Fieldsboro, incorporated in 1850, is the smallest municipality in Burlington County. Early land records identify the area as White Hill, and one of its early settlers was Robert Field, who owned a wharf on the Delaware River, several businesses, and a large farm. By 1750, White Hill was a small river port, and White Hill was also the name of the second Field home, a large brick manor house overlooking the Delaware River. During the Revolutionary War, when British forces controlled Philadelphia, American frigates and gunboats were stranded here, and General Washington ordered the American fleet burned to prevent British capture. In 1804, entrepreneur Jonathan Rhea of Trenton purchased land from the Field estate, mapped out a town, and began selling lots, and his narrow alleys and closely spaced houses remain today. The area became known as White Hill Station when the Camden and Amboy, one of the nation's first railroads, arrived here in the 1830s and located its primary train shop, shipping wharf, and repair facility between White Hill village and Black's Creek. Later in the century, other industries, including an iron works, were situated along the river. In the mid-twentieth century, a naval scrap yard stood just south of Fieldsboro near Newbold Island, and in 1951 The Grille, the enormous 443-foot state yacht of the Third Reich, was scrapped here.