Raritan River is a major river of

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 ...

. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the

Raritan Bay Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west by P ...

on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

History

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

s assert that the lower Raritan provided the course of the mouth of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

approximately 6,000 years ago. Following the end of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

the Narrows __NOTOC__ The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Riv ...

had not yet been formed and the Hudson flowed along the

Watchung Mountains The Watchung Mountains (once called the Blue Hills) are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Lena ...

to present-day Bound Brook, then followed the course of the Raritan eastward into

Lower New York Bay Lower New York Bay is a section of New York Bay south of the Narrows (the strait between Staten Island and Brooklyn). The eastern end of the Bay is marked by two spits of land, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Rockaway, Queens. The waterway b ...

. The name Raritan possibly derives from a branch of 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 ...

people called the Nariticongs, the first people known to settle the Raritan Valley. Following conflict with the arriving Dutch colonists, the native people of the region were forced to sell their territory near the

and move further inland along the river valley. As

English colonists The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the American Revolutionary War, ...

took over the region, they took advantage of the river's location between New York and Philadelphia as well as a road network developed by the Lenape to turn the region into a transportation and commercial hub.DeAngelo, W. A. (2008)
THE HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
New Brunswick; Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, pp. 22-23 As a result, the Raritan River became an important waterway for colonial travel and trade, allowing for the development of trade centers like

Raritan Landing Raritan Landing is a historical unincorporated community located within Piscataway Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, which was once an inland port, the farthest upstream point ocean-going ships could reach along the Raritan ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

where agricultural and raw material goods could be sold. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, the river was the site of guerilla warfare by American militiamen against British patrols, culminating in the

Battle of Bound Brook The Battle of Bound Brook (April 13, 1777) was a surprise attack conducted by British and Hessian forces against a Continental Army outpost at Bound Brook, New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War. The British objective of capturing ...

where a large British force attacked an American outpost south of the river. The success of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

sparked a "canal fever" in the United States, catalyzing the construction of 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 Philadel ...

between New Brunswick on the Raritan and Bordentown on the Delaware to provide a critical link between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

. The vast majority of traffic along the canal was Pennsylvania

anthracite coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...

with the rest consisting mostly of agricultural goods, and at its peak in 1866 it transported more cargo than the Erie Canal. In 1932 the canal shut down for commercial use, though in 1974 it was turned into a state park for recreational use and remains used as a water supply for Central New Jersey.

Description

The river forms at the confluence of the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and South Branches just west of

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

at the border of Bridgewater, Branchburg, and Hillsborough Townships. It flows for approximately before slowing in tidewater at

, and its

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

extends more entering the western end of

South Amboy South Amboy is a suburban city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 9,411.largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

, smallmouth bass, sunfish,

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

chain pickerel The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox'' genus of pike. Taxonomy French ...

american eel The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The America ...

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

can be found in relative abundance in some portions of the river like Clinton and Califon. An occasional Musky has been taken out of the Raritan as well. The tidal portions of the river host migratory salt water species such as

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has al ...

fluke Fluke may refer to: Biology * Fluke (fish), a species of marine flatfish * Fluke (tail), the lobes of the tail of a cetacean, such as dolphins or whales, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ...

winter flounder The winter flounder (''Pseudopleuronectes americanus''), also known as the black back, is a right-eyed ("dextral") flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is native to coastal waters of the western north Atlantic coast, from Labrador, Canada to ...

weakfish The weakfish, ''Cynoscion regalis'', is a marine fish of the drum family Sciaenidae. A medium-large, slender, marine fish, it is found along the east coast of North America. The head and back of this fish are dark brown in color with a greenish t ...

and

bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...

. Recently, efforts to restore anadromous fish populations have been made, done by removing many of the obsolete dams and the constructing dam bypass infrastructure. Hopefully this will result in restoring shad, striped bass, and sturgeon populations in the river. Many nesting birds and

water fowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...

make their homes in and along the length of the river. Crustaceans such as blue claw crab,

fiddler crabs The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw, while ...

and green crabs are also found in the tidal sections of the river.

Crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

can be found farther upstream. The river is also used for recreational boating, including use by the rowing team of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

in New Brunswick. The river is featured in the title of Rutgers' alma mater, '' On the Banks of the Old Raritan'', and its flooding is mentioned in the song. Near its mouth, the river is spanned by the

Raritan Bay Drawbridge The Raritan Bay Drawbridge, also known as River-Draw, Raritan Bay Swing Bridge, and Raritan River Railroad Bridge, is a railroad swing bridge crossing the Raritan River from where it empties into the Raritan Bay in Middlesex County, New Jersey, U ...

, a

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

railroad bridge which carries the

North Jersey Coast Line The North Jersey Coast Line is a commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or com ...

; the

Victory Bridge Victory Bridge may refer to: * Victory Bridge (Yerevan), in Yerevan, Armenia * Victory Bridge (New Jersey), in Middlesex County, New Jersey * Victory Bridge (Florida), in Sneads, Florida * Veresk Bridge The Veresk bridge ( fa, پل ورسک) is a ...

which carries Route 35 (connecting

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

and

Sayreville, New Jersey Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2010 United Sta ...

); the Edison Bridge, which carries

U.S. Route 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, between ...

(connecting Woodbridge Township and

Sayreville Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2010 United Sta ...

); and the

Driscoll Bridge The Governor Alfred E. Driscoll Bridge, also known as the Driscoll Bridge is a toll bridge (with a series of three spans) on the Garden State Parkway in the U.S. state of New Jersey spanning the Raritan River near its mouth in Raritan Bay. The bri ...

, which carries the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey ...

(connecting Woodbridge Township and Sayreville).

Water supply

The Raritan River is an important source of drinking water for the central portion of New Jersey. A water processing plant operated by

New Jersey American Water New Jersey American Water is the largest water utility in the U.S. State of New Jersey, serving around two and a half million people in 183 communities in 17 counties throughout the state, supplying potable water and wastewater service. Headquarte ...

is located in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and draws its water at the confluence of the Raritan River and its largest tributary (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 ...

), providing an average of of water per day. The New Jersey Water Supply Authority operates two reservoirs off of the Raritan river, the

Spruce Run Reservoir Spruce Run Recreation Area is a New Jersey state recreation area located in Union Township and Clinton Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. It encompasses the Spruce Run Reservoir that is used as a backup reservoir to prot ...

and

Round Valley Reservoir The Round Valley Reservoir in Clinton Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, was formed in 1960 when the New Jersey Water Authority constructed two large dams and flooded a large valley. The reservoir is named after the naturall ...

, and controls releases of water to ensure the “minimum passing flow rates” enforced by the

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staff o ...

. Additionally, the Delaware and Raritan Canal, managed by the New Jersey Water Supply Authority, serves as a water supply that pumps over of water per day from the Delaware to the Raritan river and serves over 1 million customers along the way

Flooding

The Raritan River has persistent flooding problems when excessive rain from storms affects the river basin. The flooding problems mainly affect the town of Bound Brook, which is partially built on a natural floodplain at the junction of several tributaries, and Manville, which has a large neighborhood known as Lost Valley that lies on the floodplain between the Raritan River and its largest tributary river, which is known as the

. Other towns in the Raritan River basin also experience flooding to a lesser degree. Record flooding in the aftermath of

Hurricane Floyd Hurricane Floyd was a very powerful Cape Verde hurricane which struck the Bahamas and the East Coast of the United States. It was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Floyd tr ...

in September 1999 () flood crest, above flood stage) caused renewed interest in a flood control project called the

Green Brook Flood Control Project The Green Brook Flood Control Project is a flood control project in Somerset County in central New Jersey first proposed in the early 1970s in the wake of two major flooding events: a 1971 flood event and a major 1973 flood which ravaged the Green ...

, which is designed to protect Bound Brook from a 150-year flood. In August 2011, record flooding occurred once again after

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 At ...

swept through the area. This problem was exacerbated by well-above average rainfall that fell in the weeks before the storm hit, and spurred completion of the Army Corps of Engineers flood control project. As of 2015, the current status of this project is: # The R2 levee system is functionally complete – The R2 Levee System is designed to provide Bound Brook with protection from a 150-year flood level. The levee is built to the height of the raised Talmage Avenue Bridge. # Closure gates along Raritan are functionally complete – The gate closures across the New Jersey Transit railroad tracks on the western side of Bound Brook and at the South Main Street railroad underpass that leads to Queens Bridge have been completed and are used to keep flood waters out of Bound Brook. # The new Talmadge Avenue Bridge that connects Bound Brook and

Bridgewater, New Jersey Bridgewater Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is both a regional commercial hub for Central New Jersey (home to Bridgewater Commons and different corporate headquarters) and is a bedroom suburb ...

is functionally complete. The replacement bridge was built to the height of the R2 Levee to prevent Middle Brook and Raritan River waters from entering Bound Brook from the west. # To improve water flow through Bound Brook, the former Conrail bridge over the Raritan River and its associated railroad embankment that were located east of Bound Brook were removed during 2007. The bridge and embankment, when they were in place, acted to block the river flow through the Bound Brook area. To build the main Bound Brook R2 levee, the bridge and embankment needed to be removed.Valinski, Robin Blackstone, "Green Brook Flood Control Project: Saving Bound Brook" (2012). Master of Environmental Studies Capstone Projects. 48. https://repository.upenn.edu/mes_capstones/48

Gallery

File:Raritan River, NJ - South Branch and North Branch confluence.jpg, Confluence of the South Branch and the North Branch with the Raritan River in Branchburg File:Raritay River viewed from Queens Bridge in Bound Brook.jpg, Raritan River viewed from Queens Bridge in Bound Brook File:Raritan River in Rutgers.jpg, Raritan River at the

Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

, as seen from Highland Park File:Victory Bridge from US 9.JPG, The

over Raritan River, as seen from the Edison Bridge in

File:Raritan_Bay_Bridge.jpg,

in its open position, between

and

South Amboy South Amboy is a suburban city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 9,411.Raritan Bay Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west by P ...

File:RartianRiverfromEdisonBoatBasin.jpg, View of the Raritan River from the Edison Boat Basin File:Raritan Flooding from Irene.jpg, Flooding damage from

Tropical Storm Irene The name Irene was used for thirteen cyclones worldwide: 12 tropical and one extratropical. Of the tropical cyclones named Irene, seven were in the Atlantic, two were in the South Pacific, and the Western Pacific, South-West Indian Ocean and Austral ...

in New Brunswick File:Boundbrook041607.jpg, The Raritan River flooding Bound Brook, Spring Nor'easter, April 16, 2007 File:RaritanRiver1948.PNG, A gauge inspector and the Manville gage house built into Van Veghten's Bridge abutment during the flood of December 31, 1948

Communities on the Raritan

(In alphabetical order) * Bound Brook * Bridgewater *

East Brunswick East Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York City metropolitan area and is located on the southern shore of the Raritan River, directly adjacent to the city ...

* Edison * Franklin Township * Highland Park * Hillsborough * Manville *

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Piscataway Piscataway may refer to: *Piscataway people, a Native American ethnic group native to the southern Mid-Atlantic States *Piscataway language *Piscataway, Maryland, an unincorporated community *Piscataway, New Jersey, a township *Piscataway Creek, Ma ...

* Raritan *

South Amboy South Amboy is a suburban city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 9,411.South Bound Brook South Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,563,Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

Tributaries

The Raritan river is formed by the confluence of: *

North Branch Raritan River The North Branch Raritan River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. The North Branch Raritan River rises in Morris County, in eastern Mendham Borough rising o ...

South Branch Raritan River The South Branch Raritan River is a tributary of the Raritan River in New Jersey.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. Description The source of the South Branch is the outflow from Budd Lake, a glacial remnant locate ...

Its main tributaries are: *

Green Brook Green Brook is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. Course The Green Brook rises in the Watchung Mountains at an elevation of 410 feet in ...

Lawrence Brook Lawrence Brook is a tributary of the Raritan River in Middlesex County, New Jersey, in the United States. Course Originally a stream, its course now includes man-made lakes created by dams built in the 19th and 20th centuries: Deans Pond ( So ...

* South River Others are: * Arrarat Creek * Crows Mill Creek * Cuckholds Brook * Dukes Brook * Garron Creek *

Manalapan Brook Manalapan Brook is a tributary of the South River in Monmouth and Middlesex counties, New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. Course The Manalapan Brook's source is at in western Mon ...

* Middle Brook *

Mile Run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

* Buell Brook * Mill Brook * Padilla Creek * Peters Brook * Pine Creek * Randolph Brook * Red Root Creek

References

External links

Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park

Duke Island Park

Raritan Basin Watershed Alliance

U.S. Geological Survey: NJ stream gaging stations

The Raritan-Millstone Heritage Alliance

{{authority control Rivers of Middlesex County, New Jersey Rivers of Somerset County, New Jersey Rivers of New Jersey Delaware and Raritan Canal Bodies of water in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey