Clinton Township, Essex County, New Jersey

Clinton was a township in Essex County, NJ, from 1834 to 1902. It was created on April 14, 1834, from portions of Elizabeth, Newark, Orange, and Union. Clinton included present-day Maplewood, South Orange, Irvington, and Newark. On April 1, 1861, part of Clinton was formed into newly created South Orange (now present-day Maplewood), which also pulled land from a section of Orange. Irvington's formation as an independent village on March 27, 1874, pulled more area from Clinton. By March 11, 1902, what was left was absorbed into Newark as a result of a referendum held on March 5 of that year.

1850 Essex County map with Clinton township enlarged.

Link to full 1850 Map Showing the Former Clinton Township. Middleville on this map is the site of the present-day Springfield Avenue business district of Maplewood. Vauxhall is present-day Vauxhall which is where Whole Foods, Best Buy, and Target are today. The road running between Springfield, Vauxhall, Middleville, and Clintonville and then running east to Newark is today's Springfield Avenue, which has been a road since before European settlement. The Morris and Essex Railroad can be seen where it still is today, just north of Vauxhall, Middleville, and Clintonville, and just south of Short Hills and what was then called the 1st Mountain and the 2nd Mountain (the first and second ridges of the Watchung Mountains).

Unanswered Questions:

• Why was Clinton Township so named?
• Why was it created? And why was it disbanded?