Many of the County Links on the left will keep you specifically in Essex County and the Gateway Region of NJ. We add new listings and links on a regular basis.
Essex County was officially established in 1682 by the East Jersey Legislature as one of the four original counties of present day New Jersey (Bergen, Monmouth and Middlesex were the others). By the time of the American Revolution, Essex County had become quite prosperous. After the war, the Country entered into a period of unprecedented industrial growth. This was due in part to the completion of the New Jersey Railroad, the Morris Canal, and the establishment of the Morris and Essex Railroad. Factories that grew up around the rail and canal arteries drew waves of immigrants from Europe and the population began to swell.
With Newark International Airport and Port Newark located within its borders, Essex County is a major national transportation hub with a superior network of rail, highway, air and sea transportation and is home to one of the world's largest containerized shipping ports. Today Essex County, with 22 municipalities ranging over 127 square miles and a total population of 765,000+, is New Jersey's second most populous County.
The Catholic Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is at Clifton and Park avenues in Newark. The french gothic cathedral is comparable in size to Westminster Abbey with 200 stained glass windows and 14 bells made in Italy.
The Edison National Historic site has preserved Thomas Edison laboratory complex and his home. The complex includes chemical, physics, and metallurgical laboratories. Many original inventions are displayed. Thomas Alva Edison, the great inventor, began experimenting with chemicals at the early age of eleven and was reading such books as The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.
