Elizabeth Township, also called Elizabethtown, was a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

that existed in Essex County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, from 1664 until 1855. The area was initially part of the

Elizabethtown Tract The Elizabethtown Tract was a property that was purchased on October 28, 1664, by John Baily, Daniel Denton and Luke Watson from the Native Americans that is in the area of (and surrounding) present-day Elizabeth, New Jersey. The Native American ...

, purchased from the

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

on October 28, 1664.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 238. Accessed November 3, 2012. Elizabeth-Town Township was formed on October 31, 1693, while the area was still within Essex County. Elizabeth was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial 104 townships by the

Township Act of 1798 The Township Act of 1798 ("An Act incorporating the Inhabitants of Townships, designating their Powers, and regulating their Meetings", PL 1798, p. 289) is an Act passed by New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, that formally incorporat ...

Act of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

on February 21, 1798. Portions of the township were taken to form Westfield Township (January 27, 1794), Springfield Township (April 14, 1794), Rahway Township (February 27, 1804) and Clinton Township (April 14, 1834). On March 13, 1855, the

City of Elizabeth The City of Elizabeth was a local government area located in the northern suburbs of Adelaide and seated at Elizabeth from 1964 to 1997. History Prior to the 1950s, most of the area surrounding today's suburb of Elizabeth was farming estates. A ...

was created, combining and replacing both Elizabeth Township and Elizabeth Borough. With the creation of the City of Elizabeth, Elizabeth Township was dissolved.

References

{{coord, 40.671, -74.211, type:adm3rd_globe:earth_region:US-NJ, display=title 1693 establishments in New Jersey 1855 disestablishments in New Jersey Former townships in New Jersey Geography of Essex County, New Jersey Populated places established in 1693 Populated places disestablished in 1855