Warren County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. According to the 2020 census, the county was the state's 19th-most populous county,Table1. New Jersey Counties and Most Populous Cities and Townships: 2020 and 2010 Censuses, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed December 1, 2022. with a population of 109,632, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 940 (+0.9%) from the 2010 census count of 108,692, which in turn reflected an increase of 6,255 (+6.1%) from 102,437 counted at the 2000 census. The United States Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program estimated a 2025 population of 112,953, an increase of 3,321 (+3.0%) from the 2020 decennial census. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.Willis, David P. "'This is how wars start': Does Central Jersey include both Ocean and Union counties?", Asbury Park Press, February 20, 2023. Accessed March 31, 2024. "North Jersey is defined as Sussex, Warren, Morris, Passaic, Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties; South Jersey would be Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Atlantic, Salem, Cumberland and Cape May counties. But for Central, things get a little tricky. It would include Hunterdon, Somerset, Union, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties.""Regions: North, Central, South, Shore - Best of NJ", Best of NJ, Accessed May 30, 2024. "Northern Jersey consists of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren County."
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,New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area , United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 8, 2018. the Poconos to its northwest, and Hunterdon County to its south.
Warren County constitutes part of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan statistical area in the Lehigh Valley and is the only New Jersey county not a part of the combined statistical areas of either New York City or Philadelphia. The county's most populous municipality is Phillipsburg, with 15,249 residents at the time of the 2020 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 establishment, 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.
Warren County is named for Joseph Warren, a patriot during the American Revolution and Founding Father of the United States who was killed in action by British troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill, in Charlestown, Massachusetts on June 17, 1775.
History
Etymology The county was named for Major General Joseph Warren, a reputable physician treating prominent patients like John Adams, known Founding Father of the United States, and major general in the American Revolutionary War who died after volunteering to fight as a major general at 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.About Warren County...Past and Present , Warren County, New Jersey. Accessed October 7, 2013. "The county was named in honor of Dr. Joseph Warren who, although he had no known association with the area, earned a heroic reputation throughout the original 13 states for his devotion to the revolutionary cause, which led to his death in the battle of Bunker Hill."
Native Americans
About 1000 B.C., clay pottery was beginning to be used in the region, representing the beginning of the Woodland period. With this advancement in technology, Native Americans could store food and cook it better.
Various cultures of indigenous peoples occupied the area at that time. Ancestors of the Algonquian-speaking Lenape moved into the area, perhaps as early as 1000 A.D. from the Mississippi River area.
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. This permitted Native Americans to procure more food since they could be further away from game to kill it. Food such as nuts could be stored in clay pots or the pots were used for cooking
Agriculture 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.
17th century
Problems developed in the early 17th century when the Little Ice Age began 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. The Dutch settled the Hudson River Valley and claimed all lands west of the Hudson River in the early 17th century. In the Quintipartite Deed of 1674 to 1702, the Province of New Jersey was divided by two lines, the Keith Line and the Coxe-Barclay line, which created the border of eastern Sussex county from the headwaters of the Pequannock River. The western border was the Delaware River.
Later, after the lands were taken over by the British, colonial-era New Jersey was divided into two parts, East Jersey and West Jersey. In the 17th century, the area of present-day Warren County was part of Burlington County, which emerged as one of the Thirteen Colonies in British America prior to the mid-18th century American Revolution.
18th century
The area became Hunterdon County in 1714. In 1739, the area of Warren County was included in Morris County. In 1753, Sussex County, including present-day Warren County, separated from Morris County.
During the French and Indian War of 1754, fortified homes or small forts were built along the Delaware River from Phillipsburg to Port Jervis, New York. The mountains of Warren County were the frontier of the war. Hostilities between the British and the French began to spill over from the European continent into the colonies in the New World. After the Battle of Jumonville Glen in Fayette County, Pennsylvania on May 28, 1754, French colonists in North America armed several Native American tribes, who sided with the French.
During the French and Indian War, a part of the Seven Years' War in North America, Sussex County often was raided by bands of Native Americans, including Lenape, Shawnee, and Iroquois. In 1756, a small band of Lenape raided the homes of local militia commanders, killing several members of the Swartout family and kidnapping other settlers during the Hunt-Swartout raid. In response to these aggressions, Jonathan Belcher, the colonial-era governor of the Province of New Jersey authorized that eight forts to be constructed along the Delaware River to defend the New Jersey frontier from such incursions, and authorized the New Jersey Frontier Guard to man them. Several of these forts were little more than blockhouses, and others were personal homes that were fortified. The forts sprawled from present-day Phillipsburg through Belvidere. Blairstown, and along the eastern banks of the Delaware River to Port Jervis, New York.
19th century By the early 1800s, settlements in Phillipsburg, Hackettstown, Belvidere, and Washington in Warren County emerged as cornerstone communities of Sussex County. In 1824, Warren County was established and Belvidere was named as its county seat.
Geography and climate
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of the 2020 census, the county had a total area of , of which was land (98.3%) and was water (1.7%).2020 Census Gazetteer File for Counties in New Jersey, United States Census Bureau. Accessed April 1, 2023. 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, creating the Highlands from the island rock and establishing the Great Appalachian Valley. The final collision was when the African Plate collided with the North American plate. That was the final episode of the building of the Appalachian Mountains. Then the African plate tore away from North America.
The Wisconsin Glacier covered the northern part of the county from 21,000 to 13,000 BC. The 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.