Editing Eatontown, New Jersey (section)

==History==
Eatontown's history is documented in the book ''Eatontown and Fort Monmouth.''<ref name=eatonbook>Pike, H.C., Vogel, G.D., ''Eatontown and Fort Monmouth'', Arcadia Publishing Library Editions, 1995.</ref>

In 1670, Thomas Eaton (for which the town is named) surveyed the area and constructed a [[grist mill]] in present-day Wampum Lake Park.<ref>Taylor, Davidson. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20388163/asbury-park-press/ "2 events planned to salute 325 years; Eatontown year long celebration includes a Family Day In July and a parade In October"], ''[[Asbury Park Press]]'', May 4, 1995. Accessed March 14, 2021, via [[Newspapers.com]]. "Thomas Eaton settled in an area now known as Wampum Park and built a grist mill at Wampum Lake. That was 325 years ago. The mill he created in 1670 became the first business to operate in what would become Eatontown."</ref>

From the book ''Eatontown and Fort Monmouth'':<ref name=eatonbook/>

<blockquote>By 1796, a village had developed across from Eaton's mill, with a tannery and general store on the east side of the Red Bank Turnpike ''[now State Route 35]''. A tavern for the New York - Philadelphia stage coach trade was built on what would become the intersection of Main and Broad Streets. A second stage coach stop was established in Mechanicsville on the ocean-bound road. This village would later be called West Long Branch.

By 1850, Eaton's village had grown to include four stores on Main Street and nearly forty homes. The Eatontown Steamboat Company built docks on Oceanport Creek to ship milled flour and other farm produce up the South Shrewsbury River to markets in New York City. Entrepreneur James P. Allaire built a four-story stone warehouse at the docks, from which he shipped his bog iron forged at the Howell Works 15 miles away. 
</blockquote>

In 1886, a mob broke into the jail and removed a black man, [[Mingo Jack|Samuel "Mingo Jack" Johnson]], who was being held for the alleged rape of a white woman. The mob brutally beat and then hanged Johnson, the father of five. Later events show that it was extremely unlikely that Johnson was guilty of the crime. In 2012, mayor Gerald Tarantolo issued a public apology for the failure of security at the jail.<ref name="Lynch Apology">Spahr, Rob. [http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2012/09/lynching_of_a_former_slave_memorialized_in_eatontown.html "Lynching of former slave memorialized as 'low point' in Eatontown history"], NJ Advance Media for [[NJ.com]], September 24, 2012. Accessed February 1, 2018. "In 1886, an angry mob broke into the borough’s lockup and lynched a black man accused of raping a white woman. This was New Jersey’s only documented lynching in the 19th century and a subsequent trial discovered that the man, Samuel 'Mingo Jack' Johnson, could have been innocent. Current Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo called the incident 'a low point in the history of Eatontown.'"</ref><ref name="Patch Memorial">English, Bob. [https://patch.com/new-jersey/longbranch/bp--memorial-unvailed-near-the-eatontown-location-of-221c832c01 " Memorial Unveiled Near The Eatontown Location Of The Lynching Of Samuel 'Mingo Jack' Johnson In 1888. Samuel 'Mingo Jack' Johnson lynched without a fair trail at the former site of Eatontown Lockup, midnight on March 5, 1886. New Jersey's only documented 19th century lynching."], Long Branch Patch, September 26, 2012. Accessed February 1, 2018. "On a grassy area overlooking Wampum Lake in Eatontown, people gathered this past Sunday afternoon to dedicate a memorial marker and plaque that reads: 'Samuel "Mingo Jack" Johnson lynched without a fair trial at the former site of Eatontown Lockup, midnight on March 5, 1886. New Jersey's only documented 19th century lynching.'"</ref>

In 2020, Eatontown was to celebrate its 350th anniversary, but most of the activities were delayed due to COVID-19 concerns.