Pleistocene Era

The New Jersey Geological and Water Survey (Report 43, 2018, revised 2019) titled, "Garden State Mastodons" describes the remains of mastodons found in Warren County.

Pre-Colonial Era

Prior to the arrival of Europeans to the Americas, indigenous peoples originated from thousands of years of migration from Asia and Africa across the Bering Strait during the last ice age around 15,000 years ago. 

The Lenni Lenape ("Original People") have inhabited the New Jersey area long before the arrival of Europeans. They were a part of the Algonquin nation and were occasionally scorned by other tribes for their peaceable manner. 

There were three sub-tribes in New Jersey that were a part of the Lenni-Lenape Nation:

• Minsi (North)-- "the people of the stony country"
• Unami (Central)-- "the people down the river"
• Unilachtigo (South)-- "the people who lived near the ocean"

There have been a great many archaeological and anthropological finds throughout the county that pertain to the habitation of the indigenous peoples who lived in the area prior to European settlement. According to Max Schrabisch, there are sections in Warren County that had intense historic activity: Delaware River Valley (150 sites), Paulins Kill Valley (106 sites) and Beaver Brook Valley between Silver Lake and Sarepta (55 sites).

[Schrabisch, Max. "Archaeology of Warren & Hunterdon Counties", Bulletin 18. Reports of the Department of Conservation & Development, State of NJ, 1917 LINK]

Colonial Era

In 1713, the West Jersey Council of Proprietors purchased all of the land above the Falls of the Delaware in Trenton from the Lenni Lenape, opening the northwestern portion of the colony to settlement. 

Two years later, Thomas Stevenson (c. 1648-1725) and John Reading, Jr. (1657-1717), surveyed the land that is now Warren County and found within the hills and valleys established foot trails and settlements of the Minsi (Lenni Lenape). Working independently of one another, the surveyors followed the beds of rivers and creeks, noting mineral deposits and potential water power sites that would bring investors and foster the creation of villages.

[NJ Colonial Records, 1664-1703]

Before Warren County became its own county in 1824, it was a part of:

• 1713 to 1738: Part of Hunterdon County1738 to 1753: Part of Morris County
• 1753 to 1824: Part of Sussex County

 Before Warren County was created

Prior to 1824-25, there were several attempts to create a new county.

• 1800s: petitions to separate southwestern Sussex Co. into a new county
• 1816: NJ Assembly Minutes proposed names of "Jackson", "Jefferson", and "Washington" as the new county's name
• 4 November 1822: NJ Assembly Bill proposed the name of "Delaware" for the new county
• November 1823: NJ Assembly Bill proposed the name of "Paterson" for the new county
• 10 November 1824: NJ Assembly Bill passed the act "to erect the southwesterly part of Sussex County into a separate county to be called the county of Warren."
  • Vote passed with 25 yeas and 15 nays
  • 10 days later, the Legislative Council voted the separation into law

N.J. Legislature (20 Nov 2024)

"All the lower part of the county of Sussex beginning' on the river Delaware at the mouth of Flatbrook, in the township of Walpack, and running from thence a straight course to the northeast corner of Hardwick church, situated on the south side of the main road leading from Johnsonburg to Newton, and from thence in the same course to the middle of Musconetcong creek, be, and the same is hereby erected into a separate county, to he called ‘the County of Warren’; and a line running from thence down the middle of the said Musconetcong creek to where it empties into the Delaware, shall hereafter be the division line between the counties of Morris and Hunterdon and the said county of Warren."

The boundary lines were defined as: the Flat Brook (Flatbrookville), the Yellow Frame Church (Hardwick), "Main Road" (Johnsonburg to Newton), and the Musconetcong River in Allamuchy.

The elected officials for each county included two members elected to the General Assembly and one member in the Legislative Council of State (Senate). The first commissioners to mark the line included: Nathaniel Saxton, Thomas Gordon, and Benjamin McCourry. They were each paid $5 per day for their services.

The legislation was passed on 20 November 1824, but it was not enacted until the Freeholders (now Commissioners) met the next May.

Original Townships

Before Warren County separated from Sussex County, the original townships for Sussex were Walpack, Newton, Hardwick and Greenwich. After Warren Co. separated from Sussex, the original townships were Greenwich, Mansfield (Mansfield-Woodhouse), Oxford (from Greenwich), Independence (including Hackettstown), Knowlton (including Hope), Hardwick, and Pahaquarry (formerly Packaquarry).

The County Seat & Current Municipalities

Originally, the county was comprised of seven townships that included Greenwich, Hardwick, Independence, Knowlton, Mansfield, Oxford and Pahaquarry. From these original townships emerged twenty-two current municipalities (Allamuchy, Blairstown, Franklin, Frelinghuysen, Greenwich, Hardwick, Harmony, Hope, Independence, Knowlton, Liberty, Lopatcong, Mansfield, Oxford, Pohatcong, Washington and White), three towns (Belvidere, Hackettstown and Phillipsburg) and two boroughs (Alpha and Washington). In 1997, Pahaquarry, one of the original townships, merged with Hardwick Township.

The First Board of Chosen Freeholders voted the town of Belvidere as a county seat with 25 yeas and 15 nays on 19-20 April 1825. 

Towns petitioned in the Belvidere Apollo newspaper for various towns to become the county seat. Tacy Paul Robeson (1769-1849), the wife of (David) Morris Robeson (1759-1823), grandson of the building of the Oxford Furnace, offered land and money if they chose Oxford as the County seat (February 1825). Inevitably, Belvidere was chosen as the county seat.

Belvidere Apollo, Vol 1 Number 14

Thursday Morning, April 12, 1825

“Dear Editor: After the gross but pitiful abuse dealt out by certain writers in your paper against the liberal and generous offer made by the ‘Heirs of the Oxford Furnace,’ ‘tis strange to learn, that at least two of those famous writers, finding that poor Belvidere was likely to remain in the back ground, have used their utmost efforts to incite their friends to a subscription, … to raise an offer for the use of the county at that place [Oxford]… The fact there is, that Mrs. [Tacy Paul] Robeson, Executrix of the Will of the late [David] Morris Roberson, Esq. being authorized to depose of the Estate, ‘Real and Personal’ either publicly or privately as she may judge best for the interest of the estate…We must beware of the interested, uncandid, disingenuous, misrepresentations made by persons favoring the projects of other places, the prejudice the public vote on this subject… to vote for the ‘most suitable central position’ for our courthouse’. That the ‘Furnace’ is the point most accommodating, cannot admit of a single doubt or denial, yours respectfully,                                                              

    TRUTH.”

The Town of Belvidere was chosen as the county seat, a decision that was influenced mostly by the action of General Garrett D. Wall who donated the grounds for the county courthouse and public square in Belvidere.

Garret D. Wall was born in Middletown, New Jersey and licensed as an attorney (1804) and council (1807) in Burlington, New Jersey. He commanded a volunteer regiment from Trenton during the War of 1812. In addition, he served in a variety of political roles including: NJ Supreme Court Clerk (1812-1817), Member of the NJ Assembly (1827), US Attorney for the District of NJ (1829), elected Governor of New Jersey in 1829 (declined position), was in the US Senate (4 March 1835 to 3 March 1841). The township of Wall is named in his honor. Garret D. Wall was not from Warren County.

Naming the new County

The county was named in honor of the Revolutionary War hero  General Joseph Warren (1741-1775), a Bostonian who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. Dr. Warren was a Massachusetts physician and politician who was killed by a musket ball to the back of his head during or just after the storming of the redoubt atop Breed's Hill by British troops. According to British General Thomas Gage, his death was "worth the death of 500 men." (Read more about how Gen. Dr. Joseph Warren at the Battle of Bunker/Breed's Hill.)

Dr. Warren neither lived in nor visited New Jersey, particularly the county that would one day bear his name. 

 Did you know that there in the United States there are 14 counties named for Dr. Joseph Warren? [Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia.

  In addition, five ships in the Continental Navy and United States Navy were named Warren in his honor.

There are also many towns, streets, and forts named for Gen. Warren as well.

Building the Courthouse

In 1825, the County Board of Freeholders (now Board of County Commissioners) ordered $3,500 to be raised for the construction of a brick courthouse that included a jail and offices for the clerk and surrogate on the first floor and the courtroom, which is still in use, on the second floor.

The land for the courthouse was donated by George Hiles (b. 1780), a wealthy farmer and landowner in Belvidere and father of Jane Hiles Scranton (1811-1878), wife of Pennsylvania Congressman, Col. George Whitfield Scranton (1811-1861). 

The Courthouse was built by L. H. Lewis in 1826, was renovated in 1953, and expanded with an addition in 1961. There were several additional renovations in recent decades. It is a contributing property that is a part of the Belvidere Historic District and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 3, 1980 (the courthouse is included in the Belvidere Historic District.)

Early Transportation

Transportation was an integral part of the County's history. The earliest inhabitants, the Lenni Lenape, lived along the rivers and streams of the region and created paths and trails for travel and migration.

The first European settlers to the area were the Dutch, who came to Pahaquarry Township to dig for copper in the mid-17th century.  During this time, they constructed the first commercial interstate highway in North American called the "Old Mine Road" that began north of Belvidere and traveled north to Kingston, NY. The New Jersey part of the Old Mine Road is a part of Worthington State Forrest and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area (DWGNRA) and begins at Route 80 (Exit 1 Millbrook; Flatbrookville ) and travels north along the Delaware River to Montague, in Sussex County, NJ. Today, Pahaquarry is a defunct township that was dissolved in 1997 and most of it became a part of the DWGNRA.

Morris Canal (1829-1934)

The Morris Canal was completed May 20, 1832 and its western terminus was at Phillipsburg on the Delaware River in Warren County. The canal traversed across northern New Jersey on a 102-mile route to Jersey City. It provided a thoroughfare for the county's farm products to reach metropolitan markets. Villages such as Port Warren, Port Colden, Port Murray and Rockport owe their names and existence to their locations along the canal. The canal also brought together anthracite coal from Pennsylvania as well as limestone and iron ore from New Jersey during an era of early industrialization. Railroads quickly replaced the canal and increased the speed of development and expansion of industry within the country.

Railroads

The Warren Railroad traveled through Warren County and served as a part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's mainline from 1856 to 1911, until the completion of the Lackawanna Cut-Off in 1911, and operated from 1851 to 1945. 

• The first track was laid in Knowlton Township by John I. Blair in 1856 and completed its link to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) and connected lucrative eastern markets for coal and iron products from Pennsylvania.
• Manunka Chunk tunnels were 900-feet long through Beaver Brook. A junction and station were erected at the tunnel's exit, and the WRR continued its route parallel and north of what is now Route 46 as it traversed towards its junction with the DL&W.
• Paulins Kill Viaduct, which is 117 feet high, is a bridge along the Lackawanna Cut-Off. It has less reinforced concrete than its sister bridge over the Delaware. It is 1,110 feet in length its seven Beaux Arts arches, which are still visible. [.]
• Railroad service to Washington began with the opening of the WRR on 27 1856 between Delaware and Hampton.
  

Blairstown Railway (TRWY) and New York Susquehanna & Western (NYSW) opened in 1877 and connected to the Warren Railroad in Delaware to Blairstown. The Blairstown Railroad became part of the NYS&W and connected east to Jersey City and west to Stroudsburg. The line was abandoned in Columbia in 1941 and Sparta by 1962. The Blairstown Railway station was built along the Paulins Kill near the Hainesburg tannery and grist mill.

Lehigh & New England (L&NE) ran from the Lehigh Valley to Maybrook, New York and extended through Knowlton in 1886, using trackage rights on the NYS&W from Hainesburg Junction to Swartswood. It was abandoned in October 1961.

Lackawanna Cut-Off was constructed by the DL&W and opened in 1911. The Cut-Off was the last mainline built in New Jersey and replaced the "Old Road", which was 11 miles longer.

At one time, Phillipsburg was the crossroads for five railroads, each with its own freight yard and maintenance facility in the town. Also, one heavy manufacturing plant employed up to 4500 people and provided a great deal of machinery to the World War II effort. The Phillipsburg Union Station is currently a railroad station museum

Oxford Furnace

In c. 1741, Jonathan Robeson (1690-1766), of Philadelphia, PA began to built the Oxford Furnace due to the accessibility to local iron mines. The first pig iron was turned out on 9 March 1743 and weekly production ranged from 13 to 15 tons. Robeson entered into a partnership with Joseph Shippen, Sr. and later, Dr. William Shippen, Sr. (brothers from Philadelphia). Robeson and Joseph Shippen agreed to share the Furnace's profits equally.

In 1834, William Henry III (1794-1878) leased the furnace property, including Shippen Manor. According to his Journal ("Historical Memoranda"), Henry "rebuilt the stack in part, the entire bridge and casting houses, coal barns, and some six workmens" between April and August of 1832, after leasing the property.  and Oxford became the first furnace in the United States to use the "hot blast" process, which increased operations and output. Henry established the Henry Rifle Manufacturing Company in Nazareth, PA on Bushkill Creek (Jacobsburg State Park) before coming to Oxford. In 1840, he built the Lackawanna Steel facility with the Scranton brothers, who were his partners, and eventually sons-in-law.

Due to a significant crack within the bosh, the furnace was deemed inoperable and by 1884, it was blasted out for the final time.

The remains of the Oxford Furnace complex can be seen on Washington Avenue and Cinder Street. 

MAPS OF NEW JERSEY & THE COUNTIES

	East-West Jersey Map (1664-1702) that shows two of the diagonal lines.
	Map of Northwest New Jersey when current Warren Co. is a part of Sussex County. Notice the smaller number of counties in the northern part of the state.
	1825 Map of Warren County showing original townships
	1874 Beers Atlas of Warren County showing more townships
	Current map of Warren County showing all municipalities (townships, towns).