Ashby Creek is a tributary of Doctors Creek in Upper Freehold Township,

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population w ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It runs for from the area near Wrightsville and empties into Doctors Creek southeast of

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...

Course

From its mouth near Wrightsville within Upper Freehold Township, the creek briefly heads west through farmland, then south into a wooded area where it crosses under Interstate 195 (I-195) west of its interchange 11. The creek is impounded forming an unnamed lake before continuing west through woods and farmland staying just to the south of I-195. It passes under the

Union Transportation Trail The Union Transportation Trail is a rail trail situated in western Monmouth County, New Jersey. It extends from Hornerstown, New Jersey, to the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. The trail occupies the former roadbed of the Pennsylvania Rail ...

(formerly the

Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad The Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad was a railroad in the U.S. state of New Jersey. History The Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad was chartered in 1864 and completed in 1868; it linked the towns of Pemberton and Hightstown, a total of .See Br ...

) and Sharon Station Road. Continuing to wind towards the west through farmland, it is again impounded within an unnamed lake between a farm and small residences. Downstream of this dam, the creek passes under Allentown-Lakewood Road ( County Route 526) then continuing southwest through woods situated between two housing developments. Ashby Creek flows into Doctors Creek about southeast of downtown Allentown.

Name

The creek had been known as Negro Run or a variation of that since the 1700s. The name may have been intended to honor

fugitive slaves In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called free ...

who passed through the area on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. It was also known as Nigger Run by the 1800s. It was noted as Nigger Run on the Allentown

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

topographic map by 1948, but had been officially renamed to Negro Run in 1957, around the time other similarly offensive names were changed by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

(BGN). In the 1990s, a local resident submitted several proposals to change the name of Negro Run to

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Creek or Freedom Creek. The change were opposed by local residents and governments, wanting to keep the more historical name. Historic research found that George Ashby (1844–1946), a black farmer who had served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, lived and worked near the creek. Ashby was also New Jersey's last surviving Civil War veteran. Following the creation of a park in Allentown in 2016, a local resident launched an online petition drive to rename the creek for Ashby. Though some opposition still existed from local historic societies and the Upper Freehold Township council, the BGN Domestic Naming Committee at their November 2018 meeting voted 11–1 to rename the creek to Ashby Creek.

References

{{coord, 40.17087, N, 74.57886, W, source:GNIStemplate_region:US-NJ, display=title Tributaries of the Delaware River Rivers of Monmouth County, New Jersey Rivers of New Jersey Upper Freehold Township, New Jersey

Course

Name

See also

References