In 1681, 100 pounds of trade goods was the purchase price paid to the Lenape Indians for the land where Bound Brook now stands. Thomas Codrington, who the only Proprietor (one of the English merchants who purchased what is New York from Berkely and Carteret families) actually to build a house and reside on his land, received 877 acres of the purchase. A settlement grew on this tract, and Bound Brook became the first settled town in Somerset County. Several of the early settlers purchased tracts of 1,000 acres each. The Raritan River was the first means of transportation for the early settlers, but in time the Great Raritan Road and Old York Road offered transportation for people and supplies.

Over the next century, the town grew slowly, in spite of the constant threats of the floods and freshets of the Raritan River. At the time of the Revolutionary War, the town had grown to 35 families. Both the British and Continental Armies conducted forays in and about town for needed supplies. Washington's army was encamped twice at Middlebrook. On April 13, 1777, the British stationed at New Brunswick sent a force to attack the outpost manned by General Lincoln's troops. On October 26, 1780, Colonel Simcoe and his troop of Loyalist Cavalry conducted a sweep through the area, destroying boats at Van Veghten bridge and burning both the Dutch Reformed Church along the river west of town and the Somerset Court House at Millstone. Recuperating from the ravages of the war, the town experienced slow growth until 1806, when the New Jersey Turnpike Company began construction of a toll road from New Brunswick to Phillipsburg via Bound Brook and Somerville. This road was heavily used by farmers moving their products to New Brunswick. Some days, the gatekeeper could count up to 500 wagons moving produce to New Brunswick. The Swift-Sure Stage Line established before the Revolution made three trips each week from New York to Philadelphia via the Old York Road in 1826.

Another factor in the town's growth was the building of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, begun in 1830 and completed in 1834. The canal was open from April through December, and an unending stream of barges traveled the waterway day and night, carrying more freight than any other U.S. canal. In 1867, 3 million tons of cargo were transported via this waterway. All traffic ended on the canal in 1933. Yet another factor in the town's growth was the coming of the railroad. Begun in 1831, the Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad reached Bound Brook in 1838, supplying a new mode of travel to the area and bringing new residents and industries to town. At this time, there were 80 dwellings, and 566 inhabitants called Bound Brook home.

In the years after the Civil War, the Reading Railroad and Lehigh Valley Railroad ran lines through town. The availability of an hour's ride to New York City enticed many New York businessmen to build homes and move their families to the attractive small town within commuting distance of their places of business. Some 100 passenger and freight trains passed through town in a
day during these years, and the town became a hub of railroad business with roundhouses and turntables servicing the five lines that passed through the area. Another innovation was the trolley lines that came to town in 1887, later to be electrified in 1897. All these travel conveniences brought industries to town, changing its tenor from a sleepy farm village to a busy small industry town.
In 1855, John Smalley & Company built farm machinery in a factory at the corner of John and Church Streets. The Herberts ran a thriving gristmill on Easton Turnpike west of town. In 1880, the Einstein Brothers opened their Woolen Mills, employing 300 workers. In addition to these, other small businesses drew in new residents so that in 1898, 2,600 people resided here.

The rising population brought the need for additional educational facilities. For more than two centuries, there had been a succession of one-room schools presided over by consecutive schoolmasters. In the 1870s, Lafayette School was built and boasted 189 students. Likewise, population growth brought the need for additional churches. Until 1846, the Presbyterian church was the only one in town. The Methodist, Episcopal and, in 1876, the Roman Catholic denominations all had congregations and had built places of worship.

Floods and fires seem to be the town's nemesis, for almost annually the Raritan River would flood, causing damage to the center of town. In 1881, a disastrous fire destroyed all the buildings in a block of Main Street. In 1896, flooding caused the lime in the L.D. Cook lumberyard to ignite by spontaneous combustion. Fanned by strong winds, the fire spread to and destroyed the Presbyterian church building erected in 1829. The 1881 conflagration brought about the formation of afire department. Since the town lacked a fire department of its own, it was necessary to bring fire equipment by railroad latcar from Somerville to fight the disastrous conflagration.

As the town grew, so did the need for a local paper. Several were printed in Somerville, but the deficiency was corrected by the publication of the short-lived Argus, the Rock, and the Family Casket. The Family Casket was begun in Whitehouse Station but was moved to Bound Brook in 1877 by owner Andrew Shampanore, who also changed its name to the Chronicle. In 1884, W.B.R. Mason purchased the newspaper from Shampanore and ran it for 53 years until he sold it to Irving Reimer in 1937. There was also a short-lived German-language newspaper published in town.

William R. Whiting became the first mayor when a borough form of government was adopted on February 10, 1891, after severing the town from Bridgewater Township. At this time, there were no paved streets, no sidewalks, and kerosene supplied the lights to the more than 3,000 residents. Amenities came with expansion: a public library in 1897; a hospital in 1927; police force in 1917; two theaters, one boasting a fine stringed pit orchestra; and three additional schools-a high school in 1907, LaMonte School in 1914, and Smalley School in 1951.

As the 20th century arrived, Bound Brook's population continued to increase. This was because the town remained a railroad hub with 30 trains running daily to and from New York City as well as direct service to Philadelphia. In 1917, a round-trip fare to New York City was $8.80. Such easily available transportation lured additional factories to the area that depended on the local workforce for staff.

World War I saw 500 men and women from Bound Brook, South Bound Brook, and Middlesex serve their country overseas. During World War II, the number of Bound Brook service personnel was many times larger. The industries that had located in the area during the time between the wars worked around the clock producing products for the war effort. This increased activity brought about a great population boom and a housing shortage.

Today, the large industries are gone, and the railroad only employs a small number of people. Moreover, faces in town have changed to reflect a more diverse population. Only time will tell what the 21st century has in store for the little village on the Raritan, settled first more than 300 years ago.

Reproduced with Permission
Images of America Bound Brook
Copyright 2000 by Dorothy A. Stratford and Margaret McKay
Published by Arcadia Publishing