The history of edison nj

History: The Wizard of Menlo Park

Edison, formerly known as Raritan Township, was first settled in the late 1600′s, when it was part of Woodbridge and Piscataway townships.

Old Post Road, the earliest public road in eastern New Jersey, passes through Edison and is said to have been used by President George Washington as he traveled through the state on the way to his inauguration in New York City in April 1789.

A re-enactment of that journey took place in Edison in 1989, during the celebration of the bicentennial of Washington’s first inauguration. His route was retraced, and special ceremonies were held at the historic St.

James Church on Woodbridge Avenue.

The Bonhamtown area of Edison, on Old Post Road, is named after Nicholas Bonham, a freeholder from 1682 to 1683. The hamlet is said to have been the site of an old Native American village and later a Continental Army camp and battleground during the Revolutionary War.

As early as 1693, B