Tinton Falls

Tinton Falls is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 17,892,DP-1 – Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Tinton Falls borough, Monmouth County, New Jersey
, United States Census Bureau. Accessed August 1, 2012.Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2010 for Tinton Falls borough
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed August 1, 2012. an increase of 2,839 (+18.9%) from the 15,053 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 2,692 (+21.8%) from the 12,361 counted in the 1990 Census.

The borough was formed as New Shrewsbury by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on August 15, 1950, based on the results of a referendum held on July 18, 1950, after breaking away from Shrewsbury Township.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 183. Accessed August 5, 2012. It was renamed "Tinton Falls" in 1975, to avoid postal errors.Cheslow, Jerry

''The New York Times'', July 22, 2001. Accessed August 9, 2012. "The split left the old Shrewsbury Township with just the three streets that held the high-density housing. And the sparsely populated breakaway borough adopted the name New Shrewsbury, which it changed to Tinton Falls in 1975 to eliminate postal confusion.... Slavery: The Tinton Iron Works, started in 1674, was nicknamed 'the Iron Plantation' because it owned 60 or more black slaves.... According to a local history, the congregants took Woolman's message to heart. Shrewsbury Township, which included Tinton Falls, led the colonies in the number of slaves emancipated by owners during the pre-Revolutionary period. " The name came from Lewis Morris's plantation, Tinton Manor, which employed free white workers and slaves. The borough is home to the highest waterfall on New Jersey's coastal plain.

History

The area that is now known as Tinton Falls was originally settled in the late 1600s, probably beginning with the initial land purchases from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans in 1664. Water power and iron ore were likely the incentives that encouraged settlement: shortly after he land was purchased a man by the name of James Grover had an ironworks built along the river. Grover was likely the founder of the community, which, in the 1600s, was named "New Shrewsbury". At this time, the waterfall was known to be about high;Gabrelan, Randall
''The American Century Series: Tinton Falls in the Twentieth Century''
Arcadia Publishing, 1999. . Accessed June 7, 2015. erosion and the destruction of the dam near the ironworks have led to its diminishment.

The ironworks

Grover's ironworks was the central fixture of the community, and it was one of the oldest built in the country, predated only by buildings in Jamestown and Massachusetts. In 1675, a half-interest in the ironworks company was purchased by Colonel Lewis Morris, ho obtained a title granting him along the Shrewsbury River Morris also obtained land owned by Bartholomew Applegate, who had built a corn mill on the other side of the river. Morris, who procured the land for iron mining, named his holdings "Tintern Manor," after his family lands in Monmouthshire, Great Britain.Barrett, William A. (ed.
''Historical Scrapbook of Tinton Falls, New Jersey''
The Tinton Falls Bicentennial Committee, 1976. Accessed October 12, 2015. Tintern Abbey, located in Monmouthshire, Wales, is often accepted as the namesake of Tinton Falls. In 1691, Colonel Morris died, leaving the ironworks and Tinton Manor (a corruption of "Tintern Manor") to his nephew of the same name. By 1714, the ironworks had become less profitable, but mention of a Tinton Falls ironworks can be found as late as 1844. Morris brought in dozens of African slaves to mine the ore resulting in the nickname the "Iron Plantation", with the highest number of slaves being in Tinton Falls at that time in the colony of New Jersey, though in the mid-18th century it had the largest number of emancipated slaves in the 13 colonies, as residents followed the preaching of abolitionist John Woolman.

Separation from Shrewsbury Township

In 1693, Tinton Manor and the surrounding lands were defined as part of Shrewsbury Township. At this time, Shrewsbury included all of the land in eastern Monmouth County, but lost land due to the creation of a large number of new municipalities over the years, including the borough of Shrewsbury in 1926. In July 1950, Tinton Falls and Wayside left Shrewsbury Township, renaming themselves the Borough of New Shrewsbury. To avoid postal confusion and mix-ups with the surrounding borough and township of Shrewsbury, the residents of New Shrewsbury voted to rename the community as "The Borough of Tinton Falls" in 1975.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 15.60 square miles (40.41 km²), including 15.48 square miles (40.08 km²) of land and 0.13 square miles (0.33 km²) of water (0.83%).

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include Wayside. Green Grove, Hockhockson, Macedonia, Pine Brook, Reevytown, West Shrewsbury and Wileys Corner are other unincorporated communities located partly or completely within the borough.

The borough borders the Monmouth County municipalities of Colts Neck Township, Eatontown