Warren County, New Jersey

Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 109,632, representing an increase of 940 (0.9%) from the 108,692 residents counted at the 2010 census. The county borders the Delaware River and Easton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley to its west, the New York City metropolitan area to its east, and The Poconos to its northwest. Warren County is the only county in New Jersey which is not part of the combined statistical areas of New York City or Philadelphia. The most populous place is Phillipsburg, with 14,950 residents at the time of the 2010 census while Hardwick Township had both the largest area and the fewest people with 1,696 residents. Its county seat is Belvidere.New Jersey County Map
, New Jersey Department of State. Accessed July 10, 2017.

Warren County was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on November 20, 1824, from portions of Sussex County. At its creation, the county consisted of the townships of Greenwich, Independence, Knowlton, Mansfield, Oxford, and the now defunct Pahaquarry.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 245. Accessed January 21, 2013. The county is part of the North Jersey region.

Geography and climate

According to the 2010 census, the county had a total area of , including of land (98.4%) and of water (1.6%).Census 2010 U.S. Gazetteer Files: New Jersey Counties
United States Census Bureau, Backed up by the Internet Archive as of June 11, 2012. Accessed October 7, 2013.

Warren County has rolling hills, with the Kittatinny Ridge in the west. Allamuchy Mountain and Jenny Jump Mountain are part of the New York – New Jersey Highlands, also known as the Reading Prong. Around 450 million years ago, a chain of volcanic islands collided with proto North America. The chain of islands went over the North American plate, thus the Highlands were created from the island rock and so was the Great Appalachian Valley. The Highlands is Allamuchy Mountains and the Jenny Jump Mountains. Thus, Warren County was born.

Around 400 million years ago, a small continent that was long and thin collided with proto North America. This created the Kittatinny Mountains as land compressed from the collision. The quartzite that was lying in a shallow sea over top of the Martinsburg shale, folded and faulted due to pressure and heat. The quartzite lifted, thus the Kittatinny Mountain was born.

The final collision was when the African plate collided with the North American plate. This was the final episode of the building of the Appalachian Mountains. Then the African plate tore away from North America.

Then the Wisconsin Glacier covered the northern part of the county from 21,000 to 13,000 BC. This glacier covered the top of Kittatinny Mountain and carved the terrain in the northern part of the county. The terminal moraine runs from north of Belvidere to the south of Great Meadows to north of Hackettstown, to the north of Budd Lake. Blairstown Township, Hope Township, half of Independence Township, part of White Township, and all of Allamuchy Township was covered by the Glacier.
When the glacier melted, a lake was formed at Great Meadows. Slowly the lake drained leaving a large flat area filled with organic material.

The county is drained by three rivers. All three rivers are shallow and narrow. They are fresh water rivers that are excellent for fishing.
The Paulins Kill drains the western portion of the county. The river flows from Newton to Blairstown Township, and then through Knowlton Township where it drains into the Delaware River. The Pequest River drains the middle of the county flowing from Andover Township through Allamuchy, then to Independence Township where it turns west and flows through White Township and then empties into the Delaware River at Belvidere. The third river is the Musconetcong. Starting at Lake Musconetcong, the river divides the county from Morris and Hunterdon. This river drains the southern portion of the county and empties into the Delaware River near Warren Glen.

Warren County is located in two valleys of the Great Appalachian Valley. The first is the Kittatinny Valley, which is in the northern part of the county, and the Lehigh Valley, which borders the southern part of the county.

The Lehigh Valley starts at the terminal moraine of the Wisconsin Glacier slightly north of Belvidere. It extends from the Delaware River south to where the Musconetcong River enters the Delaware River, northeast to the Jenny Jump Mountains and then along Route 80 to the Allamuchy Mountains to the terminal moraine near Hackettstown.

The Kittatinny Valley is north of the terminal moraine; it runs north of Belvidere, to south of Great Meadows, then east to the north of Hackettstown. Towns such as Blairstown, Johnsonburg, Hope and Allamuchy are in the Kittatinny Valley

The highest elevation is above sea level on the Kittatinny Ridge, at two areas just south of Upper Yards Creek Reservoir, west of Blairstown. The lowest point is the confluence of the Delaware and Musconetcong rivers at the county's southern tip, at of elevation.

The highest elevation on Allamuchy Mountain is on the ridge northeast of Allamuchy. On Jenny Jump Mountain the highest point is east of the Shiloh area or south of Interstate 80. Sunfish Pond has an elevation of and upper Yards Creek Reservoir is at .

ZIP code locations

Climate and weather

Warren County has a humid continental climate (''Dfa''/''Dfb''). Average monthly temperatures in downtown Phillipsburg range from in January to in July, while in Hackettstown they range from in January to in July

The hardiness zones are 6a and 6b.

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Belvidere have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of was recorded in July 1999. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.

History

Etymology

The county was named for Joseph Warren, an American Revolutionary War hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill.Hutchinson, Viola L
''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''
, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed October 30, 2017.

Prehistory

After the Wisconsin Glacier melted around 13,000 B.C., the area slowly warmed, but was still cold and wet. The receding glaciers left vast bodies of water and swamp areas throughout modern-day Warren County. There was a huge lake at Great Meadows. At first the area was Tundra, in which lichens and mosses grew. Later, grasslands filled in the landscape. As climate warmed over a thousand years, Taiga/Boreal Forests grew. The water drained slowly from the glacier and so grasslands grew first. Big game such as mastodons, mammoths, and caribou came into the area, as well as other game such as rabbits and foxes. These animals ate the lichens, moss and grasses that grew. This is when Paleo Indians moved into the area. The area was rich in wildlife. Paleo Indians lived in small groups and traveled in search of game and plants to eat. They were hunter-gathers. They lived near water and moved after game became scarce in the area. They ate various berries and plants as well as game hunted. They also ate fresh water clams and fish that migrated north in the Delaware River to spawn such as shad and sturgeon. Fish were caught by spears or fish traps made of stones and sticks. The shallow riffles in rivers were used to catch fish.

They made spear points of jasper, quartz, shale, or black chert. They traveled to quarries in search of stones for spear points or they traded with other small groups for these points. They also used atl-atls, which is a stick that throws a dart with a lighter stone point than a spear. Later, coniferous forests grew as the area warmed. Paleo-Indian campsites are many feet below the present ground surface, making them difficult to locate.

Mastodon bones dating back over 10,000 years have been found in Allamuchy, Blairstown, Hope, Independence, Liberty and Mansfield townships.

The megafauna of the tundra, such as the caribou, either moved north as the climate warmed or became extinct. Some Paleo Indians moved north with the caribou.

There are four Paleo Indian sites. One is in Warren County and the other three are nearby. The Plenge site located on the north side of the Musconetcong River in Franklin Township, Warren County. This site is estimated at 10,000 B.C. The Zierdt site is located near the Delaware River in Montague Township. The next is the Dutchess Cave in Orange County, New York, just east of the Wallkill River. This site is dated at 10,580 B.C. + or – 370 years. Caribou bones and a spear point was located at this site. The last is the Shawnee site located north of the Delaware Water Gap on the west side of the river, where Broadhead Creek enters the Delaware in Pennsylvania. This site is dated from charcoal found at 8640 B.C. + or – 300 years.

As climate warmed further, hemlock began to grow followed by deciduous trees around 8000 B.C. such as oaks, and maples. This was the beginning of the Archaic period, in which projectile points were no longer fluted but indented at the bottom of the stone point. Oak nuts and other seeds were eaten at this time. Harry's Farm site in Pahaquarry Township is an Archaic hunters camp with charcoal dating at 5430 B.C. + or – 120 years. Also the Plenge site was an Archaic camp in Franklin Township.

As climate warmed further around 3,000 B.C., beech, walnut, hickories, chestnut, and butternut grew. These trees produced nuts for feeding Archaic hunters; Archaic Indian populations grew more rapidly. As populations grew, large families became small tribes in various areas. During this time the 12 prominent hardwood tree species of Eastern North America existed in Warren County, which were Ash, Beech, Birch, Cherry, Chestnut, Elm, Hickory, Maple, Oak, Sweet Gum, Sycamore, and Walnut. The Chestnut tree is now extinct in Warren County, following the Chestnut blight that decimated the eastern U.S. in the earlier twentieth century. The Archaic period lasted from 8000 B.C. to 1000 B.C.

Native Americans

Around 1000 B.C. clay pottery was beginning to be used. This was the beginning of the Woodland period. With this advancement in technology, Native people could cook food better as well as store food.

Technological innovations occurred around the year 500 A. D. with the invention of the bow and arrow; as projectile points became smaller to fit onto an arrow shaft. Now Native Americans could procure more food as they could be further away from game to kill it. Atl-atls were still being used. This allowed Native Americans at this time to procure more food, as game could be taken at a longer distance. Food such as nuts could be stored in clay pots or the pots were used for cooking

Various cultures of indigenous peoples occupied the area at that time.

Eventually ancestors of the Algonquian-speaking Lenape moved into the area, perhaps as early as 1000 AD from the Mississippi River area.

Agriculture also started around that time, with the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash. Seeds were probably procured from traveling groups or tribes. Settlements of family groups became more stable, as they could store food in pottery, as well as procure more game with the bow and arrow. Agriculture contributed to the rise of population density in areas where crops could be grown. The Lenape would tend their oval gardens during the spring and summer months. They fished with nets or by hand in the shallow rivers. The Lenape trapped game with deadfalls and snares.

Problems developed in the early 17th century when the Little Ice Age started in North America. The late frost in May and June and early frosts in August or September, made the growing of crops difficult. Cold weather also made big and small game more difficult to hurt, as some game animals would hibernate. Also nut crops from oak, hickory, beech, walnut, butternut, and chestnut, failed at times; making the supply of these nuts scarce. Rivers froze early, and water became cold fast; so fishing became impossible. The Native populations had declined after epidemics of infectious diseases, for which they had no acquired immunity. Native American populations were separated from Europe for thousands of years and had no immunity to these diseases that the Europeans brought with them. Many Native American populations were weakened from starvation due to the Little Ice Age, which was coldest during the 17th century. Their important corn, bean and squash crops failed due to spring frosts and early frosts in autumn. As the Native American population declined, more land was available for European settlement. All these factors made the Native American populations decline dramatically.

Europeans purchased land known as land patents so Native Americans moved west to Ohio or Canada.

European settlement

The Dutch settled the Hudson River Valley and claimed all lands west of the Hudson River in the early 17th century. They claimed all land between the 40th and 45th latitudes. They traded with the Native Americans for furs, such as beaver, otter, muskrat, and deer. The Dutch built a fort at the southern end of Manhattan Island known as Fort Amsterdam. This was their main fort in North America. They also had other forts along the Hudson River up to Albany, New York. The English took over the Fort Amsterdam in August 1664 and gain control of the land the Dutch claimed. There was a ten-year war that followed with England and the Netherlands, but the English won.

Since the English owned the Province of New Jersey, it was divided into two parts; East and West Jersey. The Quintipartite Deed of 1674 to 1702; divided the province of Jersey with two surveys: the Keith Line and the Coxe-Barclay line, which created the border of eastern Sussex county from the headwaters of the Pequannock River with a line going northeast to the line of the Province of New Jersey and New York. The western border was the Delaware River.

The area which was to be Warren County was part of Burlington County in 1694. The area became Hunterdon County