slogan connected to what the town actually was at the time. The Town of Harrison played a crucial role in enabling the United States of America to assist the Allied Forces to defeat Adolph Hitler and the Nazis in World War II.  Harrison’s industrial zone operated 24/7, providing the weapons and tools that soldiers used daily.

The Motto That Stuck

Once the “Beehive” idea took hold, it became more than a quote. Local accounts describe its adoption for branding and civic identity, including correspondence and commercial use, because it captured a truth residents already lived: Harrison was alive with factories, workers, and companies that produced tangible goods people across America used. Harrison stood in the shadow of its neighbor, Newark, NJ, but its “Beehive” branding captured its reality and conveyed it in a powerful phrase: “Beehive of Industry.” Harrison was way ahead of its time on the importance of branding.

There’s also a colorful detail from local history writing: an account notes that Taft may have been told Harrison was “alive with industries” and then rephrased it as “hive of industry.” Whether intentional or accidental, the result became part of Harrison’s permanent identity.

Why Harrison Didn’t Get “Presidential Tourism” But Got Presidential Relevance

Harrison’s presidential history differs from that of many places in New Jersey. Along the Jersey Shore, presidents historically spent time at leisure destinations, most famously Long Branch, sometimes called a “summer capital” in the late 19th century because multiple presidents vacationed there. You can visit Seven Presidents Beach in Long Branch and visit the only remaining “estate home” that exists today, where the presidents stayed during the summer.

Harrison’s role in the same era wasn’t leisurely. It was output: industry, logistics, labor, and the daily work of building things. That’s why Taft’s visit resonates today. It wasn’t a photo-op at a landmark. It was recognition of what Harrison contributed, and it’s the kind of recognition that towns like Harrison often didn’t get in headlines, even when their factories shaped how America functioned.

Presidents’ Day, Harrison-Style

So if you’re looking for Harrison’s Presidents’ Day meaning, it’s not just that a president’s name is on the map. It’s that Harrison once represented something so visible, so productive that a sitting president absorbed the message in real time, and left the town with a phrase that still describes its historic character more than 100 years later.

In a region now defined by redevelopment, new housing, and a changing skyline, the “Beehive” story is also a reminder: Harrison’s civic identity has always been tied to what it makes and what it does, and that’s a Presidents’ Day connection that feels uniquely local. Some of the stakeholders/developers who built modern apartment buildings have recognized and honored Harrison’s industrial past by naming their buildings The Cobalt and Steelworks on the site of the Crucible Steelworks, a major contributor to World War II steel production.

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