Editing Woodbridge Township, New Jersey (section)

== History ==
[[File:Jonathan Dunham House WoodbridgeNJ Built1671.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[Jonathan Singletary Dunham House]], built in 1709]]
According to historian [[Joshua Coffin]], the community's early settlers included: Captain John Pike, the ancestor of General [[Zebulon Pike|Zebulon Montgomery Pike]], who was killed at the battle of Queenstown in 1813; Thomas Bloomfield, the ancestor of [[Joseph Bloomfield]], some years governor of New Jersey, for whom the township of [[Bloomfield, New Jersey|Bloomfield]] is named; John Bishop, senior and junior; Jonathan Haynes; Henry Jaques; George March; Stephen Kent; Abraham Toppan, junior; Elisha Ilsley; Hugh March; John Bloomfield; [[Samuel Moore (colonial official)|Samuel Moore]]; Nathaniel Webster; John Ilsley; and others."<ref>Coffin, Joshua. ''A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newburyport and West Newbury'', S.G.Drake, Boston, 1845. p.70</ref> Woodbridge was the site of the first [[gristmill]] in New Jersey.<ref>{{cite book|author=Dally, Joseph W.|title=Woodbridge and Vicinity|year=1989|page=44}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author= Leonard, O. B.|title= The Dunham Family (pp. 194-196), in Monnette, Orra Eugene (Eds.) First Settlers Of Ye Plantations Of Piscataway And Woodbridge, Olde East New Jersey, 1664-1714|year=1930|publisher = The Leroy Carman Press, Los Angeles, CA}}</ref> The mill was built by [[Jonathan Singletary Dunham]], who was married to Mary Bloomfield, relative of [[Joseph Bloomfield]].<ref name=sandp>{{cite book |author= Ed. [[Nathaniel B. Shurtleff]] and [[David Pulsifer]]|title= Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England|year=1968}}</ref><ref name="Anderson, Robert Charles 1995">{{cite book |author= Anderson, Robert Charles|title= The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633: Great Migration Study Project (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society) |year=1995}}</ref>

Woodbridge Township is the oldest original township in New Jersey and was granted a [[royal charter]] on June 1, 1669, by King [[Charles II of England]].<ref name="History" /> It was reincorporated on October 31, 1693. Woodbridge Township was incorporated by the [[Township Act of 1798]] of the [[New Jersey Legislature]] on February 21, 1798, as one of the initial 104 townships incorporated in the state under the Township Act. Portions of the township were taken to form [[Rahway, New Jersey|Rahway]] (April 19, 1858), Raritan Township (March 17, 1870, now [[Edison, New Jersey|Edison Township]]) and Roosevelt (April 11, 1906, now [[Carteret, New Jersey|Carteret]]).<ref name="Story">Snyder, John P. [https://nj.gov/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''], Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 174. Accessed May 30, 2024.</ref><ref>Honeyman, Abraham Van Doren. [https://books.google.com/books?id=nOkkAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA315 ''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. 315. New Jersey Law Journal Publishing Company, 1910. Accessed November 2, 2015.</ref> The township is named after Reverend John W. Woodbridge (1613–1696) of [[Newbury, Massachusetts]], who settled in the future township in 1664.<ref name="History">[https://www.twp.woodbridge.nj.us/313/A-Brief-History-of-Woodbridge-Township A Brief History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217144449/http://www.twp.woodbridge.nj.us/313/A-Brief-History-of-Woodbridge-Township |date=February 17, 2020 }}, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. Accessed May 19, 2020. "The Township of Woodbridge is the oldest original township in the state of New Jersey. It was settled in the early autumn of 1664 and was granted a charter on June 1, 1669 by King Charles of England. Joseph Dally, in his history of Woodbridge (Woodbridge and Vicinity, published 1873), records that it was so called in honor of Reverend John Woodbridge of Newbury, Massachusetts."</ref><ref>Hutchinson, Viola L. [http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=15 ''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115082401/http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=15 |date=November 15, 2015 }}, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 26, 2015.</ref>

Woodbridge was the site of one of America's deadliest rail accidents on February 6, 1951, when a [[Woodbridge train derailment|crowded commuter train derailed with 85 deaths]]. The victims are memorialized by a pair of historical markers, installed by [[New Jersey Transit]] in 2002 and by Woodbridge Township in 2013.<ref>Bond, Gordon. ''Man Failure: The Story of New Jersey's Deadliest Train Wreck.'' Garden State Legacy, 2017. {{ISBN|978-0692867983}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=125814 "Great Woodbridge Train Wreck of 1951"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206200710/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=125814 |date=December 6, 2020 }}, ''Historical Marker Database''. Accessed November 28, 2020.</ref><ref>[https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=125813 "Fulton Street Train Wreck"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207011217/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=125813 |date=December 7, 2020 }}, ''Historical Marker Database''. Accessed November 28, 2020.</ref>

In October 1982, Woodbridge made national news when, for the first time in the United States, local authorities enacted a now-repealed measure under which people were banned from using the then-popular Sony [[Walkman]] cassette players in public, while riding a bike, crossing the street, or driving a car. Violators were to be fined $50 and could have spent up to 15 days in jail.<ref>Baldwin, Carly. [https://patch.com/new-jersey/woodbridge/walkmans-banned-woodbridge-yes-law-still-books "Walkman Banned in Woodbridge? Yes, Law Is Still on the Books Some say the 1982 ordinance was passed at a time when the Township was fighting growing development, congestion and suburban sprawl."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704163553/https://patch.com/new-jersey/woodbridge/walkmans-banned-woodbridge-yes-law-still-books |date=July 4, 2020 }}, Woodbridge, NJ Patch, September 29, 2016. Accessed January 23, 2012. "Did you know? In 1982, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey banned the Walkman from being worn in public. And that law is still on the books today."</ref> In April 2022, this law was repealed in its entirety by township ordinance.<ref>[https://ecode360.com/34853590 Township Code: § 3-10 Headphones and Earphones] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502083356/https://ecode360.com/34853590 |date=May 2, 2021 }}, Woodbridge Township. Accessed August 22, 2022.</ref>