Editing Mount Holly, New Jersey (section)

===Colonial era===
The first European settlement in what is now Mount Holly began in 1677 when Walter Reeves acquired land from the [[Lenape]] (Delaware) [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] living in the area. He constructed a dam on [[Rancocas Creek]] to channel water through a raceway to power a [[grist mill|gristmill]] and sawmill.<ref name=History>[http://www.mountholly.info/index.php/community/history History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513031628/http://www.mountholly.info/index.php/community/history |date=2012-05-13 }}, Mount Holly Township. Accessed June 21, 2012.</ref> Edward Gaskill and his sons dug the mill race on their property between 1720 and 1723.<ref>Shinn, Henry. ''The History of Mount Holly'' 1957.</ref> After the mills were established, more settlers were attracted to the area and built houses and commercial buildings on High, Church, White, Mill, and Pine streets, including the [[Shinn Curtis Log House]] (1712). By 1800, over 250 dwellings had been built.<ref>U.S. Census data 1820</ref>

Today no mills remain on the raceway, which still flows in its original course from the Rancocas just above the dam. The raceway proved a way for herring to make their way above the dam and was the scene of an annual fish run in the spring, which provided fresh herring for salting and eating. The former mill land has been preserved as the Mill Dam Park. It marks the importance of mills to the early settlements.