Land Between the Lines

New Jersey was once divided between East and West Jersey by two north-south lines, and Cedar Bridge lies between them. After Nova Caesare, later called New Jersey, was granted by James, Duke of York to George Carteret and John Berkley, Carteret and later owners William Penn, Gawen Lawrie, and Nicholas Lucas signed the Quintipartite Deed on July 1, 1676, dividing Jersey into East and West. More than ten years later, in 1687, George Keith surveyed the dividing line, but instead of following the course set by the original deed, he ended at the South Branch of the Raritan. At the request of the governors of East and West Jersey, the line was later extended to the Hudson River. The Keith Line was accepted until East and West Jersey were reunified in 1702, and it still forms part of the boundary between some counties. Property boundary disputes remained after reunification, and in 1779 the New Jersey Legislature passed an act for commissioners to determine the line's true northern point. In 1743 John Lawrence was hired to run the line from north to south, and today in Ocean County the line can still be identified as the probable source of the road marking Plumsted Township's eastern boundary.

New Jersey · United States