The Gene Pool: Lost in New Jersey?
Lost in Essex Co., New Jersey?

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.

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