Editing Saddle Brook, New Jersey (section)

==History==
[[File:Saddle River Township, New Jersey.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Map of Saddle River Township as of 1876]]
Before European settlement, the earliest people in the area were the [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].

Saddle River Township was created on March 20, 1716, consisting of all of the territory in Bergen County west of the [[Saddle River (Passaic River)|Saddle River]],<ref name=Story/> making it one of the oldest municipalities in Bergen County, within the area that had been known as [[New Barbadoes Township, New Jersey|New Barbadoes Township]], which itself had been set off from [[Essex County, New Jersey|Essex County]] and added to Bergen County in 1710.<ref name=Story>Snyder, John P. [https://nj.gov/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf#page=95 ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''], p. 86. Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. Accessed May 30, 2024.</ref> It was incorporated on February 21, 1798, by the [[Township Act of 1798]] as one of the initial group of 104 townships incorporated in New Jersey.<ref name=Story/> The historic name of the township was from the Saddle River, a tributary of the [[Passaic River]], which in turn was named for a stream and valley in [[Saddell]], [[Argyll]], Scotland.<ref>Hutchinson, Viola L. [http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=28 ''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''], New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 30, 2015.</ref><ref>Edwards, Richard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jQVLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA121 ''Industries of New Jersey, Part 1''], p. 121. Historical Publishing Company, 1882. Accessed September 30, 2015.</ref> It was bounded on the north by Ridgewood, south by [[Lodi Township, New Jersey|Lodi]], east by the Saddle River and west by the [[Passaic River]]. In 1724, the Township formally seceded from New Barbadoes.<ref name=Story/>

After its formation in 1716, Saddle River Township was split up in 1772 by royal decree, with the northernmost half becoming [[Franklin Township, Bergen County, New Jersey|Franklin Township]], named after the [[List of colonial governors of New Jersey|last royal governor of New Jersey]], [[William Franklin]], son of [[Benjamin Franklin]]. [[Pompton Township, New Jersey|Pompton Township]] was established in 1797 from parts of both Franklin and Saddle River Townships west of the [[Ramapo River]], leaving sections of both townships disconnected to the west of Pompton Township. [[West Milford, New Jersey|West Milford Township]] was formed from the discontinuous, western sections of both Franklin and Saddle River townships in 1834. Saddle Brook was among the initial group of 104 municipalities formally incorporated under the [[Township Act of 1798]].<ref name=Story/>

In the initial wave of "[[Boroughitis]]" in which 26 new boroughs were created in 1894 alone and two more in 1895, [[Glen Rock, New Jersey|Glen Rock]] (on September 14, 1894) and [[Lodi, New Jersey|Lodi]] (December 22, 1894) split off from Saddle River Township, followed shortly thereafter by [[Wallington, New Jersey|Wallington]] (January 2, 1895).<ref>Harvey, Cornelius Burnham. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EdoMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11 ''Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey''], p. 11, New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900. Accessed December 17, 2013. "For a period of sixteen years following the passage of this act few boroughs were organized in the State, only three of them being in Bergen County.... As it was twenty-six boroughs were created in the county from January 23, 1894, to December 18, of the same year."</ref> [[Garfield, New Jersey|Garfield]] (March 15, 1898), East Paterson (April 18, 1916; renamed to [[Elmwood Park, New Jersey|Elmwood Park]], effective January 1, 1973) and [[Fair Lawn, New Jersey|Fair Lawn]] (April 5, 1924) subsequently split off.<ref name=Story/><ref>Honeyman, Abraham Van Doren. [https://books.google.com/books?id=nOkkAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA245 ''Index-analysis of the Statutes of New Jersey, 1896-1909: Together with References to All Acts, and Parts of Acts, in the 'General Statutes' and Pamphlet Laws Expressly Repealed: and the Statutory Crimes of New Jersey During the Same Period''], p. 245. New Jersey Law Journal Publishing Company, 1910. Accessed September 30, 2015.</ref>

Saddle Brook adopted its current name on November 8, 1955, replacing Saddle River Township.<ref name=Story/>