A Nutshell History of the Township of Roxbury
On December 24, 1740, the Legislature of the British State of New Jersey, founded in 1664, designated a vast tract of land deeded by the Lenape to British mining masters
in 1708 as the Township of Roxbury. The parcel included areas that would eventually become Mine Hill; Chester Borough and Chester Township; Washington Township; Mount Olive
Township; Mt. Arlington Borough, and Hopatcong. Six original hamlets remain: Succasunna, Kenvil (McCainsville); Ledgewood (Drakesville); Lower Berkshire Valley; Landing, and Port Morris.
Mining flourished in the hills and village development took place in the plains on part of an ancient Lenape trail linking the Delaware River to the Jersey Shore, becoming the township’s
main thoroughfare. Several miles north at Minard LeFevre’s Valley Forge in Lower Berkshire Valley, iron products, including weaponry for the American Revolution, were forged.
Area development included stone quarrying; the cultivation of peach and apple orchards; sand pit mining; the development of the Morris Canal, railroading and trolley service; cattle raising, and the manufacture of explosives by Hercules Powder Company. Roxbury Township was at the Cross Roads of the American Revolution. Patriots served in the Revolution, in the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and in conflicts that followed. Hercules Powder Works, which had produced gun powder during the wars and explosives to carve roadways for westward expansion through mountainous terrain after the Revolution, was producing rocket propellants used in space exploration into the 1950’s.
Rapid expansion occurred after World War II, but reminders of Roxbury Township’s heritage remain, surrounded by homes, excellent schools, an outstanding public library, houses
of worship, parks, hiking trails, shopping malls, professional buildings, and light industry. The township takes pride in preserving its heritage and open space as it celebrates its 285th Anniversary.
Support for this walking tour was provided by the New Jersey State Library through its REV 250: Examining the Semiquincentennial through a Jersey Lens.
The Roxbury Township Historical Society owns and operates the historic "Silas Riggs Saltbox House", dating from the time of the Revolutionary War. Located at 213 Main Street in Ledgewood, it is open on the second Sunday afternoon of each month April thru December. They have published books on Roxbury Township History and sponsor an evening lecture series, open to the public, as well as the very popular "A Saltbox Christmas", an Open House with an Olde Fashioned Soup Supper, held on the first Friday in December.
