Author Archives: njgate

Upper Penns Neck Township was formed on July 10, 1721, when Penn’s Neck Township was subdivided and Lower Penns Neck Township (now Pennsville Township) was also formed. The township was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey’s original group of 104 townships.[21] Portions of the township were taken to form Oldmans Township (February 7, 1881) and Penns Grove borough (March 8, 1894).[21] The township was renamed Carneys Point Township based on the results of a Township meeting held on November 10, 1976, after voters approved a referendum held eight days earlier.[22]

Bogota was formed on November 14, 1894, from portions of Ridgefield Township, based on the results of a referendum held that day.[21] The borough was formed during the “Boroughitis” phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed during 1894 alone.[22] Portions of Bogota were taken in 1895 to form part of the newly created Township of Teaneck. Bogota was named in honor of the Bogert family, which had been the first European settlers to occupy the area,[23] and may also be a blend of Bogert and Banta, another early family, with an “O” added to ease pronunciation.[24][25][26]

Pittsgrove Township was formed by Royal charter on December 6, 1769 and was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of the initial group of 104 townships established in New Jersey. Portions of the township were taken on March 4, 1822, to form Centreville Township (which was restored in 1829 when the township was dissolved), on March 10, 1846, to form Upper Pittsgrove Township and on January 28, 1893, to form Elmer borough.[20] The township was named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, a supporter of the colonial cause.[21][22]

What is now Lopatcong Township was created as Phillipsburg Township on March 7, 1851, by an act approved by the New Jersey Legislature from portions of Greenwich Township and Harmony Township. After Phillipsburg was incorporated as an independent municipality on March 8, 1861, the township changed its name to Lopatcong as of March 18, 1863, after the Lopatcong Creek in the area.[19][20]

The area that was to become Audubon was initially settled in the late 17th Century by various land owners and was primarily used for farms and mills. In 1695 the land now known as the Borough of Audubon was part of Newton Township. By the early 1700s, the area’s first families were building their homesteads. Today, two of these original farmhouses remain in Audubon. The Low-Stokes-Nicholson house was built c. 1732 by John Low. Simon Breach built his home, known locally as “The Mansion House”, in about 1740. A large addition was built by shipbuilder John Dialogue in c. 1853. Samuel Nicholson Rhodes, a local naturalist and author, owned this farm, which he named “Cedarcroft”, from 1898–1912.[19] It was Mrs. Rhodes who came up with the name for the town. When the Atlantic City Railroad arrived in the 1880s the local farms were subdivided into the smaller communities of Audubon, Cedarcroft and Orston. Residential development began when both Audubon and Orston had train stations built in the 1890s.

The current City of Absecon was originally incorporated as a town by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 29, 1872, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township. Then on March 24, 1902, the City of Absecon replaced the town.[22] The city is named for the Absegami tribe of Native Americans, from the word “Absogami”, which means “little stream”.[23]

Ventnor City was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1903, from portions of Egg Harbor Township.[4][22]

The area that is Chatham has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. During historic times, Europeans began trading with the Native Americans who farmed, fished, and hunted in the area when it was claimed as part of New Netherlands. The community that now is Chatham was first settled by Europeans in 1710 within Morris Township, in what was then the English Province of New Jersey. The community was settled because the site already was on the path of a well-worn Native American trail, the location of an important crossing of the Passaic River, and being close to a gap in the Watchung Mountains. The residents of the English community changed its name from John Day’s Bridge to Chatham, New Jersey in 1773.[20]

The Lenape Native Americans first inhabited the township and many names throughout the general area were passed down from the Lenape. Pascack and Kinderkamack are just two of these names. However, after Dutch and other European settlers began arriving in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Lenape population was decimated. It is estimated that by 1750, 90% of the Lenape population in and around present-day New Jersey was killed by European settlement through war and European diseases.[22]

Leonia was formed as the result of a referendum passed on December 5, 1894, from portions of Ridgefield Township.[21] The borough was formed during the “boroughitis” phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone.[22] Portions of Leonia were taken on February 19, 1895, to form the Township of Teaneck.[21][23]