Editing South Bound Brook, New Jersey (section)

==History==
[[File:Queen's Bridge, South Bound Brook.jpg|thumb|Queen's Bridge, South Bound Brook]]
The area had historically been occupied by the [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. The first European settlement was in 1681 and a community was established near the [[Bound Brook (Raritan River)|Bound Brook]] stream of the same name, which flows into the [[Raritan River]] via the [[Green Brook]] on the eastern side of the borough.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111001024540/http://www.raritanlanding.com/voices/places.htm A Note About Places], from ''From Voices of Raritan Landing'', backed up by the [[Internet Archive]] as of October 1, 2011. Accessed October 7, 2015.</ref> The brook, which was mentioned as a boundary in a Native American deed, provides the source of the borough's name.<ref>Hutchinson, Viola L. [http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=8 ''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''], New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed October 7, 2015.</ref><ref>[[Henry Gannett|Gannett, Henry]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA53 ''The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States''], p. 53. [[United States Government Printing Office]], 1905. Accessed October 7, 2015.</ref>

The area was originally a Dutch community with apple orchards and just west peach orchards. The [[Staats House (South Bound Brook, New Jersey)|Abraham Staats House]] ({{circa|1740}}), located on the south side of Main Street, served as the headquarters of [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben|Baron Von Steuben]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>[http://www.staatshouse.org/AboutUs.html Our Mission], Abraham Staats House. Accessed May 17, 2011.</ref> The house remained a private home until it was acquired by the Borough of South Bound Brook in 1999. It was placed on the New Jersey and National Registers in 2002. It is currently the headquarters for the Friends of Abraham Staats House, Inc. https://www.staatshouse.org, who maintain it as a museum.

A wooden bridge over the [[Raritan River]] was erected as early as 1761 and named [[Queen's Bridge (New Jersey)|Queen's Bridge]] in 1767. Later, it became a [[covered bridge]]. During the Revolutionary War, the bridge was used repeatedly by both sides including during the [[Battle of Bound Brook]] in 1777. In 1875, the wooden bridge was replaced by a steel pipe [[truss bridge]].<ref>Snell, James P. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AdMwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA666 ''History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey''], p. 666. Everts & Peck, 1881. Accessed November 15, 2015. "A bridge across the river at this place was ordered built by an act of Legislature passed in 1728. It was not erected however until 1731 for a supplementary act was passed that year in reference to it. It was afterwards called the Queen's Bridge The present bridge was built in 1875 at a cost of about $75,000."</ref> More than 100 years later, that bridge was itself replaced by a steel girder bridge in 1984, still using the old pillars.<ref>[http://njtownguide.com/counties/Somerset/Historic%20Places/Somerset_County%20Historic%20Places.html Somerset County - Historic Places], NJ Town Guide. Accessed August 27, 2013.</ref> The bridge was renovated and paved in 2007.

At this spot on January 4, 1777, General Washington decided to move his troops to [[Morristown, New Jersey|Morristown]] for the winter, thus ending the victorious Trenton-Princeton campaign, rather than attack [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick]].

The Battle of Bound Brook, one of the battles in the [[New York and New Jersey campaign]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]], occurred on April 13, 1777, and resulted in a defeat for the [[Continental Army]], who were routed by about 4,000 troops under [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] command.<ref>Monsport, Welson. [http://www.njskylands.com/hsBoundBrook.htm "The Battle of Bound Brook"], New Jersey Skylands. Accessed August 27, 2013.</ref>

At dawn on April 13, 1777, Hessian Captain Ewald's assault over the Queens Bridge spanning the Raritan River between South Bound Brook and Bound Brook was pinned down by "murderous fire" from the American soldiers stationed at half moon battery. Advancing North along present day Easton Avenue, Hessian Colonel Donop pushed aside American outposts and arrived 15 minutes after Ewald's attack had faltered. Advancing over the Queens Bridge, Donop's troops engaged the Americans causing them to retreat from the battery. Donop, Ewald's, and General Grant's troops pursued the American troops as they fought through the streets of Bound Brook.<ref>[http://www.lincolnbittner.com/battle_of_boundbrook_2005.html The Battle of Boundbrook]. Accessed May 17, 2011.</ref>

The Reformed Church, also on Main Street (near borough hall) was built in 1848 and has been declared a local historical site by the borough council. Originally called the Dutch Reformed Church of Bound Brook, it has gone through very few changes over the years. A pipe organ received from [[Andrew Carnegie]] has been removed, and the stained glass windows, which had been added well after the original construction. The Reverend Thomas DeWitt Talmadge was a member and preached at the church.

Originally part of [[Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey|Franklin Township]] and named Bloomington, South Bound Brook was incorporated as a borough by the [[New Jersey Legislature]] in 1907.<ref name=Story/>

In the mid-1970s a teen from the town created a plan for an environmental commission and presented it to the council. James Manley got his commission and the first order of business was to find out what the white piles of waste on the tow path between the [[Delaware and Raritan Canal]] and [[Raritan River]] consisted of. It turned out to be 17% crystal [[asbestos]] by volume. Since there was no New Jersey state regulation for the disposal, this became a landmark case. The waste was hauled in dump trucks through Bound Brook to the [[floodplain]] south of West Main Street and dumped. A trail of asbestos dust led from the old dump site to the new dump location.

===Redevelopment===
The main downtown street in South Bound Brook, known as Main Street, has been refurbished with new sidewalks, lighting, signage and a number of newly renovated stores.

A roofing material manufacturing facility known as [[GAF Materials Corporation|GAF Manufacturing]] was located in South Bound Brook for over a century along Main Street. The site was dormant for about two decades and sat as an eyesore and reminder of the town's industrial past. New [[townhomes]] have been built on the GAF Manufacturing site, along the Delaware and Raritan Canal, which provide the downtown area a new modern look and many new residents.

Part of the redevelopment is being held up by a lawsuit by John Fanaro of Fanaro Carpeting over the right of [[eminent domain]], as the borough tried to seize property along Main Street that is in front of the new townhomes. The redevelopment plan called for the older stores to be razed and replaced with new stores that had parking in back and a dozen rental apartments on the second floor.

A new condominium development along Elizabeth Street in the central part of town was finished in 2010.