Editing Hunterdon County, New Jersey (section)

==History==
===Etymology===
Hunterdon County was named for [[Robert Hunter (governor)|Robert Hunter]], a colonial governor of New Jersey.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA163 | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=163}}</ref> As language changes over time and location, so by the [[stemming]] of [s], and a [t] → [d] [[lenition]] of the name of his family seat of "Hunterston" in [[Ayrshire]], Scotland, the name "Hunterdon" was derived.<ref name=FunFacts/><ref>Shupe, Lillian. [http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2012/04/whats_up_with_this_wallpack_to.html "What's with this? Walpack Township once part of Hunterdon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423061426/http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2012/04/whats_up_with_this_wallpack_to.html |date=April 23, 2012 }}, ''[[Hunterdon County Democrat]]'', April 19, 2012. Accessed May 30, 2012. "At one time Hunterdon County, the second county to be established in New Jersey, extended as far south as Trenton and as far north as the New York State line which at that time was about 10 miles north of Port Jervis, N.Y. Hunterdon County was named for Robert Hunter, a colonial governor of New Jersey. His former home in England was called Hunterston but over time the name was changed to Hunterdon."</ref>

===Paleo Indians and Native Americans===
Paleo Indians moved into Hunterdon County between 12,000 BCE and 11,000 BCE. The area was warming due to climate change. The Wisconsin Glacier in Warren and Sussex County was retreating northward. The area was that of Taiga/Boreal forests. Paleo Indians traveled in small groups in search of game and edible plants. They used spears made of bone, jasper or black chert. Their camp sites are difficult to find as they are many feet below the present surface.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Native Americans moved into the area but the time they arrived is unknown. Most have come from the Mississippi River area. Many tribes of the Delaware Nation lived in Hunterdon County especially along the Delaware River and in the Flemington area. These tribes were agricultural in nature, growing corn, beans and squash. Those that lived along the South Branch of the Raritan River fished and farmed. There was a Native American trail that went along the South Branch of the Raritan River (Philhower 1924).

===European settlement===
Land purchases from Native Americans occurred from 1688 to 1758. Large land purchases from Native Americans occurred in 1703, 1709 and 1710. Over {{convert|150000|acre|km2}} were bought with metal knives and pots, clothing, blankets, barrels of rum or hard cider, guns, powder and shot allowing for European settlers to enter into Hunterdon County in the early 18th century. After 1760, nearly all Native Americans left New Jersey and relocated to eastern Canada or the Mississippi River area.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}

The first European settlers were Col. John Reading who settled in Reading Township in 1704 they called him Sir Reading of Readington and John Holcombe who settled in Lambertville in 1705.<ref name=FunFacts>[http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/facts/funfacts.htm Fun Facts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203344/http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/facts/funfacts.htm |date=September 27, 2007 }}, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Accessed October 5, 2013.</ref>

Hunterdon County was separated from Burlington County on March 11, 1714. At that time Hunterdon County was large, going from [[Assunpink Creek]] near [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]] to the New York State line which at that time was about {{convert|10|mi}} north of [[Port Jervis, New York]].<ref name=Story/>

On March 15, 1739, [[Morris County, New Jersey|Morris County]] (which at the time included what would later become Sussex County and Warren County) was separated from Hunterdon County.<ref name=Story/> The boundary between Hunterdon and [[Somerset County, New Jersey|Somerset]] counties is evidence of the old [[Quintipartite Deed|Keith Line]] which separated the provinces of [[West Jersey]] and [[East Jersey]]. Hunterdon County was reduced in area on February 22, 1838, with the formation of [[Mercer County, New Jersey|Mercer County]] from portions of [[Burlington County, New Jersey|Burlington County]], Hunterdon County and [[Middlesex County, New Jersey|Middlesex County]]. In February 1839, the remaining portion of [[Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey|Hopewell Township]] was annexed to Mercer County. On March 13, 1844, Hopewell Township returned to Hunterdon County while Tewksbury Township was annexed by Somerset County but in February 1845 both of these changes were repealed. Since then, the county boundaries have remained the same.<ref name=Story/>

Hunterdon County was being affected by industrialization in the state and nation, mining speculation in northwest New Jersey, and competitors constructing [[List of New Jersey railroads|railroads]]. The [[Central Railroad of New Jersey|Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad]] leased a section to [[Whitehouse Station, New Jersey|White House]] just south of Tewksbury Township in 1848.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

===20th Century to Present ===
In 1935, Hunterdon County and its county seat, [[Flemington, New Jersey|Flemington]], became the center of worldwide attention as the site of the infamous [[Lindbergh kidnapping]] trial, in which [[Bruno Hauptmann]] was convicted and sentenced to death of the kidnapping and murder of aviator [[Charles Lindbergh]]'s son, Charles Lindbergh Jr. The trial, which lasted five weeks, received sensational media coverage, saw thousands of spectators in attendance, including over 700 reporters and hundreds of communications technicians. This lead to many observers calling it the "[[Trial of the century|Trial of the Century]]" for its era.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Trial of Richard "Bruno" Hauptmann: An Account |url=https://famous-trials.com/hauptmann/1389-home |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=famous-trials.com}}</ref> 

In the 1950s, The first sections of Interstate 78 opened up in the western portions of the county. By 1968, the interstate would be completed through the county, enabling commuters easy access to the metropolitan regions of Northern and Central Jersey via Interstate 287. With real estate values soaring along the 78 corridor, multiple companies began relocating into Hunterdon in search of a more tranquil corporate atmosphere, including [[Merck & Co.|Merck & Co]], [[ExxonMobil]], [[New York Life Insurance Company|New York Life]], [[Chubb Limited|Chubb]], and others. With growing towns and shopping areas, as well as relaxing rural areas, Hunterdon County is a far stretch from the urban areas stereotypically associated with New Jersey. Due to the presence of natural habitats with many homes in wooded settings, Hunterdon County was recently found to have the third highest case rate of Lyme disease out of all counties in the United States.<ref name="Varde">{{cite journal |last= Varde |first= S. |year= 1998 |title= Prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in Ixodes scapularis in a rural New Jersey County |journal= Emerging Infectious Diseases |volume= 4 |issue= 1 |pages= 97–99 |doi= 10.3201/eid0401.980113 |pmid= 9452402 |pmc=2627663 }}</ref>