Readington Township is a township located in the easternmost portion of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 16,128, an increase of two people (+0.0%) from the 2010 census count of 16,126, which in turn reflected an increase of 323 (+2.0%) from the 15,803 counted in the 2000 census.
Created by Royal charter of King George II, "Reading" Township was formed on July 15, 1730, from portions of Amwell Township. It was the first new township created after Hunterdon was established as an independent county. The township was incorporated as Readingtown Township, one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships, on February 21, 1798. Portions of the township were annexed by Tewksbury Township in 1832 and 1861. The township was named for John Reading, the first native-born governor of the British Province of New Jersey.
Covering more than , it is the largest township in the county, covering almost 11% of the county's area. More than of land have been preserved from development. Readington Township is bounded on the north by the Lamington River and Rockaway Creek; to the east by Somerset County, which existed as the boundary between East and West Jersey from 1688 to 1695; to the south, the South Branch of the Raritan River; and to the west by the old West Jersey Society's line which crosses the Cushetunk Mountains.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 47.83 square miles (123.88 km2), including 47.56 square miles (123.17 km2) of land and 0.27 square miles (0.70 km2) of water (0.57%).
Cushetunk Mountain is a ring-shaped mountain located in Clinton Township. The diabase mountain was formed 160 million years ago. The Lenape called the mountain "Cushetunk" meaning "place of hogs". In the 1960s, the valley was filled with water to create Round Valley Reservoir, at in depth the second-deepest in the state.
Whitehouse Station (2010 Census population of 2,089) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Readington Township.
The township borders the municipalities of Clinton Township, Raritan Township and Tewksbury Township in Hunterdon County; and Branchburg and Hillsborough Township in Somerset County.
Communities
Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Backers Island, Higginsville, McCrea Mills, Riverside, Rockfellows Mills, Round Mountain, Stovers Mills and Wood Church, as well as the following: Barley Sheaf, a former hamlet within Readington Township, also known as Campbellsville and Farmersville Centerville, a hamlet that was located on the halfway point on the Swift Sure Stage route between New York City and Philadelphia Cushetunk was a settlement near Cushetunk Mountain and the railroad line Darts Mills, a hamlet centered around a former mill complex on the South Branch Raritan River Dreahook, a former community near Readington Road and Main Street that was taken from the Dutch word for triangle because of the configuration of the roads at the time Holcomb Mills was a community along the South Branch Raritan River Mechanicsville, the eastern section of Whitehouse Village on the Jersey Turnpike New Bromley, was a small community on the Rockaway Creek that was once home to William Paterson Pleasant Run, a small community along Pleasant Run (formerly Campbell's Brook) Potterstown, a small community at the western edge of the township Readington Village, the oldest settled community in the township, along Holland Brook Rowland's Mills, a deserted community on the South Branch Raritan River Stanton, a small community near Round Mountain that has carried the names of Mount Pleasant, Housel's Hill, Waggoner's Hill and Stanton Stilwells, a hamlet located south of Whitehouse Station named after the Stilwell family Three Bridges, small community that once had a passenger rail station Whitehouse, a community on the old Jersey Turnpike, north of Whitehouse Station Whitehouse Station, a community in the western section of Readington near Cushetunk Mountain and the location of the township's railroad station
