Editing Berkeley Heights, New Jersey (section)

==History==
The [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were known to inhabit the region, including the area now known as Berkeley Heights, dating back to the 1524 voyage of [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] to what is now [[Lower New York Bay]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The earliest construction in Berkeley Heights began in an area that is now part of the {{convert|1,960|acre|km2}} Watchung Reservation, a Union County park that includes {{convert|305|acre|km2}} of the township.<ref>[http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/parks/loc43.htm Watchung Reservation], [[United States Geological Survey]]. Accessed May 7, 2012.</ref>

The first European settler was Peter Willcox, who received a {{convert|424|acre|km2}} land grant in 1720 from the Elizabethtown Associates. This group bought much of northern New Jersey from the Lenape in the late 17th century. Willcox built a grist and lumber mill across Green Brook.<ref name=Thinking/>

In 1793, a regional government was formed. It encompassed the area from present-day [[Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey|Springfield Township]], [[Summit, New Jersey|Summit]], [[New Providence, New Jersey|New Providence]], and Berkeley Heights, and was called Springfield Township. Growth continued in the area, and by 1809, Springfield Township divided into Springfield Township and New Providence Township, which included present day Summit, New Providence, and Berkeley Heights.<ref name=Story/>

In 1845, Willcox's heirs sold the mill to David Felt, a paper manufacturer from New York. Felt built a small village around the mill aptly named [[Feltville Historic District|Feltville]]. It included homes for workers and their families, dormitories, orchards, a post office and a general store with a second floor church.<ref name=Thinking/>
[[File:Berkeley Heights NJ Little Flower Catholic church.jpg|thumb|right|Little Flower Catholic Church]]

In 1860, Feltville was sold to [[sarsaparilla (soft drink)|sarsaparilla]] makers. Other manufacturing operations continued until Feltville went into bankruptcy in 1882. When residents moved away, the area became known as Deserted Village. Village remains consist of seven houses, a store, the mill and a barn. Deserted Village is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and is undergoing restoration by the Union County Parks Department. Restoration grants of almost $2 million were received from various state agencies.<ref>Friedman, Alexi. [http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2009/07/union_county_approves_14m_in_r.html "Union County approves $1.4M in renovations for historic barn"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', July 31, 2009. Accessed July 3, 2011. "Union County Freeholders approved a $1.4 million contract to renovate a historic but dilapidated barn in the Watchung Reservation in an area known as the Deserted Village of Feltville/Glenside Park."</ref> Deserted Village, in the Watchung Reservation, is open daily for unguided walking tours during daylight hours.<ref>[https://ucnj.org/parks-recreation/deserted-village/ Deserted Village], Union County, New Jersey. Accessed December 25, 2023. "The grounds of the Deserted Village are open every day, dawn to dusk. The Visitor Center is open Saturdays and Sundays (and most holidays) from noon to 5pm."</ref>

On March 23, 1869, Summit Township (now the City of Summit) seceded from New Providence Township. On March 14, 1899, the Borough of New Providence seceded from New Providence Township. Present day Berkeley Heights remained as New Providence Township.<ref name=Story/> Many of the townships and regional areas in New Jersey were separating into small, locally governed communities at that time due to acts of the [[New Jersey Legislature]] that made it economically advantageous for the communities to do so.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Due to confusion between the adjacent municipalities of the Borough of New Providence and the Township of New Providence, the township conducted a referendum in 1952 and voted to change the name to Berkeley Heights Township. The origin of the township's name has never been fully established, but is believed to have been taken from an area of town that was referred to by this moniker, which itself was assumed to be derived from Lord John Berkeley, who was co-proprietor of New Jersey from 1664 to 1674.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/hangout_nj/assignment_history_ct.html Hangout: A Short History of New Jersey - Colonial Times], State of [[New Jersey]]. Accessed July 3, 2011.</ref>

Early life in Berkeley Heights is documented in the Littell-Lord Farmhouse Museum & Farmstead (31 Horseshoe Road in Berkeley Heights), an {{convert|18|acre|m2|adj=on}} museum surrounding two houses, one of which was built {{circa|1760}} and the other near the start of the 19th century.<ref>[https://www.berkeleyheights.gov/1485/Littel-Lord-Farmstead Littell-Lord Farmhouse], Township of Berkeley Heights. Accessed July 18, 2022. "The Littel-Lord Farmstead, located in Berkeley Heights, Union County, New Jersey, United States, is a pastoral site reminiscent of Union County's agricultural past. It was built around 1760 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 7, 1979."</ref> Among the exhibits are a Victorian master bedroom and a Victorian children's room, furnished with period antiques. The children's room also has reproductions of antique toys, which visitors can play with. The museum, which is on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], also includes an outbuilding that was used as a summer kitchen, a corn crib dating to the 19th century and a spring house built around a spring and used for refrigeration.<ref>[http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/nj/Union/state.html NEW JERSEY - Union County], [[National Register of Historic Places]]. Accessed July 3, 2011.</ref> The museum is open 2-4 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month from April through December, or by appointment.<ref>[https://visitnj.org/littell-lord-farmhouse-museum Littell-Lord Farmhouse Museum], VisitNJ.com. Accessed December 25, 2023.</ref>

The township owes its rural character to its late development. Until 1941, when the [[American Telephone and Telegraph Company]] built the AT&T [[Bell Laboratories]] research facility in the township, it was a sleepy farming and resort community.<ref name=Thinking/>

Berkeley Heights is host to a traditional religious procession and feast carried out by members of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Society. The feast is capped by one of the largest fireworks shows in the state. The Feast of Mt. Carmel has been a town tradition since 1909.<ref>Ness, Tracy. [http://www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2010/07/feast_of_mt_carmel_this_week_i.html "Feast of Mt. Carmel this week in Berkeley Heights"], ''Independent Press'', July 12, 2010. Accessed June 17, 2015. "Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Society was founded in 1909 in Berkeley Heights and celebrates annually on July 16, the Saint's day. 2009 celebrates 100 years of tradition."</ref>

In 1958, part of a [[MIM-3 Nike Ajax|Nike]] missile battery (NY-73) was installed in Berkeley Heights. The missiles were located in nearby [[Mountainside, New Jersey|Mountainside]], while the radar station  was installed in Berkeley Heights. It remained in operation until 1963, and remnants of the site are located adjacent to [[Governor Livingston High School]].<ref>Harpster, Frank. [http://www.mountainsidehistory.org/files/HHnewsletter09final.pdf "Missiles in Mountainside — Nike Battery NY-73"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112205518/http://www.mountainsidehistory.org/files/HHnewsletter09final.pdf |date=January 12, 2016 }}, ''from The Hetfield House'' of the Mountainside Historic Preservation Committee, November 2009. Accessed June 17, 2015. "Nike NY-73 had two parts. The launcher was in Mountainside at the entrance from Summit Lane.... The second part was located in Berkeley Heights on the hilltop next to Governor Livingston High School – this was the Missile Tracking Radar Station."</ref>

In 1960, the town’s seal was created via a contest in which local students could enter a design, and the best of these was officially named the seal, through an announcement on June 17, at Columbia Middle School.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 21, 1960 |title=Pupils To Design BH Township Seal |pages=Page 1 |work=Dispatch of New Providence, Berkeley Heights, Murray Hill, Gillette, Stirling, Millington and Meyersville Vol. 10, No. 32}}</ref> Patricia Jean Taylor created the winning design, which was chosen from a pool of 150 entries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Historical Society of Berkeley Heights |title=From the Passaiack to the Wach Unks: A History of the Township of Berkeley Heights |publisher=Historical Society of Berkeley Heights |date=January 1, 1977 |edition=1st |language=English}}</ref>

===Free Acres===
Another early Berkeley Heights community of note is the {{convert|67|acre|m2|adj=on}} [[Free Acres]], established in 1910 by [[Bolton Hall (activist)|Bolton Hall]], a New York entrepreneur and reformer who believed in the idea of [[Henry George]], the economist, of single taxation, under which residents pay tax to the community, which, in turn, pays a lump sum to the municipality. Among the early residents of Free Acres were the actor [[James Cagney]] and his wife, Billie.<ref name=Thinking/>

Residents of Free Acres pay tax to their association, which maintains its streets and swimming pool, approves architectural changes to homes and pays a lump sum in taxes to the municipality.<ref name=Thinking/>