Watchung, New Jersey
| Watchung, New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| Borough | |
| Borough of Watchung | |
 Map of Watchung in Somerset County. Inset: Location of Somerset County highlighted in the State of New Jersey. |
|
 Census Bureau map of Watchung, New Jersey |
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| Coordinates: 40°38′34″N 74°26′10″W / 40.642845°N 74.436233°WCoordinates: 40°38′34″N 74°26′10″W / 40.642845°N 74.436233°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 New Jersey
|
| County | Somerset |
| Incorporated | April 20, 1926 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Borough |
| • Body | Borough Council |
| • Mayor | Stephen K. Pote (R, term ends December 31, 2018) |
| • Administrator | Thomas Atkins |
| • Clerk | Michelle DeRocco |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6.054 sq mi (15.679 km2) |
| • Land | 6.026 sq mi (15.607 km2) |
| • Water | 0.028 sq mi (0.072 km2) 0.46% |
| Area rank | 254th of 566 in state 10th of 21 in county |
| Elevation | 259 ft (79 m) |
| Population (2010 Census) | |
| • Total | 5,801 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 5,916 |
| • Rank | 355th of 566 in state 16th of 21 in county |
| • Density | 962.7/sq mi (371.7/km2) |
| • Density rank | 387th of 566 in state 12th of 21 in county |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 07069 |
| Area code(s) | 908 |
| FIPS code | 3403577600 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0885433 |
| Website | www |
Watchung is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,801, reflecting an increase of 188 (+3.3%) from the 5,613 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 503 (+9.8%) from the 5,110 counted in the 1990 Census.
The name "Watchung" comes from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans, meaning "high hills" or from "watschu", meaning "hill".
George Washington surveyed the British troops in Perth Amboy, many miles away, from the first ridge of the Watchung Mountains. The eastern edge of these ridges reaches to the Oranges in the direction of Newark. The name "Washingtonville" was used in early times, but was rejected as the name for the area by the United States Postal Service, which felt that the state already had too many .
Watchung, in the 1900s was a semi-rural small community of about 3,200 people in comparison with the relatively larger and more urban communities of Plainfield and Somerville. The first mayor of the town was Henry Baldwin Macdonald, who served from 1926 to 1928. Even as late as the 1960s, it was common for residents to know one another by name, with few moving in or out of the town. The 1967 Plainfield riots, however, caused an exodus of the large upper-middle class population from the nearby cities to the Watchung Hills area to communities such as Watchung, Warren Township and Bridgewater Township.
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