Editing Old Bridge Township, New Jersey (section)

==Economy==

===Old mill streams===
Madison Township had many mill streams that were used to generate water power. The Warne family owned [[fulling]] mills in the area. Fulling was used as a finishing process used on woolen cloth that would remove the dirt and grease and to compact the wool fibers. The mill is said to have been run behind Old Bridge High School and flows east into the [[Matawan Creek]]. The area of Old Bridge was also known for its many mills that manufactured [[Snuff (tobacco)|snuff]], a scented tobacco product that was used by men and women during that time. The Washington Snuff mill (later renamed the Dill Snuff Mill) was established in 1801 and was located on Mount Pleasant and Old Bridge Turnpike (now Route 516).<ref name="Disbrow Martin 1979">Disbrow Martin, Alvia. ''At the Headwaters of Cheesequake Creek''. South Amboy: Madison Township Historical Society, 1979.</ref>

===Clay industry===
The clay soil in the area surrounding Old Bridge was used for pottery and bricks way before the first European settlers. "Fine clay had surrounded Cheesequake Creek when the Lenni Lenape Native Americans lived there. The early discoveries of clay along the banks opened the clay industry to Middlesex County as well as the state of New Jersey. By the 1800s clay was a major industry. The clay deposits found along Cheesequake Creek are reported to be some of the finest stoneware clays in the United States."<ref name=ArcadiaOldBridge/> The clay supplied local potters as well as those in [[Hudson Valley]], [[Norwalk, Connecticut]], other [[New England]] states, and parts of [[Canada]]. The earliest use of clay from this area was used by Captain James Morgan before the Revolution. The Perrine clay pit was located near [[U.S. Route 9 in New Jersey|U.S. Route 9]] and Ernston Road.<ref name="Disbrow Martin 1979"/>

===Apple farms===
The Cottrell homestead is a landmark in Old Bridge. It was built in 1831 and still stands today on the northeast corner of [[County Route 516 (New Jersey)|County Route 516]] and Cottrell Road. The Cottrells owned a {{convert|150|acre|adj=on}} apple orchard that was located across the street from their home. Apples that could not be used because of their size or quality did not go to waste. Across from the cold-storage building on the southwest corner of Cottrell Road and Route 516, the family built the New Jersey Apple Growers Inc. [[distillery]]. It was at this distillery that they pressed the apples into cider and distilled the brandy in large vats. The brandy would age in barrels in a government warehouse that was located on the Cottrells' property. The Cottrells produced apple brandy for twenty years on the farm and sold it wholesale to distributors under the name Browntown.<ref name=ArcadiaOldBridge/>