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Hillsborough Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region within the much larger New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 38,303,[1][2][3] reflecting an increase of 1,669 (+4.6%) from the 36,634 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 7,826 (+27.2%) from the 28,808 counted in the 1990 Census. Hillsborough Township was originally created by Royal charter issued May 31, 1771, which was revoked and revised on September 12, 1771.[4] It was incorporated on February 21, 1798 by the New Jersey Legislature Township Act of 1798 as one of New Jersey's original group of 104 townships. Portions of the township were taken to form the boroughs of Millstone (May 14, 1894) and Manville (April 1, 1929). The township's name may have come from an earlier name of "Hillsbury", though it may have been named for Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire who was the Earl of Hillsborough. [edit] History
On May 31, 1771, Hillsborough was officially granted a Charter incorporating it as a Township. A revised charter was issued on September 12, 1771.[4] The records of Hillsborough Township are complete from their inception in 1746 and there are ten volumes, each some several hundred pages, kept in the Special Collections Department of the Rutgers University Library along with the Charter. Hillsborough Township quickly took its place in history as the path General George Washington and his troops traveled from the Battle of Princeton to winter quarters in Morristown. While the British were encamped in the valley below awaiting an opportunity to attack, it is said that Washington drilled his troops on the Sourland Mountain around a spring near the top using different formations and corn stalks for guns. As the sun caught the stalks, the British thought Washington had received reinforcements and fresh supplies. The British troops, thinking that they were outnumbered, slipped off to New Brunswick leaving Washington to continue to Morristown. The township was formally incorporated on February 21, 1798.[4] Hillsborough is the home of the Belle Mead GSA depot, or Belle Mead General Depot, which was a storage site for materials during World War II, along with housing Italian and German prisoners of war. It continued storing materials until the 1980s, and various contaminants have leaked into the ground and surrounding area during that time. Efforts are under way to convert the site into a mixed recreation and R&D complex.
Hillsborough is home to Duke Gardens and Duke Farms, a estate in the north-eastern quadrant of the town that was originally owned by tobacco and electric energy tycoon James "Buck" Duke and then passed down to daughter Doris Duke, and is now one of the few remaining "preserved" natural areas in Hillsborough Township. In Money magazine's 2013 Best Places to Live rankings, Hillsborough was ranked 16th in the nation, the third-highest among the three places in New Jersey included in the top 50 list. In the magazine's 2007 rankings, the township was ranked as the 23rd best place to live in the nation. [edit] Research Tips
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