Chapters · Fort Lee
“The 6th borough of New York.”
Perched atop the Hudson Palisades at the foot of the George Washington Bridge, Fort Lee has been a Revolutionary War stronghold, the birthplace of American cinema, and today a vibrant, internationally flavored home to more than 40,000 residents. It's a small borough with an outsized place in the American story.
About the town
Fort Lee sits at the eastern edge of Bergen County, on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River directly across from Upper Manhattan. Its defining feature is geographic: it is New Jersey's gateway to New York City.
Fort Lee is part of New Jersey’s Gold Coast, along the Hudson.
Our history
1776
Built as Fort Constitution and renamed for General Charles Lee, the clifftop fort sheltered Washington's troops before their November 1776 retreat across New Jersey — a march that inspired Thomas Paine to write The American Crisis.
1904
Fort Lee was formed as an independent borough on March 29, 1904, carved from the last portions of Ridgefield Township by the New Jersey Legislature.
1909–1918
Fort Lee became the birthplace of the American motion-picture industry. Studios including Champion, Solax, Universal, and Fox built glass-walled stages along the Palisades; by 1918 the borough hosted 11 major studios before the industry moved to California.
Signature landmark
Opened in 1931, the George Washington Bridge crosses the Hudson from Fort Lee to Manhattan and is the world's busiest motor-vehicle bridge. Just south, 33-acre Fort Lee Historic Park offers sweeping overlooks of the span, the Hudson, and the Manhattan skyline, plus a reconstructed Revolutionary War encampment.
Community & culture
Since the 1990s Fort Lee has grown into one of the largest Korean-American enclaves outside Korea. Main Street and Lemoine Avenue brim with Korean restaurants, bakeries, and markets ranked among the region's best.
The Barrymore Film Center, a nonprofit cinema and archive that opened in 2022, celebrates Fort Lee's founding role in American cinema with a 260-seat repertory theater and film-history exhibits.
With over half of residents born outside the U.S. and dozens of languages spoken at home, Fort Lee's dense Main Street reflects a global, immigrant-driven economy alongside its historic riverside parks.
Hometown notables
Stage and film actress
Comedian and actor
Jazz pianist and composer
MLB outfielder, Mets & Yankees
The Fort Lee Chapter
The Fort Lee Chapter connects the town’s businesses to the full network of the Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce — hands-on and local, with the marketing, events, and advocacy of the wider regional chamber behind you.
Chapter contact
📍 607 Anderson Ave, Cliffside Park, NJ 07010
Serving Fort Lee businesses. Chapter leadership — Chair, Vice Chair, Events & Outreach Coordinators — to be announced.
Join the Fort Lee Chapter of the Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce and connect your business to the entire Hudson waterfront.
Access your membership profile, directory listing, and event registrations.