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 This
land was first sighted by European Venetian John Cabot
while sailing along the coast in 1498. The Lenni Lenape Indians
originally inhabited the area called Freehold Township.
It wasn’t until September 1609 that
the first European actually set foot at Sandy Hook. The
Dutch West India Com., formed in Holland in 1671, developed
commerce in the New World and in 1623 organized the New
Jersey-Hudson River area into the Province of New Netherlands.
On June 23, 1664, the Duke of York
granted a patent to Sir George Carteret and John, Lord
Berkely for the entire area of what now constitutes New
Jersey. The area was first settled in 1685 by a group
of Scottish reformers fleeing religious persecution. Freehold
Township was formally established by an act of the Legislature
on October 31, 1693, one of the three original townships
in Monmouth County. We celebrated our Tricentennial in
1993.
Throughout the intervening three centuries
it has been a place where people could raise their families,
earn their living and live out their life in some measure
of peace. Then as now, it has been a community of farms
and churches, homes and neighborhoods. It has strong roots
in a rich colonial tradition and an illustrious past.
The Battle of Monmouth (probably the turning point of
our War of Independence) was fought at its doorsteps on
a scorching day in June 1778. Every major American military
leader of the time participated: George Washington, Marquis
de Lafayette, Benedict Arnold, Anthony Wayne, Charles
Lee, Alexander Hamilton, Nathaniel Greene, Friedrich van
Steuben and the non-military Molly Pitcher. Most of the
history made here, however, has been of the personal kind;
of families and arms and small businesses, and the enduring
values these institutions produce now and in the future.
We invite all residents to know some of the heritage and
become part of it.
For further information
you may contact the Historic Commission at
Freehold Twp. Historic Preservation Commission
1 Municipal Plaza
Freehold, NJ 07728
OR
Freehold Twp. Heritage Society
189B Wemrock Rd.
Freehold, NJ 07728
732-294-1877
ftheritage1686@yahoo.com
www.ftheritage.org
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