Early History of Bethlehem Township

By Our Reporter.

To look at the bucolic hills and isolated landscape of Bethlehem Township and think that this very place has had a significant impact on the course of American history would seem, to most, unthinkable. Yet this very place, settled almost 300 years ago, was not only at the crossroads of the American Revolution, but also the cradle of liberty, itself. It did not only benefit from new and improved technology, but was at the forefront of employing the benefits and expanding the availability of technological advances.

Bethlehem Township’s history is unique. It is a history guided by the pens of extraordinary thinkers, by the sweat of laboring miners and farmers, and by the entrepreneurialism of goal-minded captains of industry.

No other place in Hunterdon County, in New Jersey, or in the United States of America holds such a claim to long, unique, and dynamic threads of history so intimately woven into the fabric of American history and culture. The story of Bethlehem Township is a microcosm of American history. It is a testament to the social and cultural values long held in Bethlehem—a culture that places value on public service and the industriousness of the laborer—that the Township is such an important component of the American historical landscape.

Knowing the culture of this place, it should be no surprise that so many American leaders have called this place home. It should be no surprise that local residents built massive structures of unprecedented proportions, tunneled through dangerous mines and took part in the interstate highway project. None should be surprised to discover that the farmers of Bethlehem Township have supported the Township on their backs by sustaining their families, community, and country since the Township’s early colonial days.

I. Native Americans

The first residents of Bethlehem Township were Native Americans of the Lenni Lenape tribe. The colonists would later rename these people the Delaware. The Lenape have left their mark on present-day Bethlehem Township, most notably, perhaps, in the names of local landmarks. Two local bodies of water bear names which originate with the Natives, the Musconetcong River and the Mulhockaway Creek. The Musconetcongs were a group of Lenni Lenapes of the Minsi tribe that lived in the Sourland and Cushetunk mountains and the plateau region north of Flemington.

The Native Americans created many paths which they utilized for traversing across the mountainous terrain of Bethlehem Township and Hunterdon County. Many of these paths would later be used by colonists settling in the area and eventually would evolve into many of the same roads local residents use today. There was one major Indian path that crossed through Bethlehem Township, the Malayelick path. This path began in present-day Trenton went through Rocktown to an Indian village named Essakauqueamenshehikkon near present-day Quakertown, through Pittstown, and then it went west of Pattenburg to Bloomsbury and ended in present-day Phillipsburg.

III. The Origins of Municipal Government in Bethlehem Township

A Copy of the Orginial Petition Sent to the the Governor by Bethlehem Township Residents.

The first time Bethlehem Township is mentioned in any official document is in a 1730 court docket for the Hunterdon County Court of Common Pleas. It is believed that it is around this time that the first Bethlehem Township government was created. The earliest municipal officials were local magistrates, clerks, tax collectors, and overseers of the roads. Township residents would later band together to petition the Governor Jonathan Belcher concerning the division of the township on January 12, 1747. The residents were concerned that the large size of the township made it difficult for local officials to execute their duties■