The Full Story
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HISTORY OF LONG HILL
Long Hill Township, Morris County's southeastern-most municipality, covers 12.1 square miles and has a population of about 8,800. Named for a ridge of the Watchung Mountains, the township also encompasses parts of the Great Swamp and the Passaic River valley.
European settlers first arrived here during the 1730s. They farmed, established mills on the Passaic River in what would become Millington, and used the natural resources of the Great Swamp. The early trail that became Long Hill Road was their principal highway. These scattered settlements became part of Morris Township in 1740, including a region of southern Morris Township known as "Long Hill".
During the Revolution, local men served in the militia, and householders provided supplies to the troops at Jockey Hollow. The Continental Army placed a beacon at a high point on the long ridge to warn of enemy troop movements.
Throughout much of the nineteenth century, Long Hill was a sparsely populated farming community with centers of activity in the villages of Millington and Meyersville. The latter was named for Kasper Meyer, one of several German immigrant farmers who had arrived here early in the century.
LONG HILL TODAY
Long Hill Township was incorporated as Passaic Township in 1866. In November, 1992 the voters elected to change the name of the municipality to Long Hill. Long Hill was named one of 25 Great Towns by New Jersey Magazine in March, 1999.
The Township consists of four communities: the villages of Gillette, Millington and Stirling, and the hamlet of Meyersville. Homestead Park is the name of the first subdivision in the Township developed in the 1920's.
Long Hill Township is located in the most southern part of Morris County, New Jersey. It is bounded by the Passaic River on the south and west, and by the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge on the north. It borders both Union and Somerset Counties.
In colonial times, Long Hill Township was part of the "Lord Stirling Grant" that included much of the area from Summit to Bernardsville, between Morristown and Watchung.
Long Hill Township has a Township Committee form of government. Five members of the Township Committee are elected for staggered three-year terms. The Committee elects a Chairperson to serve as Mayor for one year.
