North Hanover Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 12, 1905, from portions of New Hanover Township. Portions of the township were taken on March 4, 1918, to form Wrightstown.[19][20]
Uncategorized
Riverside Township, New Jersey
Riverside was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 20, 1895, from portions of Delran Township.[20] A portion of the township was annexed by Delran in 1901.[21] The township was originally named Progress which was changed to Riverside for its location on the Delaware River.[22]
Uncategorized
Byram Township, New Jersey
Byram Township was created by an act by the New Jersey General Assembly on February 5, 1798, from portions of the now-defunct Newton Township, and was incorporated on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey’s initial group of 104 townships.[22] The township was named for the Byram family, who were early settlers in the area.[22][23][24] Patriarch Jephthah Byram and his family, were believed to have emigrated to the area after the American Revolutionary War.[23] Before being named Byram, the community had been called Lockwood, and the Lockwood Tavern continued to hold this original name until its demolition in 2015. In 1829, a section of Green Township was incorporated into the township.[22] Portions of the township have been taken to form Sparta Township (April 14, 1845), Brooklyn borough (March 24, 1898, now called Hopatcong) and Stanhope borough (March 24, 1904).[22]
Butler was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 13, 1901, from portions of Pequannock Township.[21][22]
Plumsted Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 11, 1845, from portions of Jackson Township, while the area was still part of Monmouth County. Plumsted Township became part of the newly created Ocean County on February 15, 1850.[21] The township was named for Clement Plumstead, an English Quaker who bought a large parcel of land, but never set foot in the area.[22][23]
Hardyston Township was set off from portions of Newton Township by Royal charter on February 25, 1762.[21][22] It was named after Josiah Hardy, who was royal governor of New Jersey from 1761 to 1763.[23][24] The original British spelling of Hardiston was Americanized to Hardyston after the American Revolutionary War.[25]
Its first settler James Johnston originally called the place “Spottiswoode”, named for his old place of residence in Scotland, and dates back to its original settlement in 1685.[21][22][23] It was also historically spelled Spottswood.[24]
Oradell was originally formed on March 8, 1894, as the borough of Delford, from portions of Harrington Township, Midland Township (now Rochelle Park) and Palisades 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] The name “Delford” was a portmanteau created from the names of two communities within the new borough: Oradell and New Milford.[23] The Hotel Delford had been constructed in 1870 after the construction of the first railroad to reach the area.[24] On November 12, 1920, the borough’s name was officially changed to “Oradell”, based on the results of a referendum held ten days earlier.[21][25] Oradell derives its name from “ora” (Latin for “edge”) and “dell”.[26]
Bedminster was settled in 1710 by Dutch, Germans, and Scots-Irish immigrants. It was named after Bedminster, then in Somerset, England, and now a district of Bristol.[20][21] Bedminster Township was created by Royal charter on April 4, 1749, from portions of the Northern precinct. It was incorporated formally by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Portions of the township were taken on March 28, 1912, to form Peapack-Gladstone.[22]
Runnemede was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 23, 1926, from portions of the now-defunct Centre Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 24, 1926. The boroughs of Bellmawr, Mount Ephraim, and Lawnside were simultaneously created during the same two-day period.[21] The derivation of the borough’s name is uncertain, though claims that it derives from a Native American term for “running water” have been refuted and connections to General George Meade or to “rum we need” for a nearby tavern are probably apocryphal.[22] Sources have cited the name as coming from Runnymede, England.[23]