Griggstown is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County,

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 ...

, United States.GCT-PH1 - Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place from the 2010 Census Summary File 1 for Somerset County, New Jersey
,

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

. Accessed February 11, 2013.New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32)

, August 2012. Accessed February 11, 2013. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, the CDP's population was 819.DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Griggstown CDP, New Jersey
,

. Accessed August 28, 2012. The area was first settled around 1733.

History

Many of the earliest European settlers of the area came from

Gravesend, Brooklyn Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the southwestern edge of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is bounded by the Belt Parkway to the south, Bay Parkway to the west ...

. Among these settlers were four sons born to John and Elizabeth Griggs: Benjamin (b. 1690), Daniel, Samuel, and Thomas. Griggstown was named after Benjamin Griggs, who established a grist mill on the Millstone River that served as a meeting place for the European farmers of the area and as such the center of the community that would become Griggstown.

Geography

According to the

, the CDP had a total area of 2.519 square miles (6.524 km²), including 2.447 square miles (6.338 km²) of land and 0.072 square miles (0.187 km²) of water (2.86%). Griggstown is adjacent to the communities of Kingston, Rocky Hill, Montgomery Township, Kendall Park (in South Brunswick), and Franklin Park. The closest city of note is

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. The

Millstone River The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows westward throu ...

and the

Delaware and Raritan Canal The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelp ...

both flow through Griggstown. Griggstown is accessible via

Route 27 Route 27, or Highway 27, may refer to: Australia * Burke Developmental Road (Queensland) * Zeehan Highway (Tasmania) Canada * Alberta Highway 27 * British Columbia Highway 27 * Manitoba Highway 27 * Prince Edward Island Route 27 * Saskatchew ...

(

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

), County Route 518 and U.S. Route 206. The major roads in Griggstown are Bunker Hill Road and Canal Road. There is also a small access road with a one-lane bridge(at one time referred to as "twin bridges") known as the Griggstown Causeway that offers access to and from Griggstown as well. The D&R Canal State Park is located on this road in conjunction with the canal side tow-path.

Selected sites

* Griggstown Quail Farm * Griggstown Cemetery where nineteen Irish canal workers who died of cholera in an 1832-1833 epidemic are buried. William B. Brahms, Franklin Township, Somerset County, NJ: A History, FTPL; * Griggstown Volunteer Fire Company * Griggstown Lock of the

* Griggstown Mine * Norseville * Sunset Hill Garden

Demographics

Census 2010

Historic district

The Griggstown Historic District is a national historic district encompassing the community along Canal Road from Old Georgetown Road to Ten Mile Run. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on August 2, 1984 for its significance in agriculture, architecture, commerce, industry, and transportation. The district includes 68 contributing buildings. The Griggstown Reformed Church was established in 1842 as the First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Griggstown. The building was dedicated on August 8, 1843 and features Greek Revival architecture. The Bridge Tender's House, the Bridge Tender’s Station and the Lock Tender's House, all built for the

, are contributing buildings. With

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Griggstown include: * Benjamin Griggs (1690-1768), founder of the grist mill after which Griggstown took its name. *

John Honeyman John Honeyman (1729August 18, 1822) was an American spy and British informant for George Washington, primarily responsible for spreading disinformation and gathering the intelligence crucial to Washington's victory in the Battle of Trenton. ...

(1729-1822), American spy for

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

. He was primarily responsible for gathering the intelligence crucial to Washington's victory in the Battle of Trenton. *

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University P ...

(born 1951) writer, academic and educator, as well as Pulitzer Prize-winning

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

originally from

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Gallery

File:Bridge Tender's Station, Griggstown, NJ.jpg, Bridge Tender’s Station File:Lock Tender's House, Griggstown, NJ.jpg, Lock Tender's House File:John Honeyman House, Griggstown, NJ.jpg, John Honeyman House Image:Griggstown Bridge over Millstone River.jpg, The Griggstown Causeway over the Millstone River

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Census-designated places in Somerset County, New Jersey Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey