The History of Essex County
One of New Jersey's four original counties, home to the state's largest city, its first county park system, and a lot more history than you'd expect.
Essex was first laid out in 1675 as one of four administrative districts of the Province of East Jersey — alongside Bergen, Middlesex, and Monmouth. It became a formal county on March 7, 1683, named after Essex, England. When East and West Jersey merged into a single colony in 1702, the county's boundaries carried over largely intact.
Essex County has actually gotten smaller since then, not bigger: pieces of its original territory were carved off to help create Somerset County in 1741, Passaic County in 1837, and Union County in 1857. What's left today is still New Jersey's second-most populous county, anchored by Newark — the state's largest city and county seat since the beginning.
The county grew into an industrial and immigrant hub through the 19th and 20th centuries — leather, hat-making, and insurance built Newark's early economy, while waves of Italian, Portuguese, Brazilian, Irish, and Jewish immigrants, among many others, shaped the neighborhoods and towns that make up Essex County today. West of Newark, the land rises toward the Watchung Mountains, giving towns like Montclair, Verona, and Livingston their hillier, more suburban character.
That same era left Essex County with an unusual civic legacy: in 1895 it became the first county in the United States to build its own public park system, with early input from Frederick Law Olmsted — the same landscape architect behind Central Park in New York.
Fun facts about Essex County
All real, all sourced — no exaggeration required.
America's first county park system
In 1895, Essex County became the first county in the United States to establish its own park system. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted — who co-designed New York's Central Park — helped shape the early plans for what became Branch Brook Park.
More cherry blossoms than Washington, D.C.
Branch Brook Park in Newark holds the largest public collection of cherry blossom trees in the United States — over 5,000 trees across eighteen varieties — celebrated every April at the Cherry Blossom Festival.
The county used to be much bigger
Essex County has actually shrunk over time. Portions were carved off to help form Somerset County (1741), Passaic County (1837), and Union County (1857) — all originally Essex land.
Home to the country's first municipal airport
Newark Liberty International Airport, opened in 1928, was the first municipal commercial airport in the United States and remains one of the busiest airports in the New York metropolitan area.
Where Thomas Edison invented the future
Edison built his laboratory and estate, Glenmont, in West Orange in the 1880s. It's preserved today as the Thomas Edison National Historical Park.
New Jersey's hottest day on record
The highest temperature ever recorded in New Jersey — 108°F — was measured in Newark on July 22, 2011.
The Watchung Mountains run right through it
The land rises from flat and coastal in the east to the twin ridges of the Watchung Mountains in the west, reaching the county's high point of 660 feet near Verona, North Caldwell, and Cedar Grove.
Hollywood (and HBO) came to Essex County
A home in North Caldwell was used for the exterior shots of the Soprano family's house in HBO's The Sopranos, much of which was filmed on location across the county.
The only U.S. president born in New Jersey
Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, was born in Caldwell in 1837. His boyhood home is preserved as a state historic site.
Curious about your own town?
Every one of Essex County's 22 towns has its own page with population, history, and fun facts.