|
:''For other places with similar names, see Morristown, New Jersey (disambiguation).'' Moorestown is a township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and an eastern suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 20,726,〔〔〔 reflecting an increase of 1,709 (+9.0%) from the 19,017 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 2,901 (+18.0%) from the 16,116 counted in the 1990 Census.〔(Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010 ), New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed June 26, 2012.〕 Moorestown was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 11, 1922, from portions of Chester Township (now Maple Shade Township), based on the results of a referendum held on April 25, 1922.〔Snyder, John P. (''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968'' ), Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 97. Accessed February 11, 2012.〕〔Staff. (''Acts of the One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Legislature of the State of New Jersey'' ), pp. 123-127. New Jersey Secretary of State, 1922. Accessed October 17, 2015. "Chapter 68 - An Act to incorporate the township of Moorestown, in the county of Burlington"〕 The township is named for a Thomas Moore who settled in the area in 1722 and constructed a hotel〔(About Moorestown ), Moorestown, New Jersey. Accessed September 8, 2015. "Thomas Moore and his wife Elizabeth settled here in 1722 and in 1732, Moore purchased 33 acres of land on the north side of King's Highway.... Mr. Moore set up a hotel on the northwest corner of King's Highway and Union Streets (currently a bank)."〕 though other sources attribute the name to poet Thomas Moore.〔Hutchinson, Viola L. (''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names'' ), New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 8, 2015.〕 The township banned all liquor sales in 1915 and retained the restrictions after Prohibition ended in 1933. Referenda aiming to repeal the ban failed in both 1935 and 1953. In 2007, the Township Council approved a referendum that would allow the sale by auction of six liquor licenses (the state limit of one per every 3,000 residents), with estimates that each license could sell over $1 million each.〔Jones, Richard G. ("A New Fight for a Holdout on Prohibition" ), ''The New York Times'', July 17, 2007. Accessed July 19, 2007.〕 The referendum did not receive enough votes to pass. In 2011, voters repealed the liquor ban; however, liquor sales in the township will be restricted to the Moorestown Mall.〔Hefler, Jan. ("Moorestown repeals liquor ban" ), ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', November 9, 2011. Accessed February 11, 2012. "After months of heated debate, Moorestown voters decisively approved a proposal to allow restaurants at Moorestown Mall to sell liquor in the historically dry community.... Voters in the community of 19,000 people were asked two questions: whether to permit liquor sales, and then whether to restrict the sales to mall restaurants. Unofficial tallies show the vote on the first question was 4,138 to 2,740, and on the second, 3,750 to 2,876."〕 In 2005 Moorestown was ranked number one in ''Money'' magazine's list of the 100 best places to live in America.〔(Best places to live 2005 ), ''Money'' magazine. Accessed May 17, 2006.〕 The magazine screened over a thousand small towns and created a list of the top 100 for its August 2005 issue, in which Moorestown earned the top spot because of its community feeling, in addition to plentiful jobs within the commuting area, excellent schools, low crime rate, and affordable housing. Another attribute is its proximity to Philadelphia (about a 25-minute commute), a center of jobs and cultural and urban amenities. ==History== Main Street (formerly the King's Highway) follows a ridge that had been occupied by the historic Lenni Lenape Native Americans. Two fine springs, one to the west (off Main Street before reaching the Perkins Center for the Arts, just by Roberts Elementary School) and one to the east (off North Stanwick Road) drew Native Americans and traders to the area. In 1682, John and Sarah Roberts became the first English-speaking residents of Moorestown when they began to live in their home where the Roberts Monument is presently located on County Route 537 at the intersection with Route 73.〔DeCou, George (1929). ''Moorestown and Her Neighbors; historical sketches''. Philadelphia: Harris & Partridge, Inc., pp. 7-9.〕〔Lamborn, Suzanne Parry (2006). ''John and Sarah Roberts, with many related families''. Morgantown, Pennsylvania: Masthof Press, pp. 1-3. ISBN 1-932864-58-X〕 In May 1686, three years after the founding of Philadelphia, John Rodman bought on the west side of Chester Township, and Thomas Rodman bought in the same area; this soon became known as the Village of Rodmantown. The growing area around the eastern spring was known as the Village of Chestertown.〔Chaplin, Philippa J. ("All about King George's 'Great Road'" ), ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', October 3, 2004. Accessed June 26, 2012. "To the northeast, the Lenni Lenape had settled near two springs in what is now Moorestown. It is not known exactly when the Indians left, but sometime after Kings Highway came through in 1682, two white settlements sprang up near the springs - Rodmantown on the west end, around today's Church and Main Streets, and Chestertown on the east, around Chester and Main, according to Stephanie Herz, librarian for the Moorestown Historical Society."〕 In 1700, the first Society of Friends’ Meeting House, built of logs, was erected on the King’s Highway. Originally known as ''Meeting House Lane,'' Chester Avenue was laid out in 1720. The community at that time probably consisted of a few farmhouses along the King's Highway from Stanwick Road to Locust Street.〔Pray, Rusty. ("A little bit country and a little bit ritzy" ), ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', October 20, 2004. Accessed June 26, 2012.〕 Thomas Moore and his wife Elizabeth settled here in 1722. In 1732, Moore purchased of land on the north side of the King's Highway. The land ran from the west side of the Friends' graveyard on the northwest corner of the King’s Highway and Meeting House Lane on the east, and west to Locust Street on the western boundary of his property and north to Second Street. Moore set up a hotel on the northwest corner of the King’s Highway and Union streets (Cornerstone Bank and the Wawa now occupy opposite corners there). Given Moore's extensive property ownership, the name Moorestown gradually replaced Chester informally in the center of town. Finally, Moorestown formerly split off from Chester and became a Township.〔 The Coles Hotel, east of the corner of Main and Chester, was a stop on the stagecoach route connecting Camden with Trenton and Philadelphia. Construction of the railroad in 1867 superseded the stagecoaches and connected Mount Holly Township and Camden.〔Staff. ("Moorestown's buildings tell centuries of tales" ), ''Courier-Post'', June 23, 1999. Accessed June 26, 2012. "For most of the 1800s, the stagecoach traveled Kings Highway from Camden to Trenton. Moorestown was divided by the coming of the railroad -- residents welcomed the convenience, but shopkeepers feared local business would suffer with the access to Philadelphia.... John T. Evans had a real estate office, and the Coles Hotel, demolished in 1925 to make room for the Burlington County Trust Company, was located at 91 East Main Street."〕 A tavern built in 1745 by John Cox at what is now Main and Schooley streets was taken over in 1778 during the Revolutionary War by Hessian officers retreating from Philadelphia. In the years after the war, it was used for a town hall before 1812, when what is now called "Old Town Hall" was constructed.〔 A house constructed in 1742 by John Cowperthwaite at King's Highway and Lenola Road is listed in the Library of Congress with details of the house recorded in 1937 by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the United States Department of the Interior.〔(About Moorestown (1722 to 1922) ), Moorestown Township. Accessed February 11, 2012. "The old homestead on the northeast corner of King's Highway and Lenola Road was constructed in 1742 by John Cowperthwaite. Because of its excellent example of an 18th century home, record of its construction was made in 1937 by the U.S. Department of Interior and is now recorded in the Library of Congress."〕 Quakers built Moorestown's first two schools in 1785. A brick schoolhouse was located near what is now the intersection of Route 73 and the Kings Highway overpass. A stone schoolhouse was located adjacent to the present Friends Meeting House at the intersection of Chester Avenue and Main Street. The first district school was opened in 1810. The first free Moorestown public school was established in 1873.〔(History ), Moorestown Friends School. Accessed February 11, 2012. "In 1785, members of the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) erected a little brick schoolhouse at a point where Kings Highway passes over Route 73, in present day Maple Shade. The same year, they built a one-room stone schoolhouse on land west of the present Moorestown Friends Meeting House, on what is now part of the site of Moorestown Friends School."〕 Vernon Hill's mansion ''Villa Collina'' — Italian for "Hill House" — the largest private residence in New Jersey, is located in Moorestown.〔Smith, Eileen and Walsh, Jim. ("Hill's climb took bank to heights of industry" ), ''Asbury Park Press'', June 30, 2007. Accessed July 25, 2007. "Hill and his wife Shirley built Villa Collina, literally Hill House, a Tuscan-style mansion in Moorestown that is the biggest private residence in the state."〕 Moorestown's Quaker heritage is discussed in Moorestown resident and native historian William H. Kingston's book, ''Moorestown's Third Century: The Quaker Legacy''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Moorestown, New Jersey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|