Franklin (Bergen County)
- Identifier
- NJS-PLC-00471
- Place Type
- City, Town, or Village
- Description
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Franklin township is a defunct municipality that existed in Bergen County from 1771 to 1926. It was originally formed by Royal Charter in 1771, when the township of Saddle River was subdivided. During the Revolutionary Era, Franklin encompassed a large territory in the northern part of Bergen County, stretching from the west bank of the Saddle River all the way to the county line that now divides Passaic and Sussex counties. (Note that, at that time, Passaic County did not yet exist, and Bergen County territory extended to the Sussex County line.) In 1797, the western part of Franklin was taken to form the new Pompton township; this area included all the territory of modern-day Ringwood and parts of West Milford and Wanaque, all now in Passaic County. Beginning in the 1840s, Franklin township began to splinter into many smaller municipalities until it became defunct in 1926. Its name partially survives as the name of Franklin Lakes, one of the boroughs that was formed from the original Franklin township.
Researchers looking for slavery records related to northwestern Bergen County and northern Passaic County will want to review records for Franklin township. The following is a list of modern-day municipalities that inherited all or part of their land from the territory that was originally part of Franklin township during the Revolutionary era: Allendale, Franklin Lakes, Mahwah, Midland Park, Oakland, Ramsey, Ridgewood, Saddle River (western part), Upper Saddle River (western part), Waldwick, and Wyckoff in Bergen County, and additionally Ringwood, Wanaque (eastern part), and West Milford (northern part) in Passaic County.
Note that there are multiple municipalities in New Jersey that bear the name Franklin due to the historical influence of Benjamin Franklin and his son, William Franklin, who served as the colonial-era Governor of New Jersey. Today, there are still municipalities called Franklin in Gloucester County, Hunterdon County, Somerset County, Sussex County, and Warren County. Franklin township in Bergen County is now defunct (Franklin Lakes inherited some of its territory), and Essex County's Franklin township has been renamed Nutley. - Locality
- Franklin
- County (Modern)
- Bergen County
- State or Province
- New Jersey
- Country
- United States of America
- Related Place
- Passaic County
- Latitude
- 41.01130710535023
- Longitude
- -74.18799881475411
- References
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John P. Snyder, The Story of New Jersey’s Civil Boundaries, 1606–1968 (Trenton, Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969; New Jersey Geological Survey, 2004), https://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf. See p. 78.
- Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
- Linked Places
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Franklin was previously associated with:
- Resource class
- Location