A Handy Directory of Past & Present Township Names to Help You in Your Search.
From: [email protected]
Horse Neck Founders, Inc., PO Box 122, Caldwell, NJ 07006-0122

NOTE: The names of places in this area have changed and continue to change so much that I had started a list. Some of the old names apply to communities in the bordering counties of Passaic, Hudson, Bergen, Morris and Union, but I included some of them because the borders had been changed so often. I have also added a separate list of all the current municipalities in Essex County. The County Seat is the City of Newark. This list is by no means complete. Additions and corrections are welcome. Please send them (with source information) to [email protected] or to Horse Neck Founders, Inc., PO Box 122, Caldwell, NJ 07006-0122

CURRENT (1995) MUNICIPALITIES
IN THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW JERSEY

• Belleville, Township of
• Bloomfield, Township of
• Caldwell, Borough of
• Cedar Grove, Township of
• East Orange, City of
• Essex Fells, Borough of
• Fairfield, Township of
• Glen Ridge, Borough of
• Irvington, Township of
• Livingston, Township of
• Maplewood, Township
• Milburn, Township of
• Montclair, Township of
• Newark, City of
• North Caldwell, Borough
• Nutley, Town of
• Orange, City of
• Roseland, Borough
• South Orange, Village of
• Verona, Township
• West Caldwell, Township
• West Orange, Township of

Looking for Ancestors & Associates in Essex County, NJ?
(Sometimes found in surrounding Hudson, Union, Bergen and Morris Counties)

FORMER NAME                LOCATIONS/LATER AND/OR CURRENT NAMES

Achquechnonk

Parts of Fairfield, City of Passaic and of City of Paterson (The latter are in Passaic County) (There are more than 30 spelling variations)

Acquackanong

Parts of Fairfield, City of Passaic and of City of Paterson (The latter are in Passaic County) (There are more than 30 spelling variations)

Acquacnock

Parts of Fairfield, City of Passaic and of City of Paterson (The latter are in Passaic County) (There are more than 30 spelling variations)

Acquackanonk

Parts of Fairfield, City of Passaic and of City of Paterson (The latter are in Passaic County) (There are more than 30 spelling variations)

Belleville

Bounded on the west by the Passaic River; on the south by Second River; west by Bloomfield; Franklin Twp was part of it until in 1874

Bloomfield Township

Belleville, Bloomfield, Franklin, Glen Ridge, Montclair, Nutley and portions of Newark (Forest Hill and Woodside), Speertown Villages and Spring Garden

Bound Creek

Port of entry to interior of NJ -- on the lower road to Elizabeth

Brookdale

Previously called Stone House Plains; northern section of Bloomfield

Bushtown

North Caldwell (eastern section)

Buttertown

Verona near Mt. Prospect, 1/4 mi south of Pompton T'pike

Caldwell Township

Caldwell Borough, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Livingston (sections), North Caldwell, Roseland, Verona, West Caldwell, West Orange (sections)

Caldwell Village

Region around Caldwell Presbyterian Church

Camptown

Irvington

Canoe Brook

Livingston

Centerville

Caldwell (southern section), Livingston (northern section), Essex Fells and Roseland (also called South Caldwell)

Cheapside

Also called Moorehousetown and Northfield; southern part of Livingston

Clinton, Vill. of

Fairfield (western section)

Clinton Twp

Located south and east of South Orange; west of Newark; and north of Union; now Maplewood and Irvington

Continental Woods

Swampland along Third River

Cranetown

Montclair

Croton

Milburn

Doddtown

Located east and west of the Old Road along the Second River; now Orange

Elizabeth Town

Elizabeth (Union County)

Elizabethtown

Elizabeth (Union County

First Mountain

Montclair Mountain; Watchung Mountain; runs east/northeast for 48 miles from Pluckamin in Somerset County to Paterson in Passaic County

Franklin

West Caldwell (region from west of Caldwell to Pine Brook and north to Fairfield

Franklin Hill

Watessing; now Bloomfield

Great Piece Meadow

Located along Passaic River in Fairfield

Hetfield Swamp

Located on Passaic River in Fairfield

Hilton

Had been called Middleville; now a section of South Orange Twp

Hocquackanong

Parts of Fairfield, City of Passaic and of City of Paterson (The latter are in Passaic County) (There are more than 30 spelling variations)

Hoock

Abbreviation of Paulus Hook, now Jersey City (Hudson County)

Horseneck/Horse Neck

Caldwell, North Caldwell, Roseland, Essex Fells, West Caldwell

Jefferson Village

Formerly part of Springfield Twp, now Maplewood

Little Piece Meadow

Located along Passaic River in Fairfield

Llewellyn Park

Located on eastern slope of First Mountain in West Orange

Lyons Farms

Southern section of Clinton Twp; now section of Irvington

Middleville

Became Hilton, now section of South Orange Twp.

Millville

Milburn

Montclair Mountain

First Mountain; Watchung Mountain

Moorehousetown

Southern part of Livingston; also called Cheapside and Northfield

New Barbadoes

One of three townships created in Essex County 1692

Newtown Road

Belleville Avenue

Newark

Originally area bounded by Elizabeth (South),

Fairfield

(North), Passaic River (East)and the Orange Mountains and Watchung Mountain (West)

Newark Mountain

Orange

Northfield

Southern part of Livingston; also called Cheapside and Moorehousetown

Nova Caesarea

Early name for New Jersey

Nutley

Originally an estate in Franklin Twp; now Twp of Nutley

Orange City

City of Orange

Parsippanong

Parsippany (Morris County)

Paulus Hook

Jersey City (Hudson County)

Peck Town

Peck Hill in Orange

Peckmantown

Settlement along Peckman River; now Cedar Grove

Pesayak River

Passaic River

Pleasant Dale

South end of Vernon Valley -- now West Orange

Pleasant Valley

Western slope of First Mountain, now Verona

Povershon Hill

Portion of Franklin Twp

Riverhead

Milburn

Rum Brook

Milburn

Second Mountain

Parallels First Mountain; located west of First Mountain

Second River

Belleville

South Caldwell

Caldwell (southern section), Livingston (northern section), became Essex Fells and Roseland; was also called Centerville

Speertown

Upper Montclair section of Montclair

Springfield Twp

Maplewood

Stone House Plains

Later called Brookdale; northern section of Bloomfield

Third River

Currently called Nutley

Township of Clinton

Now called Irvington

Vaux Hall

Formerly Township of Clinton, now Irvington and Milburn

Vernon Valley

Land in valley between First and Second Mountains, with Verona lake in the center; now called Verona

Wardsesson

Region of Bloomfield from the Morris Neighborhood to Watesson Hill in the valley of Second River plundered during Rev. War; variation of Indian Watesson that incorporates the name of the Ward family who lived in that area (alternate spelling)

Watchung Mountain

First Mountain; Montclair Mountain

Wateson

Region of Bloomfield from the Morris Neighborhood to Watesson Hill in the valley of Second River plundered during Rev. War; variation of Indian Watesson that incorporates the name of the Ward family who lived in that area (alternate spelling)

Watessing

Region of Bloomfield from the Morris Neighborhood to Watesson Hill in the valley of Second River plundered during Rev. War; variation of Indian Watesson that incorporates the name of the Ward family who lived in that area (alternate spelling)

Watesson Hill

Region of Bloomfield from the Morris Neighborhood to Watesson Hill in the valley of Second River plundered during Rev. War; variation of Indian Watesson that incorporates the name of the Ward family who lived in that area (alternate spelling)

Watesson Plain

Region of Bloomfield from the Morris Neighborhood to Watesson Hill in the valley of Second River plundered during Rev. War; variation of Indian Watesson that incorporates the name of the Ward family who lived in that area (alternate spelling)

West Bloomfield

Montclair

Westfield

Region of near Crane's Sawmill (Westville & Passaic Ave) now West Caldwell

Westville Vill.

Portion of Westfield including Hetfield Swamp; now West Caldwell

Whipponong

Whippany (Morris County)

Woodside

Formerly north end of Newark, now Bloomfield

Wyoming

Section of Milburn

Yauntakah River

Third River (north of Newark)

SOURCES

"Country Life in Fairfield, New Jersey 1887 to 1909." Roscoe W. DeBaun, privately printed, 1957

"Maplewood Past and Present: A Miscellany." Helen B. Bates, Ed., Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1948

"History of the Oranges." Stephen Wickes, M.D., Newark, NJ: New England Society of Orange, 1892

"History of the Oranges to 1921, Vol 1-4." David Lawrence Pierson, New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1922

"History of Newark, Vol 1-3." New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1913

"Livingston: The Story of A Community." Work Projects Administration Writers Program, USA, Progress Publishing Co., 1939

"A Puritan Heritage." Lynn G. Lockward, Caldwell, NJ: , 1955

"Between the First and Second Mountains -- Verona, NJ." Kurt Landsberger, Ed., Verona, NJ: Private, 1995

"Along the Whippanong: A History of Hanover Twp., NJ 1676-1976." Elizabeth R. Myrose and Claire B. Kitchell, Private, 1976

"Woodside 1743-1909." C. G. Hine, Hine's Annual, 1909 (northern section of Newark)

"Bloomfield Old and New." Joseph Fulford Folsom, Ed. Bloomfield, NJ: Centennial Historical Committee, 1912

"History of Essex and Hudson Counties. Vol 1 and Vol 2." William H. Shaw, Compiler. Philadelphia: Everts and Peck, 1884.