Editing New Jersey Route 7 (section)

==History==
[[File:Wittpenn Bridge.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Route 7 crosses the [[Hackensack River]] on the [[Wittpenn Bridge]]]]

The Belleville Turnpike, which is the majority of the southern portion of Route 7, was created in 1759 as a [[Toll road|turnpike]] made out of cedar logs. This road was chartered in 1808.<ref name=knj>{{Cite web|title=Town of Kearny History|publisher=[[Kearny, New Jersey|Town of Kearny]]|access-date=2008-11-11|url=http://www.kearnynj.org/History.asp |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080504172408/http://www.kearnynj.org/History.asp |archive-date = May 4, 2008}}</ref><ref name=index>{{cite book |last= Murphy |first= John L. |access-date=2008-11-11|title= Index of Colonial and State Laws Between the Years 1663 and 1877 Inclusive |year= 1877 |publisher=Stare of New Jersey |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LVY4AAAAIAAJ}}</ref> It served as a part of the [[Underground Railroad]] route for escaped slaves to get to [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]].<ref name=jch>{{cite news |last= Wiggins |first= Genene P. |access-date=2008-11-11|title= Danger-filled path to freedom led slaves through Jersey City|newspaper=[[Jersey Journal]] |date=March 14, 1994 |url=http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/ur/hallowedground.shtml}}</ref> The road west of modern County Route 508 was later incorporated into the [[William Penn Highway]], which ran from Jersey City to Pittsburgh, PA.<ref>Rand McNally and Co. "Eastern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, South East Michigan, Southern Ontario, Western New York: District No. 4". ''Rand McNally Official Auto Trails Map'', 3rd ed., 1924, pp. 168-169. ''David Rumsey Historical Map Collection'', David Rumsey (curator), Cartography Associates, Accessed Nov 4, 2019, www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~201570~3000600:Auto-Trails-Map--Pennsylvania,-New-.</ref>
The northern segment of Route 7 was originally a part of pre-1927 Route 11, which was legislated in 1917 to run from [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]] to [[Paterson, New Jersey|Paterson]].<ref name="1920r11">{{cite book|title=Annual Report|publisher=New Jersey State Highway Department|year=1917}}</ref> In the [[1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering]], Route 7 was designated to run from [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]] to Paterson, replacing pre-1927 Route 11 between [[Belleville, New Jersey|Belleville]] and Paterson.<ref name="nj1927">State of New Jersey, Laws of 1927, Chapter 319.</ref><ref name="Map">{{cite map|url=http://www.jimmyandsharonwilliams.com/njroads/1920s/images/1927_routes.gif|title=1927 New Jersey Road Map|publisher=State of New Jersey|access-date=2008-10-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313112746/http://jimmyandsharonwilliams.com/njroads/1920s/images/1927_routes.gif|archive-date=2016-03-13}}</ref>

[[File:NJ 11N (cutout).svg|thumb|left|100px|Route 11N]]

In 1929, the routing was amended to run from [[New Jersey Route 25|Route 25]] (now [[U.S. Route 1/9 Truck]]) in Jersey City to [[New Jersey Route 3|Route 3]] in [[Wallington, New Jersey|Wallington]].<ref name=nj1929>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1929, Chapter 126.</ref> Route 7 was extended north in 1949 to continue to [[New Jersey Route 6|Route 6]] (now [[U.S. Route 46]]) in [[East Paterson, New Jersey|East Paterson]] (now [[Elmwood Park, New Jersey|Elmwood Park]]).<ref name=nj1949>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1949, Chapter 175.</ref>
In the [[1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering]], Route 7 was legislated onto its current alignment, with the northern terminus moved to the [[Nutley, New Jersey|Nutley]]/[[Clifton, New Jersey|Clifton]] border.<ref name="nj1953">{{Cite journal|title=1953 renumbering|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1953_New_Jersey_state_highway_renumbering|publisher=New Jersey Department of Highways|access-date=July 31, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628183145/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1953_New_Jersey_state_highway_renumbering|archive-date=June 28, 2011}}</ref> The route was also realigned to head south on Washington Avenue between the Newark border and Rutgers Street in Belleville on what was Route 11N, a remnant of pre-1927 Route 11, making Route 7 discontinuous.<ref name="nj1939">State of New Jersey, Laws of 1939, complied.</ref> [[County Route 506 (New Jersey)|County Route 506]] used to follow the southern portion of Route 7 but has been truncated to the intersection with Routes 7 and 21 in Belleville.<ref name="ruhc">{{cite map|publisher=[[Rutgers University]] Cartography Services|title=Hudson County Road Map – Sheet 2|year=1965|url=http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/HUDSON_COUNTY/HudsonCountyHighway_2_1965.gif|access-date=2008-11-12}}</ref>