Piscatawaytown, New Jersey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Piscatawaytown, New Jersey
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_just_north_of_Middlesex_County_Route_514_(Woodbridge_Avenue)_in_Edison_Township,_Middlesex_County,_New_Jersey.jpg)
County Route 529 (Plainfield Avenue) in Piscatawaytown, facing north
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 Piscatawaytown, New Jersey
Location in Middlesex County, New Jersey
Piscatawaytown, New Jersey
Location in New Jersey
Piscatawaytown, New Jersey
Location in the United States
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  New Jersey |
| County | Middlesex |
| Township | Edison |
| Elevation | 115 ft (35 m) |
| GNIS feature ID | 880876 |
Piscatawaytown is the oldest neighborhood in Edison Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It was established in the 1660s as the original village in what was then within Piscataway Township. Piscatawaytown is centered around St. James Church and the Piscatawaytown Common, near the intersection of Plainfield and Woodbridge Avenues.
Lenape and European contact
The Raritan were bands of the Lenape people living around the Raritan River and its bay, in what is now central New Jersey and Staten Island, New York.
Establishment and naming
Edison was settled New Englanders in the 17th century. In 1666, additional settlers from the Piscataqua River, the state boundary of New Hampshire and Maine moved to region, bringing the name. Other settlements included Quibbletown and Raritan Landing.
Municipal boundaries
In 1870 portions of adjacent Piscataway and Woodbridge were used to form Raritan Township on March 17, 1870. It was renamed Edison the 1950s.
Historic area
The Proprietors of the Province of East New Jersey granted a tract of land for a burial ground and a town common on March 5, 1695. There had been earlier burials at the location, with one readable gravestone dating from 1693.
The village comprised a town hall, militia training ground, stockade, jail, church, burial ground and houses. Saint James Church was established in 1704 and the original structure built in 1724.
Considerable military activity and battles known as the Forage War took place during the Revolutionary War in the Piscatawaytown area in 1776 and 1777. The Post Road (now Woodbridge Avenue) was a main land artery for British communications and movement of supplies and troops. The British army used St. James Church as a barracks and a hospital from December 1776 to June 1777.
