Category Archives: NJ Cities Gates services

Originally known as “Second River” or “Washington”, the inhabitants renamed the settlement “Belleville” in 1797.[24] Belleville was originally incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1839, from portions of Bloomfield. Portions of the township were taken to create Woodside Township (March 24, 1869, now defunct) and Franklin Township (February 18, 1874, now known as Nutley). The independent municipality of Belleville city was created within the township on March 27, 1874, and was dissolved on February 22, 1876. On November 16, 1910, Belleville was reincorporated as a town, based on the results of a referendum held eight days earlier.[25]

Princeton was founded before the American Revolutionary War. It is the home of Princeton University, which bears its name and moved to the community in 1756 from its previous location in Newark. Although its association with the university is primarily what makes Princeton a college town, other important institutions in the area include the Institute for Advanced Study, Westminster Choir College, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton Theological Seminary, Opinion Research Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Siemens Corporate Research, SRI International, FMC Corporation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Amrep, Church and Dwight, Berlitz International, and Dow Jones & Company.

Galloway Township was incorporated by Royal charter on April 4, 1774, from portions of Egg Harbor Township, when it was still part of Gloucester County. Galloway was incorporated as one of the initial group of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. After becoming part of the newly formed Atlantic County in 1837, portions of the township were taken to create Mullica Township (March 13, 1838), Egg Harbor City (June 14, 1858), Absecon town (February 29, 1872), Brigantine Beach borough (now Brigantine city; June 14, 1890) and Port Republic (March 1, 1905).[24]

What is now Nutley was originally incorporated as Franklin Township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 18, 1874, from portions of Belleville Township. Nutley was incorporated as a town on March 5, 1902, replacing Franklin Township.[23][24] In 1981, the town was one of seven Essex County municipalities to pass a referendum to become a township, joining four municipalities that had already made the change, of what would ultimately be more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify themselves as townships in order take advantage of federal revenue sharing policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid to municipalities on a per capita basis.[25][26][27][28]

The earliest inhabitants of present-day Ewing Township in the historic era were Lenni Lenape Native Americans, who lived along the banks of the Delaware River. Their pre-colonial subsistence activities in the area included hunting, fishing, pottery-making, and simple farming.[23] European settlers, mostly from the British Isles, began to colonize the area in 1699. One of the earliest European settlers was William Green, and his 1717 farmhouse still stands on the campus of The College of New Jersey.[24]

Both East Windsor and West Windsor were formed when Windsor Township was split on February 9, 1797, while the area was still part of Middlesex County. It was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey’s initial group of 104 townships. Portions of the township were taken to form Hightstown borough (March 5, 1853, within East Windsor; became independent c. 1894) and Washington Township (March 11, 1860, and known as Robbinsville Township since 2007).[21] The township was named for Windsor Township, which was named for Windsor, England.[22]

Monroe Township was originally formed as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 3, 1859, from portions of Washington Township, while the area was still part of Camden County. Monroe Township was shifted to Gloucester County on February 28, 1871, along with the majority of Washington Township. In 1950, portions of the township were transferred to Winslow Township in Camden County.[20] The township was named for President James Monroe.[21]

Geographically, the township is part of the South Jersey region.

Freehold Township was first formed on October 31, 1693, and was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Portions of Freehold Township were taken to form Upper Freehold Township (c. 1731), so some wills and official records following the split referred to “Lower Freehold Township” although the official name has always been Freehold Township.[24][25] Additional portions formed Millstone Township (February 28, 1844), Jackson Township (March 6, 1844), Atlantic Township (February 18, 1847; now Colts Neck Township), Marlboro Township (February 17, 1848) and Manalapan Township (March 9, 1848). Freehold town was formed within the township on March 25, 1869, and formally separated when it was reconstituted as a borough on April 15, 1919, including additional portions of the township.[26]

Fair Lawn was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 6, 1924, as “Fairlawn”, from portions of Saddle River Township.[23] The name was taken from Fairlawn, David Acker’s estate home, that was built in 1865 and later became the Fair Lawn Municipal Building.[24][25] In 1933, the official spelling of the borough’s name was split into its present two-word form as “Fair Lawn” Borough.[23]